Amazing Summer Camp with Cricket held as part of the MILAGRO project
within Work Package 5 of the MILAGRO project

The Summer Camp organized within the WP5 of the MILAGRO project has been the most joyful, entertaining, and laughter-filled event in the project’s implementation to date. Throughout its duration, the event radiated a warm and welcoming atmosphere, with smiling faces all around. The interactions between representatives of the migrant population and the local community blossomed into genuine friendships. However, before describing the event itself, it is necessary to make a few remarks. Namely, the Summer Camp had to be organized in just one day for objective reasons: first, due to the civil blockades and the situation in Serbia and Belgrade, the police, when we registered the gathering, advised us to organize this event in just one day. For the same reason, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia could not provide us with the permission to take the refugees out of the Migrant Camp for two nights in a hotel, giving us the same advice as the police – to organize the event in one day. We emphasize that we nevertheless organized all the planned activities from the project application in one day (all day). This means that, during the Summer Camp, we also held a Sports Event: Challenging Cultures (it was cricket due to the fact that a large number of migrants know this game well), but also a planned workshop Refugees to Refugees: sharing trauma and its healing.

Considering all the aforementioned aspects, the local project management decided to hold the event on Sunday (when traffic is at its lowest) at the Lisičiji Jarak Cricket Ground, in the suburbs of Belgrade. We took advantage of the beautiful day and this event to gather all those who have actively participated in the implementation of the project so far and combine business with pleasure, and through socializing and fun activities – to implement WP 5 in accordance with the set project goals.

A total of 66 people attended the Summer Camp itself, but it should be emphasized that this does not include members of the project team, nor the support staff: drivers, restaurant staff where lunch was organized, support staff from the cricket field, etc. Among them were representatives of migrants from 6 countries, staff of the NGO Atina from 2 countries, a representative of the NGO Terraforming, representatives of the Cricket Federation of Serbia, representatives of the University Library in Belgrade, representatives of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, three students from the Netherlands who are on an internship in Belgrade within the WP 7 of the project, and the complete local project management. Some of those present were there for a portion of the day, while most participants were present for the whole day. Most migrants had organized transportation in cooperation with the NGO Atina, while some, who, in the meantime, had found jobs and apartments, came to the cricket field on their own.

At the beginning of the Summer Camp, after the welcoming remarks of the project management, an introduction to the rules of cricket was held with the help of representatives of the Cricket Federation of Serbia. Joint games were organized between representatives of migrants and local citizens, along with professional cricket players, many of whom were migrants themselves, and now live in Serbia and play for the Serbian national cricket team. The event was extremely interesting to all present, as evidenced by the smiles throughout the activity. Also, this was followed by refreshments in the form of cold drinks, fruit and pizza.

After a break, a workshop was held, in the nearby natural shade, under the name Refugees to refugees: sharing trauma and its healing. The workshop was held by Miško Stanišić, founder and director of the NGO Terraforming, who has already distinguished himself within the MILAGRO project through the highly successful and well-attended workshops held as part of WP4 at the University Library. Once again, Miško demonstrated his expertise and exceptional storytelling skills, making the second part of the workshop highly interactive as attendees actively shared their personal experiences. The fact that we were in the natural environment of a cherry orchard and that there was already a very warm and cordial atmosphere, further contributed to the exceptional engagement of all those present at the workshop.

After that, a cricket tournament followed. Although we thought, during the writing of the project, that a basketball tournament would be adequate, it turned out that cricket was a much better choice, because almost all migrants were very familiar with this game, and it was extremely interesting to all the local citizens present. Therefore, with the help of representatives of the Cricket Federation of Serbia and professional players, this proved to be the right choice. All those present were divided into four teams and with the support of representatives of the Cricket Federation of Serbia and professional players, several short matches were held in an exceptionally sports-friendly atmosphere. At the very end of the tournament, awards were also presented: trophies for all four teams, plaques for the best catcher, best batsman, the most useful player and for fair play, and all those present received plaques for participation in the Summer Camp. With the appropriate speeches of PhD professor Aleksandar Jerkov, Director of the University Library, and Professor Haris Dajč, President of the Cricket Federation of Serbia, as well as with the presentation of awards, the Summer Camp was brought to an end.

But that was not the end yet – in a nearby restaurant, a late lunch was organized for all participants of the Summer Camp, and the socializing continued until the night hours, with smiles and a great atmosphere throughout the day. Many of those present had already registered that they wanted to continue playing cricket (to the delight of the Cricket Federation representatives), and many continued to socialize privately. All those present emphasized that they had an exceptionally good time and suggested that a similar event be repeated, outside of the project itself. It was a genuine pleasure and an honor to be part of such a fantastic day, surrounded by the vibrant energy that filled the entire Camp.

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