https://svitac.org

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

Local volunteers: Adin Midžić, Maja Keserović, Eldar Bešić, Edna Čorbadžić

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

‘ESC’ volunteers: Emily Jade Posner, Siobhan Rosemary Coleman, Jara Madleen Schulze, Viktor Hüllmann, Elmas Cokol Alpay, Şehri Tüfekçioğlu   

‘Love Volunteers’ volunteers: Sean Andrew Gilhooley

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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 busy and preoccupied with preparations for spring activities and the arrival of new volunteers but at the same time joyful due to the Easter holidays and school break. Our long-term volunteers from Germany had the opportunity to support the German language competition of the high school students in Brčko District. It was a very interesting and enriching experience for volunteers to testify how young people in Bosnia learn the language they grew up with. At the end of the month, we said goodbye to our friend and valued team member, Adin. We can’t thank him enough for his hard work, determination and all that he has done for us in the past decade! We wish him all the best for his future. 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 in Bosnia’s) activities in April. 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 giraffes, wearable ladybugs, feather chickens, aliens, the dream planet and dragonflies. The group marked Planet Day with a creative workshop, where they talked about nature in general, and ecology, and made a big poster with the message that this Earth is our only home. The group continued to learn the alphabet practising writing the letters V, Z, Ž; this month they also started reading short words and recognizing letters. The participants especially like this activity, because they can combine letters in words. In the English, German and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to spring, numbers, vegetables and fruit. In the Music Workshops, they continue to rehearse the songs „Visibaba mala“ (Little Snowdrop) and “Pet malih pačića” (Five little ducklings). In the Dance workshops, the participants continued to rehearse a dance called Rock Lobster and choreography to the songs „Chocolate“ and „Gummy bear“. 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 Good Deeds Day when they learned about acts of kindness and their impact on the wider community.
    • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: the current political situation in BiH, diversity, tolerance, literature and favourite books, journalism (advantages and disadvantages of this profession), schooling opportunities for young people in BiH, the role of teachers in young people’s lives, non-formal education and volunteering on projects abroad. 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, reading and translating short texts and phrases, grammar, and got help with homework and school projects. The highlight with the older group was the workshop for International Day for Street Children when they made a beautiful poster with motivational messages.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

• In April, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 9 Weltwärts, ‘Love Volunteers’ and ESC volunteers from UK, Germany and Turkey.
• Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Eight volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Spain and Slovenia (2-12 months).

MEETINGS and PRESENTATIONS

• Svitac’s (Firefly in 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 in Bosnia’s) representatives attended workshops within the project “Čovjek sam koliko imam ljudskih prava” (“I am as human as I have human rights”) where participants were introduced to the basics of knowledge of project management and writing project proposals to donors. The workshops were organized by the NGO “Demos” from Brcko District BiH and were attended by 30 participants from the NGO sector and 6 participants from the Government Department of the Brcko District of BiH who work directly with NGOs in Brcko District BiH.