Svitac (Firefly Bosnia) Project Report – July 2021

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

Local volunteers: Adin Midžić, Mira Božić, Merima Hidanović, Amer Omerović

‘EVS/ESC’ volunteers: Angela Claire Stoddard, Malcolm Thomas Lowe, Malcolm Thomas Lowe, Simge Kılıç, Ayşenur Ulutaş                

 


 

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 very hot but it did not affect the activities. Since most of the epidemiological measures were abolished, the participants gladly welcomed the opportunity to spend more time with their peers with interesting educational activities. Preparations for the summer camps have begun as have preparations for the arrival of new volunteers in August and September. 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 July. 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 made life-size bodies, crowns, frogs, igloos, the aquarium, the friendship tree from paper and cardboard, drew the dinosaurs, and coloured the stones. The group talked about friendship and how important it is to have a good friend; they talked about peer violence and watched an educational video. In the English, German and Turkish language workshops they learned a new vocabulary and song about days in the week, how to say Arctic animals and beach items. In the Music Workshops, they rehearsed songs they learned during the last couple of months. Highlight with the younger group was making an aquarium and learning about sea creatures from different parts of the world.
      • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: stress, anxiety and how to deal with everyday pressures, acting in theatre, mural techniques, non-traditional music and plans for the future. 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 practised communication and worked on different projects and presentations. The Art of Storytelling group continued working on theatre acting, individual scenes that express emotions in the comedy, and dialogue writing. The highlight with the older group was the mural workshop in the Youth centre when young people of different ethnic backgrounds had the opportunity to come together celebrating peace and diversity.

EVS/ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In July, Svitac (Firefly Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 4 EVS/ESC volunteers from UK and Turkey.
  • Sending EVS/ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Twelve volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Slovenia, Turkey, Croatia and Poland (2 – 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) staff attended a meeting with partner organization Friedenskreis Halle, Germany. All Balkan partner organizations from Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Ukraine and Bosnia got information about news in the ‘Weltwärts’ program and talked about how to develop a sending/hosting volunteering service for the next period. It is decided that Bosnian two volunteers will continue their service until September 2022.
  • Svitac’s (Firefly Bosnia’s) staff participated in a regional multi-stakeholder consultation meeting with key actors in the youth and youth work field. The meeting was organized for accredited organisations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro (Western Balkans). The New cycle of EU Youth Programmes, Strategic cooperation with Salto and National Agencies was presented as well as quality partnership and recognition of quality youth work.
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