Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – January 2025

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić, Fatima Bukvić

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Ada Gabriela Groneick, Paula Scholz

‘ESC’ volunteers: Pia Sophie Jonas, Canan Karahan

      

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 full of activities and learning! From creative arts and educational activities to story time adventures, our participants explored, imagined, and grew together. We kept the curiosity flowing and made learning an exciting journey every day! Our group on music workshops enjoyed making music and rhythms together. 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 142 participants regularly attended Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) activities in January. 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 winter holidays and the current season, ladybugs, pets, snails, butterflies, giraffes, and zebras. The youngest participants enjoyed the creative part and modelling fun items (e.g. paper flowers, plasticine/cardboard decorations, giraffes and bumblebees, various colourful objects and collages). The group continued with practicing rhythms, rehearsing songs, and dance choreographies. The participants did short writing exercises, which included the Latin letters U, V, Z, and Ž. They did warm-up exercises and yoga for children, and every Thursday they danced, did sports and practiced reading and listening to stories (Moby Dick, Little Red Riding Hood etc.). In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to traffic, animals, weather and holidays. 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 the dance workshops when they started learning new choreography.
      • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: culture diversity, democracy, peace, voluntarism in the local community, board games, holiday movies and music. 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, school homework, and interesting projects. The highlight with the older group was the interactive workshop discussion on the topic “Peace starts with me”.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In January, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 4 international volunteers from Germany.
  • Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Four volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Belgium and Poland (4-12 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 the Kick-off Meeting (KoM) of the “Mind over Screens” project (Erasmus+). The meeting took place in Tirana, Albania, and was hosted by the REBUS organization. The meeting addressed various aspects of the project, including partner responsibilities, planned actions, financial and management guidelines, and the next steps in the project’s implementation.
  • Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) international volunteers participated in the youth exchange project “Emotions in action: EQ for modern life” in Samobor, Croatia. The project delved into the intricate relationship between online experiences and emotional intelligence, offering participants a deeper understanding of EQ and its relevance in navigating the challenges and opportunities of digital life. Through this exploration, participants gained tools to approach their digital interactions critically, enhancing their emotional well-being and interpersonal skills in the modern, online-driven world. The participants were from Croatia, Bosnia, Jordan, Albania, Spain and Romania.
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