What’s next for the Fort Dodge-Gjakova relationship?

A group of Fort Dodge youths and a school guidance counselor will travel to Camp TOKA in Kosovo next month. Jeannie Boro, Avi Guergo, Jordyn Kloss, MaKayla Pingel and Fort Dodge Senior High counselor Jolene Hays will visit Kosovo Aug. 8-14.

In addition to staying at the camp, they’ll also spend a couple of days with host families in Gjakova.

Dan Kinney, the president of Iowa Central Community College, said he wants to establish a program in which young people from Gjakova can come to the college to train and then work for a couple of years in a local business before returning home. He said such a program would give the students from Kosovo valuable training and work experience while helping to relieve the local shortage of workers.

Fort Dodge Mayor Matt Bemrich said he wants to try to provide Gjakova’s firefighters with some equipment. He said gear that’s outdated by American standards would still be an improvement over what the Gjakova firefighters have to work with now. He said working with the Iowa National Guard to get the material to Gjakova is a possibility.

He said a cultural exchange between Gjakova and the Blanden Memorial Art Museum is being developed.

”The cultural and art possibilities are very good,” he said.