Kole Angelovski Speech at the 15th Anniversary of the First Children’s Embassy in The World Megjashi – His Excellency Kole Angelovski, Ambassador The First Children’s Embassy in The World Megjashi has left an everlasting mark in Republic of Macedonia
This year is somehow a year of anniversaries – here in this theatre, on this stage, Dramski Teatar celebrated 60 years of its existence, I have celebrated 40 years of work at the theatre and now we are celebrating 15 years of the existence of the Children’s Embassy. If you compare this to other anniversaries, 15 years might not be a long time, but everything that the Children’s Embassy has done in these 15 years means a lot. It means a lot for all those children we have helped in a certain way, we took them in, we talked with them, we spent time with them, we participated in their problems, pain, troubles and I think that the First Children’s Embassy Megjashi as an organization is something that will leave a permanent mark in the life of entire Macedonia.
Undoubtedly, in the first years when the war in Yugoslavia was raging, when the first refugees arrived, it was especially hard for all of us volunteers who invested time, knowledge, power and everything else we did to help these unfortunate people. There were 60,000 refugees in Macedonia - 60,000 tragic, thorny and touching destinies. Everyday we were faced with unbelievable stories and tragedies, but thank God, that came to an end, things settled down and somehow the Children’s Embassy turned to what is its main objective – in peaceful conditions to help children realize their rights, to help solve what is now one huge problem in Macedonia and that is the insufficient attendance of schools; to help those 18000 children that do not go to school and children on the streets through all of these workshops at the Children’s Embassy and everything that’s done..
I would like to honor and congratulate first and foremost to Dragi and Gordana Zmijanac who have lasted through these 15 years in an amazing fight; then to all those volunteers, all those people who have been part of the Children’s Embassy and who still put aside part pf their working hours to dedicate themselves to the children and to their well-being, to prevent as much as possible all those ugly things that happen to children.
As far as children are concerned, we hope that we will continue to be the consciousness of this society and this country for a long time, at least for another 15 years…
I would like to thank you for coming. Watch the movie now and after that the exhibition. Enjoy!
English translation provided by: Dijana Janevska
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