https://svitac.org

Staff: Gordana Varcaković, Dina Vošanović, Miloš Popić, Sanjin Vošanović

Local volunteers: Adin Midžić, Maja Keserović, Merima Hidanović-Kutlu, Lejla Pešić, Predrag Jovanović, Eldar Bešić

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Nikolai Karl Pfeiffer, Rike Lea Stollenwerk

‘ESC’ volunteers: Emily Jade Posner, Siobhan Rosemary Coleman, Jara Madleen Schulze, Viktor Hüllmann                

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ON-GOING PROGRAMME

• Culture and Art Diversity around the World – Includes Language, Art&Crafts, Music, Drama, and Sports workshops from Monday to Friday (4-14)
  • Standard and Conversational Language workshops – English, German
    • I love English – English workshops for 15-30
    • “Lasstuns Deutsch sprechen!/Pričajmo njemački!“ (Let’s speak German) – German workshops for 15-30
  • Music workshops – samba, guitar for 15-30

  HIGHLIGHTS ON MONTH’S ACTIVITIES

  • This month was festive and full of activities due to a large number of holidays. Everyone forgot for a moment that the covid was still present because many events took place despite the not-so-great epidemiological situation. At the end of the month, the school holidays began so that students and teachers could relax in the holidays’ atmosphere. Happy faces and positive energy give us the motivation to continue creating new peacebuilding projects with people of different ethnic backgrounds celebrating peace and diversity. International volunteers have been doing a lot of different daily activities and they focused on different things (e.g. supporting online activities, promotion of the organization through social media).
  • About 143 participants regularly attended Svitac’s (Firefly Bosnia’s) activities in December. Participants were aged between 4 and 30 years old. The youngest and the oldest participants attended Culture and Art Diversity around the World workshops and English/German conversational workshops.
    • Younger group – They did snowballs, butterflies and stars made of paper and cotton wool, Christmas trees made of cardboard and decorative green paper, New Year’s greeting cards and decorations, small children’s rights booklets, the letters F, G, I, J, H, K and drew objects that begin with one of these letters. They also learned about the customs of celebrating the New Year around the world, writing and sending New Year’s greeting cards. In the English, German and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to winter, winter sports and New Year’s holidays. In the Music Workshops, they rehearsed the winter song „Zvončići“ (Jingle Bells) and started learning a new song „Visibaba mala“ (Little Snowdrop). They danced and rehearsed choreography to the song „Kika Tanzalarm“. For the New Year’s party, the group rehearsed other songs they learned in previous months. All workshops are implemented with an educational visual method with pictures and video; the goal of informal educational workshops is to develop creativity, memory, motor skills, empathy, socialization and tolerance for diversities. Highlight with the younger group was the workshop for Human Rights Day when they did a video presentation discussing their rights.
    • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: human rights, volunteering abroad, differences in dialects in Germany and England, Christmas and New Year celebrations in different countries, and the impact of influencers on young people. In this way, we want to provide young people with a safe and neutral space, where they can express their opinions and express positive and negative emotions, without fear of condemnation. In the Language Workshops, the group worked on practising everyday communication, grammar, and got help with homework and school projects. The highlight with the older group was the workshop for International Volunteer Day when participants discussed the benefits for personal development, the local community and future employability and shared their own motivations and experiences of living in BiH so far.

ANNUAL EVENTS

• New Year Party 2021 – This event was held on 17th December at the Youth centre and organized with the support of international and local volunteers, alongside Svitac’s (Firefly Bosnia’s) staff. The participants had an opportunity to participate in various games, fun activities and enjoy the snacks and refreshment. The New Year Party was attended by 80 participants.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

• In December, Svitac (Firefly Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 6 Weltwärts and ESC volunteers from UK and Germany.
• Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Four volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany and Slovenia (9-12 months).

MEETINGS and PRESENTATIONS

• Svitac’s (Firefly Bosnia’s) staff continued to attend regular monthly meetings with the youth centre coordinator and the other NGOs based in Brčko. The purpose of the meetings was to discuss conditions and schedules for the continuation of centre activities.
• Svitac’s (Firefly Bosnia’s) representatives attended “Youth connected for change”, the networking event of umbrella youth organizations (Youth Council of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Youth Council of the Republic of Srpska, and Youth Council of Brcko District BiH) which was held in Sarajevo, and was intended for all young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This event aimed to gather umbrella youth organizations and institutions who are in charge of youth to discuss how to improve the position of youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina and what activities can be implemented to achieve this goal.
• Svitac’s (Firefly Bosnia’s) representatives attended the “Dialogue with Youth” event organized by the Government of the Brčko District of BiH in cooperation with the Youth Council of the Brčko District of BiH and the NGO Institute for Youth Development KULT to better understand the situation of youth and adopt a quality document. The event was attended by 35 participants who contributed to the first strategic document for young people through work in five groups. The “Dialogue with Youth” of the Brčko District of BiH covered the following thematic areas: Work, employment, self-employment and youth entrepreneurship, Youth education, Social care for young people, Youth health care, Culture and sports, Youth security and Activism (participation, volunteering and mobility) of young people.