JUNE AT SVITAC (FIREFLY) – volunteer’s blog
Hello again!
Having stepped into my role as a Program Advisor, I spent much of my time this month working in the Svitac (Firefly) office, which while fun and interesting in its own right, kept me from getting first-hand experience with some of the special June activities and workshops (of which there were many!). Luckily our Activities Coordinator, Adin, has written about each of them here on the website, and our volunteers have posted lots of great pictures on the Svitac (Firefly) Instagram and Facebook. I will be sure to include the relevant links as I go along!
The month of June brought with it a series of delightful educational experiences for the children attending Svitac (Firefly) workshops (as well as myself):
Global Day of Parents (read more);
World Day for Cultural Diversity, Dialogue and Development (read more);
World Environment Day (read more);
World Day Against Child Labour (read more);
and more!
One of my favorite workshops I participated in this month was held for the older children to commemorate World Refugee Day. The volunteers got together and created a series of obstacles that simulated the typical journey of a refugee as they travel to another country in a totally creative but professional and age-appropriate way. We made small cards representing items someone might want to take with them, and let the children choose for themselves what they thought was important. Then they set off from their ‘home country’, being careful to avoid danger (in this case, angry unicorns!). They crossed rivers, travelled in the dark, and some even went to ‘jail’ – if they forgot their documents once they reached the border. You can read more about this workshop here.
On another note, Svitac (Firefly) had the pleasure this month of hosting a young freelance filmmaker, Emily Keen, as she filmed and conducted interviews with the aim of producing two short promotional films about Svitac (Firefly). Emily, who also works for the BBC, stayed for four days, and it was my pleasure on the third day to introduce her to a group of teenagers I have been playing basketball with; she filmed us playing a few games and was even able to interview some of them. The purpose of the films will be to highlight the important function Svitac (Firefly) serves in the local Brčko community — I am very excited to see the result!
Finally, it deserves mention that we are beginning to see a large uptick in the number of children attending our workshops – summer has arrived!
Follow us on Facebook (@omladinska.svitac), Instagram (@omladinska.svitac) and Twitter (@Svitac_BiH) if you’d like to keep up-to-date on Svitac (Firefly) Bosnia activities and events!
Hvala puno! (Thank you very much!)
Trevor Waters, Omprakash/Svitac (Firefly) volunteer
