Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – August 2025

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić, Milica Pelagić, Edna Čorbadžić, Valentina Perić, Maida Karahasanović, Helena Ristić, Aldin Hodžić, Milica Gajić, Ajna Ibrahimović, Lamija Aljić, Mirnela Mehmedović, Meliha Kavazović, Nataša Maksimović, Lejla Ajanović, Ana Oparnica, Kristina Varcaković

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Ada Gabriela Groneick, Paula Scholz

‘ESC’ volunteers: İsmail Hakkı Yabacioğlu, Samet Başkaya, Hacer Balıkcı, Sedanur Bagay, Muhammet Fatih Gül, Ömer Ensar Bayır, Ahmet Selim Tekiz

      

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

    • Throughout this month, both younger and older participants engaged in enriching educational and recreational activities. Most time was spent outdoors in the park, fostering teamwork, mutual support, and play—free from technology and fully present with friends. Ultimately, it’s the people who make each day special and manageable, especially during these challenging times, which matter most. International volunteers have engaged in various daily activities, focusing on different initiatives such as supporting online events and promoting the organization through social media.
    • In August, approximately 165 participants regularly took part in Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia) activities. 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 kites, hippos, funny aliens, and many other imaginative creations. The participants loved experimenting with different materials and sharing their ideas. This month, we continued with competitive games, outdoor games that involve teams, as well as playing educational cards and making jewellery. The group also engaged in rhythm practice, song rehearsals, and dance choreography. Participants continued to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, focusing on writing the letters Ћ, У, and Ф (Ć, U, F) along with simple words in Cyrillic. They performed warm-up exercises and children’s yoga, and every Thursday, they danced, participated in sports, and worked on maintaining focus and concentration while reading and listening to stories. In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops, they learned vocabulary related to animals, geometric shapes, sports, and the beach. All workshops employ an educational visual method utilizing pictures and videos; these informal educational sessions aim to foster creativity, memory, motor skills, empathy, socialization, and tolerance for diversity. The highlight with the younger group was preparing colourful decorations for the upcoming summer camps, which provided an excellent opportunity to showcase their creativity and collaboration.
      • Older group –They covered the following topics: tolerance vs. acceptance (is tolerance enough, can society ever be ‘too tolerant’), diversity (natural strength or challenge that must be managed), the role of intercultural communication in reducing prejudice, and how global entertainment (music, movies) brings people together across cultures. In this way, we aim to offer young people a safe and neutral environment where they can share their opinions and express both positive and negative emotions without fear of judgment. During the Language Workshops, the group focused on practicing everyday communication, reading and translating short texts, phrases, grammar, school assignments, and engaging projects. The highlight for the older group was the workshops held on International Youth Day, where they discussed the importance of volunteerism and the challenges faced by young people today.

ANNUAL EVENTS

  • Summer camps 2025 – Three camps took place from 25th to 29th August and Children’s Day on 30th 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. The creative and language camp implemented a colourful mix of ecology, recycling, sports, and languages (English, Turkish, and Sign Language). The participants explored the world through their imagination, creating beautiful artworks while learning about sustainability and communication across cultures. Music camp gathered a group of young teenagers. They composed an original piece called “Ahoj”, built from catchy rhythms and playful melodies. This tune was presented at a Children’s Day event. The choir group also took on a challenge — rehearsing “Fireflies” by Owl City, and even adapting the chorus into BHS (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian). Children’s Day was held on 30th 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.
    Total participants summer camps: 80
    Total participants Children’s Day: 120

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In August, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) greatly appreciated the collaboration with 9 international volunteers from Germany and Turkey.
  • Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Three volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany and Italy (11-12 months).

MEETINGS and PRESENTATIONS

  • Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) staff continued to participate in regular monthly meetings with the youth centre coordinator and other NGOs in Brčko. The goal of these meetings was to discuss the conditions and schedules necessary for the continuation of the centre’s activities.
  • Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) staff participated in the training course ‘Beyond gender: Intersectional approach’ in Spain. The Ser Joven association organised the training course to analyse gender diversity through an intersectional lens: how gender diversity intersects with factors such as migration, racism, and functional diversity as well as to strengthen youth workers’ understanding of these key social issues and how we approach them in practice, develop strategies for inclusive approaches together, and provide tools and methodologies. The project also aimed to facilitate peer exchange and partnership building for future collaborations.
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