Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – August 2023

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić, Edna Čorbadžić, Katarina Radić, Lejla Ajanović, Amila Kavazović, Nedim Kalajdžija, Meliha Kavazović, Denis Muharemović

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

‘ESC’ volunteers: Matilda Grace Dixon 

      

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 was very dynamic and motivating for both participants and volunteers. We planned and implemented wider and more diverse activities than usual. From the daily activities to exciting ‘Let’s Speak English Club’ discussions to movie nights to the finale of the summer camps August has been a really busy month. The number of participants has also increased due to the summer holidays. There was a new positive energy and everybody wanted to contribute as much as possible. It was a great experience for everyone involved especially for our international volunteers who got more tasks than usual and the opportunity to create good vibes and space for learning. Most of the month was spent preparing for our annual Summer Camps week. Apart from that our volunteers Peđa, Denis, and Eldar led the music workshop organized by EU Info Centar at the Brčko Youth Centre. Mollie Chambers and her friend Bella joined us at this year’s camps. Mollie supported Svitac this year by fundraising for the summer camp in Pećka and then took part in the August camps in Brčko. Mollie’s family joined us for Children’s Day and helped in the realization of this event. We are all extremely grateful to them for all their support and help, and we hope to see them again in Brčko soon. International volunteers have been doing a lot of different daily activities and they focused on different things (e.g. supporting online activities, promoting the organization through social media).
    • About 165 participants regularly attended Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) activities in August. 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 various animals, land and water, jellyfish, shells, the beach, and swimming. The youngest participants enjoyed the creative part and modeling fun items. The group continued with music workshops, practicing rhythms and rehearsing songs for summer camps. Participants continued to learn and write numbers; this month, they learned to write numbers from 14-16. 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 beaches, means of transport, and nature. All workshops are implemented with an educational visual method with pictures and video; informal educational workshops aim to develop creativity, memory, motor skills, empathy, socialization, and tolerance for diversities. The highlight with the younger group was making decorations for summer camps and rehearsing the choreography for the Children’s Day performance.
      • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: hate speech in our society, migration, interculturality, volunteering abroad, movies and musicals. 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, phrases, grammar, and interesting projects. The highlight of the older group was a discussion on the topic of volunteering and activism.

ANNUAL EVENTS

  • Summer camps 2023 – Three camps took place from the 21st to 25th of August and Children’s Day on the 26th of August in the Youth Centre. Summer camps included Creative, Language, and Music camps. Workshops were held every day from Monday to Friday and each workshop lasted 2 and a half hours.
    o Creative camp – The creative camp implemented a variety of different activities on the topic “Learning together” and has created with children many amazing designs and drawings. The participants learned about art in general and about many interesting facts about the UK and Germany.
    o Language camp – Participants of the language camp had the opportunity to explore many diverse fields on the topic “Five senses” in English and German. The international volunteers from the UK and Germany were helping and supporting the activities, talking to children and animating them to speak.
    o Music camp – This year music camp has gathered a group of young teenagers. They got introduced to the instruments, learned basic rhythms, and worked on composing a tune presented at a Children’s Day event.
  • Children’s Day – Children’s Day was held on 26th August in the Youth centre. It was a big finale where the participants of all three camps presented the results of the week. The parents and friends enjoyed the exhibition and the program prepared by local and international volunteers. Children were happy to visit different stations (obstacle games, face painting, and quiz stations). They also got presents during the Bingo game and enjoyed the sunny weather. It was amazing to see the happiness on the children’s faces enjoying this event. It was a special day just for them and their family members and they were proud to present what they had learned during the week.

Total participants in summer camps: 80
Total participants Children’s Day: 110

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In August, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 3 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 (1-12 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.
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