SUMMER AT SVITAC (FIREFLY IN BOSNIA) – volunteer’s blog
My name is Olivia, I have been volunteering at Svitac for just under 3 months. I am here through Asfar, as part of the Turing Scheme’s International Traineeship.
I found out about the opportunity from my university careers website, which advertised the international traineeship through Asfar. I was then given the choice of placements, of which Svitac appealed the most to me due to the emphasis on creativity as a reconciliatory method. I have always wanted to work in the charity sector, but in a way that directly makes a difference. When looking for opportunities in this sector, I often saw opportunities as part of development programmes, or volunteerism. There can be institutional problems with aid as a sector, sometimes lacking long-term impact, or local engagement. Because of this, I was open to, but critical of opportunities to ensure they were compatible with my personal values. I was really pleased to come across Svitac.
This internship has had me re-engaging with my creative side, whilst also creating equalising projects regardless of artistic ability, or religion. Art reiterates itself as a method of peacekeeping as it is a way to communicate. When we are running the workshops, the primary focus is what we are creating.
My highlight must be some of the crafts we have done with the kids. The most enjoyable ones have often been the most complex, but they result in the higher amount of reward and accomplishment. As part of a focus on sustainability, Simon and I designed a series of workshops to promote green energy by designing a dream house and garden. It was lovely to see the children embrace this so wholeheartedly, we had numerous electric cars and solar panels drawn. For the second workshop in this series, we made 3D versions of their houses, then creating a street of everyone’s houses. It was a lovely activity to do, and great to have the opportunity to share this with Firefly International visitor, Amy.
As a human geography student at Newcastle University, I was intrigued to live in a border town, especially one which bordered the Schengen Zone. For me living in the UK, borders are not as visually prominent, due the complexity of the United Kingdom and resultant countries within this. All other borders involve a crossing of the sea. Border rhetoric in the UK is primarily in relation to immigration hostility, so I have enjoyed learning from conversations with local people about what it is like to live so close to a border. It fascinates me how culturally this becomes a daily practice for many, pursing postal services, produce or running daily errands. It brings into question shared culture in the areas surrounding borders, along with the debates of identity which long mark Bosnia and Herzegovina’s history.
I have made the most of strong bus connectivity in the Balkans, using this to visit Belgrade for a long weekend. I loved visiting Belgrade and getting an opportunity to see some of its brutalist architecture. Most recently, I visited Zagreb and Ljubljana with my mum making the most of the opportunity to put some of my BHS language skills to use! Spending 3 months with Svitac has been incredibly rewarding. It has whetted my appetite to come back and visit the Balkans again, something I am hoping to do once I graduate from university.
This trip has cemented my desire to work in an industry which seeks to primarily help people, and to continue learning about new cultures. This is my first experience of cultural exchange, and I feel this has occurred, not only with learning about Bosnian culture, but also about Germany, due to the two German volunteers who I share my time here with, Joni and Simon. It is always interesting to swap idioms and turns of phrase, in a way which has made me realise quite how silly some British expressions are! We have also swapped recipes; I made a carrot cake to share with the other international volunteers and I have sampled some traditional German food, such as germknödel (a sweet dumpling).
facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/omladinska.svitac
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Svitac_BiH
Instagram: omladinska.svitac
YouTube: Svitac Firefly Bosnia
See you around,
Olivia Allerton, Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) Turing Scheme’s International Traineeship Programme volunteer
