Tolerance and Equality: Soldiers support community enrichment in Peja

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Junell | Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jason Boyd, a North Carolina National Guard Soldier deployed to Kosovo with the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team headquarters, kicks a soccer ball while leading a game about stereotypes and prejudice, Aug. 22, 2015, at the Anibar International Animation Festival in Peja, Kosovo. Boyd and other U.S. Army Soldiers serving in Kosovo volunteered their off-time to support the Pristina Rotary Club’s Violence-Free Future program, which uses games to mimic real-life situations, then discusses them in hopes of promoting pro-social behavior among Kosovo’s youth. The 30th ABCT headquarters, based out of Clinton, North Carolina, deployed to Kosovo in June in order to lead Multinational Battle Group-East, an element of NATO’s peace support mission in the region. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mary Junell, 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team)  

PEJA, KOSOVO

08.22.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Mary Junell  

30th Armored Brigade Combat Team

PEJA, Kosovo - U.S. Army Soldiers deployed to Kosovo with Multinational Battle Group-East volunteered their time to help a Kosovo Rotary Club’s Violence-Free Future program at the sixth annual Anibar International Animation Festival, August 22 in Peja, Kosovo.

Violence-Free Future’s goal is to promote pro-social behaviors among Kosovo’s youth who struggle with negative behaviors such as bullying, violence and inequality.

Seven Soldiers spent a few hours of their off-duty time in Peja’s main square, leading team activities with locals and festival-goers of all ages, in order to highlight the program’s youth outreach initiatives.

The group activities and games are used to simulate real-life situations such as discrimination and prejudice. Afterward, the U.S. Soldiers led the groups in discussions about stereotypes and gender equality.

“The goal is to get them to start talking about these different topics so they can build similarities between each other,” said Gena Sturgon, an American living in Kosovo who manages the program for Pristina’s Rotary Club. “We want them to build inclusive societies, get involved in their communities and steer away from the negative behaviors to build a better, stronger Kosovo.”

Although local youth are usually trained in running the games, U.S. Soldiers serving in Kosovo occasionally volunteer to provide a unique perspective to the events. The U.S. Army, which has supported NATO’s peace support mission in Kosovo for more than a decade, has maintained a habitual community service relationship with the English-speaking club as forces have rotated in and out of Kosovo.

“The Soldiers are separated from the topics and these issues,” Sturgeon said. “It is easier for the Soldiers to be able to dialogue it out or realize when something needs to be pulled out a little bit and discussed.”

She also said that bringing in Soldiers brings in a diverse group of people, working as an example to show younger generations that people from different backgrounds can work together as a team.

• Date Taken: 08.22.2015
• Date Posted: 09.02.2015 10:21
• Story ID: 174988
• Location: PEJA, ZZ