https://svitac.org

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amina Omerović, Teodora Krsmanović, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić, Nemanja Mitrović

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Jonathan Ludwig, Simon Müller

‘ESC’ volunteers: Beata Maria Asplund, Karla Vanamo Sivonen, Anna Kristiina Ruotsalainen, Janika Alina Palonen, Onni Samuel Nurmi, Emmi Auroora Tilvis, Janina Amanda Palonen 

Turing Scheme volunteers: Orla Rose Ryan

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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 THE MONTH’S ACTIVITIES

  • This month brought many possibilities and opportunities for our young participants. A volunteer on the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program, Zejna Šarić, took the opportunity to volunteer on a short-term project in Adana, Turkey, while Konstantin Pudar and Eldar Bešić represented our organization at the youth exchange in Albania. We had a successful visit from a representative of a partner organization from Germany. At the meetings, we made a plan for cooperation on a volunteer program where young people from Germany will have the opportunity to volunteer in our organization. With our young participants, we celebrated Zero-Discrimination Day, discussed spring, and changes in nature, and organized various language and music activities. 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 March. 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 the evolution of humanity, the ability to remember and forget, the life cycle of frogs and butterflies, reptiles, and photosynthesis. The youngest participants enjoyed the creative part and modelling fun items (e.g. various colourful decorations, small frogs, and butterflies out of paper and cardboard rolls). The group continued with music workshops, practicing rhythms, rehearsing songs, and dance choreographies. The participants continued to learn the Latin alphabet practising writing the letters O, P, R, S, Š, T, U, and V. They did warm-up exercises and yoga for children, and every Thursday they danced, did sports, and practiced reading and listening to stories (The Hen That Laid Golden Eggs, The Monkey and the Cat, The Beauty, and the Beast). In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to drinks, feelings, prepositions of place, adjectives, and opposites. 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 workshop for International Day of Happiness when they talked about the importance of happiness in their lives.
    • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: discrimination, prejudice, racism, and conspiracy theories. 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 workshop for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination when they reflected on the existence of racism in their town and shared their own experiences.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

• In March, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 10 international volunteers from Germany, the UK and Finland.
• Visa process has been started for a volunteer from the UK.
• Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Four volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Turkey and Romania (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 the International Training Course “Speak the unspoken: Youth dealing with the past” in Durrës, Albania. The project aimed to empower young people, young journalists, youth workers, young educators, and activists to use media literacy to deal with the past online and offline in the Balkan region. The project targeted the countries that had and have open and hidden conflicts, and political and social issues among each other (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Türkiye). The capacity-building training was based on non-formal learning tools by an experienced team of trainers and facilitators. The project was supported by the European Youth Foundation (EYF), and implemented by the Peace Volunteering Network (PVN) in partnership with 7 other partners from Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, and the Republic of Türkiye.
• Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) welcomed a group of short-term ESC volunteers from Finland who spent 14 days in the Brcko District. The main mission of the project was to contribute to the local community. Volunteers gave necessary support to organizations in Brcko that work with children and youth to promote solidarity and tolerance. Main activities included events about Anti-racism days in Bosnia. They spent the first days exchanging cultures and learning about informal education. Daily they participated in a range of activities in Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia), Centre for Roma Youth, and Mastaonica (an NGO that works with disadvantaged children). Together with our long-term volunteers and local participants, they experienced sharing different cultures, languages, and experiences. The international volunteers have made a positive impact on peacebuilding efforts during daily activities.