My volunteering at Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) – Merve Şule Gülaçar, Turkey
MY JOURNEY TO BRČKO
Hello everyone, my name is Merve and I am from Turkey. I am 22 years old and I have graduated from Kocaeli University, English language teaching department. I spent a month volunteering in the Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) youth centre of Brčko.
Firstly I came to Sarajevo by plane and then I took a bus to come to Brčko. It was a bit confusing because I didn`t know anything about the Bosnian language but I survived. It is my first time having a volunteering project and also being abroad. Secondly, I met so many people from different cultures and backgrounds and I had the chance to work with children, which is also really fun and amazing. In the youth centre, we made a lot of enjoyable workshops together with other volunteers. I also learned about their countries and their traditions as well.
I also tried new foods and drinks. Besides these, we had some basic language lessons (Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian. It was really precious to see how these three ethnicities are living together.
Finally, I can say that thanks to GAP and ESC, I had a really valuable experience because this is a great opportunity for me to see how exciting to explore other countries and everything. Also, people here are really nice and helpful so I definitely suggest everyone to come and have this journey.
Merve Şule Gülaçar, Turkey
Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) volunteer, June-July 2022
