Celebration of the Renovations of Three Schools in the
Tetovo Region: Strimnica (Zhelino), Jegunovce (Jegunovce),
and Slatina (Tearce)
On Thursday, May 22, 2003, school officials and citizens
of the communities of Strimnica (Zhelino Municipality), Jegunovce
(Jegunovce Municipality), and Slatina (Tearce Municipality)
will join with representatives from the Ministry of Education,
representatives from the United States Agency for International
Development Macedonia (USAID), and its Community Self-Help
Initiative Program (CSHI) and Confidence Building Initiative
(CBI), local government officials, and local residents, to
celebrate the successful completion of projects to renovate
schools in their communities.
The day will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony at each school,
officiated by USAID Macedonia Mission Director, Mr. Dick
Goldman: 1) “Ibrahim Tema” Primary School in
Strimnica, Zhelino Municipality, 2) “Aleksandar Zdravkovski” Primary
School in Jegunovce, Jegunvoce Municipality, and 3) “Eqrem
Cabej” Primary School in Slatina, Tearce Municipality.
These ceremonies will be followed by a joint celebratory
lunch in Tetovo, hosted by the three school communities.
The United States Government, through the United States
Agency for International Development’s Community Self
Help Initiative Program (CSHI) and Confidence Building Initiative
(CBI), helped these local communities plan and implement
these school renovation projects:
The project at “Ibrahim Tema” Primary School
in Strimnica, Zhelino Municipality, was initiated by the
parents’ association of the school, who approached
CSHI for assistance to overcome heat loss in their school
building. CSHI provided some new doors and windows for the
school, and helped fund their installation ($17,263.00).
The community contributed to the project by organizing and
funding insulation for the roof. Prior to this project, this
primarily agricultural community of approximately 4000 inhabitants,
used its own funds to build a new section of classrooms to
the existing structure of the school. The old part of the
building, however, suffered heat loss, due to the deteriorating
condition of its window units and doors, and poor condition
of its roof.
In Jegunovce, CSHI provided for a new floor and classroom
doors in “Aleksandar Zdravkovski” Primary School
(total contribution of $19,433.00). The community contributed
to this project by providing the unskilled labor needed to
remove the old doors and demolish the old floor, in preparation
for the new materials. During the implementation of this
project, the PTA of the school established new contacts with
CBI (a USAID funded program implemented by IOM - International
Organization for Migration). CBI has since provided a new
central heating system for the school. The school community
has also collaborated with CIMIC/KFOR (Germans), who assisted
them in improving the roof of the school.
In Slatina, Tearce Municipality, CSHI provided new windows
for “Eqrem Cabej” Primary School (contribution
of $13,608.00). This project, along with that in Jegunovce,
was conceived at a meeting of the mayors of the Tetovo region
and USAID (CBI/CSHI) following the recent crisis in Macedonia.
The projects were designed to address the priority needs
of communities in the region, primarily quality of life and
ethnic harmony. The coming together of these communities
to jointly celebrate these projects is a sign of the current
willingness to improve both quality of life and ethnic relations
in the region.
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