Rock in a hard place

While the EU was able to facilitate dialogue about the future of Kosovo at government level, the divide between local communities remains as rigid as ever. In TEDxTirana, Wendy Hassler-Forest, talks about how the Mitrovica Rock School has managed to connect hundreds of youth, from the two communities, in a city where countless efforts at reconciliation had failed before. The reason why this was possible, as she herself admits, is because, "at the Mitrovica Rock School, music is the only thing that matters". Wendy Hassler-Forest is the head of Musicians without Borders' regional office for South East Europe. With parents with careers in peace work and music, she decided early on to go in the opposite direction and aim for a career in law. Her interest in international relations pulled her back to the family business, and in 2008 she started at Musicians without Borders, co-organizing the start-up of the Mitrovica Rock School in Kosovo.