My name is Ardita Metaj-Dika. I am a young Kosovar lawyer. It was a true honor and privilege to be part of Hope Fellowship program which is a lifetime experience. Even though I had visited the USA on two occasions before, I had not yet seen some of the top attractions. And to me, the biggest attraction of all is the US model of democracy. No wonder, then, that I chose to be part of Diplomacy and Democracy Group.
The Fellowship program offered a fantastic opportunity for me to experience first-hand the US political system. In addition, I learned more about the history, legal environment and contemporary trends of the civil society sector in the US.
After trainings in Kosovo that were focused on Public Diplomacy and Leadership we attended a six week program in Washington DC. There were additional training sessions, visits, events, meetings and sightseeing that made this program so special and I find it very hard to summarize my impressions in a few sentences.
As soon as you step foot in Washington DC you can feel the American Public Diplomacy. It’s amazing how people get carried away by the American way of doing things. You cannot help falling in love with this country, especially when you happen to be there on the 4th of July…You feel like an American.
Perhaps one of the most valuable parts of this program was the opportunity to meet with various politicians, congressmen, and other high ranking officials in the American administration. I got a chance to shadow Congressman Eliot Engel and attended meetings and committee hearings. I saw the direct link between congressman’s and its constituencies and how citizen’s interests are a true priority for elected leaders. This link makes them accountable toward citizens and establishes foundations of democracy. Democracy…… a word we keep saying it every day but feeling it only in US. It was an experience I enjoyed, learned from immensely and left inspired.
Another thing that comes to my mind is the power of networking. Being from Kosovo a small place with huge presence of international community, organizations and experts, gave me the opportunity to work with a lot of American experts. While attending the programe in Washington during different meetings we had I met my former colleagues and friends that once they used to work in Kosovo. I realized how small the world is and how important is to network, build relations and maintain relations.
I hope that we, as a group, have brought to Washington much from the culture tradition and values of our people. It has been said very often that hospitality is one of the best features of Albanian people, but I found out that Americans are warm, well-mannered and very hospitable. We were so warmly hosted by everyone including the doorman of the NAAC office who said to us ‘Mirëmëngjesi” every Friday.
HOPE FELLOWSHIPS
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