Bitola is a mid-sized town in southern MK about 10 km from the Greek border about three hours away by bus. I had arranged two interviews with NGOs there, so I spent the night before at Lizze’s (ETA Fulbright) who lives there.
Sefera Bitola is a voluntary firefighter organisation, the first of it’s kind in MK(others are in St. Nikola and ‘Polila’). They were formed in May of 2007 as a project started in another NGO in Bitola. It was the student’s intuitive to form a volunteer firefighting force to help spread awareness about fire prevention. They applied to foreign grants to make the youth fire brigade, and were granted the funds. In 2009, they separated from the original NGO and formed their own. They have partnerships with organizations in Sweden, Finland and Bosnia.
Sfera focuses more on the theory than the practical fighting of fires. They offer trainings in elementary schools about how kids should respond to a fire in their house or school. They have a (really cool-personal bias) new program for training in schools. They go in one week and pass out handouts about earthquakes, fires, etc and provide a “what to do training” for the kids and teachers. Then a few days later they go back in. But this time with fog machines- and do a fake fire “drill” complete with alarms and “smoke!” They say that even though the teachers know it is coming, some still freak out. However, in the first attempt of this sort they evacuated 450 students in 5 minutes! They call this a great success!They plan to do this in every high school in Bitola soon.
While there is teaching on fire safety, there are no free alarms. In fact, when Sfera tried to order a fire alarm it took them 3 months to find where you could buy one in Bitola. Alarms are not in hotels or shopping centers.
They have 110 members that have passed the basic fire training. They train with professional firefighters on fighting fires. Sfera and the professional fighters have an agreement to share equipment for training activities. When Sfera gets new equipment, they donate it to the professionals and then are able to use it when needed (if the professional aren’t using it at the moment). Sometimes they do go with the professionals to fight fires on the mountains, if they are 20 and up. (side note-- you have to be 18 to join the professional association.)
They also provide training on leadership development and democracy, since firefighter must lead. Their main training is a 2-3 day seminar with monthly followup meetings that they try to hold 2 times per year. Some of what they teach are the different styles of leadership. They also work with the Red Cross for first aid training.
They work with EVS, as both a sending and receiving location. They have gotten 4 volunteers and sent 5 outside of MK. They also participate in youth exchanges and trainings. The exchanges are more like camps, however, where people stay for either 6 or 14 days. There are a few regulations, but they are not strenuous. Sfera themselves, have put on 11 trainings in the past two months!
They are currently making a comic strip for kids that they will print in color to hand out. They will publish in both Macedonian and English, for now. On the local level, they promote volunteering and youth mobilization. They want to inspire the youth to mobilize around things they care about. They also help young artists put on shows. Recently they have done it for a singer and a painter.
They have also started a new project that helps raise money for a charity fund for young children with life threatening diseases (such as cancer). They help with providing free or reduced prices in surgery. Over 7,000 people attended their first charity concert for the fund. They are planning 2 other concerts now. They also raise money by completing Cocktails4Charity, with different VIPs from Bitola.
In the Bitola Summer Festival, which is for cultural events, NGOs can help sponsor/put on an event. They are allowed to last between 1-3 days, and are fully sponsored by the local government. The goal is to connect citizens to culture and let them enjoy some leisure time. The municipality provides projectors, help organizing the events, and advertising. But only 3-5 NGOs apply. Sfera has cooperation with other NGOs in Bitola. They help preform a street theater, presentations on EVS, Peace Corps, and even flash mobs!
However, when discussing cooperation with the government, they have none with the national government. The municipality, however, is a different story. The municipality helps them out with about 10% of the time, such as when using the trucks (for fuel and water) or supplies.
The municipality does have a fund for NGOs, but it is split equally between all who apply. There are 136 registered NGOs in Bitola, but, according to Sfera, only about 8 actually function- but they all apply in February! Sfera and a few others are trying to show that the others are not actually working. The fund, upon being split comes to about 350 Euros yearly. But Sfera pointed out that it would be about 13, 500 Euros if it was split between those who actually worked.
Sfera’s yearly budget comes from the following sources: 90% EU and their partners, 2% sponsors, 8% Macedonia. It is really hard for them to find a sponsor in Bitola, as most of the companies are located in Skopje. There are 5 companies that regularly help the NGOs in MK, but they are still mainly located in Skopje.
