Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – April 2023

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Charlotte Stella Kramer, Lenja Helen Schulze Wessel

‘ESC’ volunteers: Maika Luise Dils, Marlen Eckert, Ian Abraham Wade 

      

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 THE MONTH’S ACTIVITIES

    • This month we spent some time with our ex-volunteer Rike who made us very happy with her visit! Within the cooperation with the high schools, our international volunteers presented workshops on topics the UK education and school system, “Wohngemeinschaft” (sharing living space), happiness, and capitalism – and discussed them with the students. 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 talked about domestic animals, mushrooms, spring, insects, butterflies, and bees. The participants really enjoyed making butterflies, carnival glasses, little chickens, and colorful mushrooms. They also continued with music workshops, practicing rhythms and a song about a fox and a little snowdrop. The participants continued with the alphabet and learned to write the letters P, R, S. Š. T, and U. They did warm-up exercises and yoga for children, and every Thursday they danced, did sports, and practiced reading and listening to stories. In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to hygiene, insects, and spring. 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. The highlight with the younger group was the workshop for International Day for Street Children where they talked about the importance of having a safe home and a family.
      • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: fake news, capitalism, happiness, minimalism, consumerism, and the environment. 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 learned the use of adverbial clauses for place and time, the vocabulary of new words and verbs in the present tense, wrote dictations, read and translated short texts, worked on practicing everyday communication and grammar, and got help with homework and school projects. The highlight with the older group was the workshop for Earth Day when they discussed demonstrating support for environmental protection.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In April, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 5 Weltwärts and ESC volunteers from Germany and the UK.
  • Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Five volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, France and Turkey (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), Omladinski Center Vermont and Proni’s representatives attended the meeting with British Ambassador Reilly who paid his first visit to the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ambassador spoke with representatives of the non-governmental sector about their work and the challenges they face and pointed out that with the close cooperation of the government, civil society, and citizens, this unique community can be an example to the rest of several segments.
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Activities, news, Project Report