Sfera is hopeful for the future and believe they will continue to make a positive impact in Bitola.
Sefera Bitola is a voluntary firefighter organisation, the first of it’s kind in MK(others are in St. Nikola and ‘Polila’). They were formed in May of 2007 as a project started in another NGO in Bitola. It was the student’s intuitive to form a volunteer firefighting force to help spread awareness about fire prevention. They applied to foreign grants to make the youth fire brigade, and were granted the funds. In 2009, they separated from the original NGO and formed their own. They have partnerships with organizations in Sweden, Finland and Bosnia.
Sfera focuses more on the theory than the practical fighting of fires. They offer trainings in elementary schools about how kids should respond to a fire in their house or school. They have a (really cool-personal bias) new program for training in schools. They go in one week and pass out handouts about earthquakes, fires, etc and provide a “what to do training” for the kids and teachers. Then a few days later they go back in. But this time with fog machines- and do a fake fire “drill” complete with alarms and “smoke!” They say that even though the teachers know it is coming, some still freak out. However, in the first attempt of this sort they evacuated 450 students in 5 minutes! They call this a great success!They plan to do this in every high school in Bitola soon.
While there is teaching on fire safety, there are no free alarms. In fact, when Sfera tried to order a fire alarm it took them 3 months to find where you could buy one in Bitola. Alarms are not in hotels or shopping centers.
They have 110 members that have passed the basic fire training. They train with professional firefighters on fighting fires. Sfera and the professional fighters have an agreement to share equipment for training activities. When Sfera gets new equipment, they donate it to the professionals and then are able to use it when needed (if the professional aren’t using it at the moment). Sometimes they do go with the professionals to fight fires on the mountains, if they are 20 and up. (side note-- you have to be 18 to join the professional association.)
They also provide training on leadership development and democracy, since firefighter must lead. Their main training is a 2-3 day seminar with monthly followup meetings that they try to hold 2 times per year. Some of what they teach are the different styles of leadership. They also work with the Red Cross for first aid training.
They work with EVS, as both a sending and receiving location. They have gotten 4 volunteers and sent 5 outside of MK. They also participate in youth exchanges and trainings. The exchanges are more like camps, however, where people stay for either 6 or 14 days. There are a few regulations, but they are not strenuous. Sfera themselves, have put on 11 trainings in the past two months!
They are currently making a comic strip for kids that they will print in color to hand out. They will publish in both Macedonian and English, for now. On the local level, they promote volunteering and youth mobilization. They want to inspire the youth to mobilize around things they care about. They also help young artists put on shows. Recently they have done it for a singer and a painter.
They have also started a new project that helps raise money for a charity fund for young children with life threatening diseases (such as cancer). They help with providing free or reduced prices in surgery. Over 7,000 people attended their first charity concert for the fund. They are planning 2 other concerts now. They also raise money by completing Cocktails4Charity, with different VIPs from Bitola.
In the Bitola Summer Festival, which is for cultural events, NGOs can help sponsor/put on an event. They are allowed to last between 1-3 days, and are fully sponsored by the local government. The goal is to connect citizens to culture and let them enjoy some leisure time. The municipality provides projectors, help organizing the events, and advertising. But only 3-5 NGOs apply. Sfera has cooperation with other NGOs in Bitola. They help preform a street theater, presentations on EVS, Peace Corps, and even flash mobs!
However, when discussing cooperation with the government, they have none with the national government. The municipality, however, is a different story. The municipality helps them out with about 10% of the time, such as when using the trucks (for fuel and water) or supplies.
The municipality does have a fund for NGOs, but it is split equally between all who apply. There are 136 registered NGOs in Bitola, but, according to Sfera, only about 8 actually function- but they all apply in February! Sfera and a few others are trying to show that the others are not actually working. The fund, upon being split comes to about 350 Euros yearly. But Sfera pointed out that it would be about 13, 500 Euros if it was split between those who actually worked.
Sfera’s yearly budget comes from the following sources: 90% EU and their partners, 2% sponsors, 8% Macedonia. It is really hard for them to find a sponsor in Bitola, as most of the companies are located in Skopje. There are 5 companies that regularly help the NGOs in MK, but they are still mainly located in Skopje.
Sfera is hopeful for the future and believe they will continue to make a positive impact in Bitola.
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