Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – May 2022

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

Local volunteers: Dragana Katić, Maja Keserović, Amila Kavazović, Eldar Bešić, Edna Čorbadžić

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Nikolai Karl Pfeiffer, Rike Lea Stollenwerk

‘ESC’ volunteers: Emily Jade Posner, Siobhan Rosemary Coleman, Viktor Hüllmann, Mustafa Yücel, Berika Göksu   

‘Love Volunteers’ volunteers: Sean Andrew Gilhooley

      

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 MONTH’S ACTIVITIES

    • This month started with several public and national holidays, but it was also full of activities. Regular activities continued with an increasing number of participants. Several presentations about cultures, dialects and other interesting facts from the UK and Germany were implemented in cooperation with high and language schools from the Brcko District. The presentations were very successful and interesting for the students, who had many questions. This is a rare activity offered by the Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) in the local community, namely the opportunity for students to hear native speakers and improve their knowledge of English and German. For international volunteers, this was an excellent opportunity to meet young people from Brčko District through school visits and exchange opinions and experiences. New Turkish volunteers Mustafa and Berika brought new energy to the team, they quickly adapted and began to coordinate their own activities with the youngest participants. 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 148 participants regularly attended Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) activities in May. 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 cars out of cardboard rolls, colourful elephants, spiders, bees, and fun cacti. The group marked World Bee Day with a creative workshop, where they talked about bees in nature in general, and their important role for people, and made them as an ornament, which can be worn on the fingers. The group continued to learn the Cyrillic alphabet practising writing the letters A, Б, В, Г (A, B, V, G). In the English, German and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to colours, food, clothes and sports. In the Music Workshops, they continue to rehearse the songs „Visibaba mala“ (Little Snowdrop) and “Pet malih pačića” (Five little ducklings). In the Dance workshops, the participants learned choreography to the songs „Macarena“ and „Gangnam Style“. 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. Highlight with the younger group was the workshop for International Day of Families when they exchanged knowledge and feelings about their families and talked about the importance of family.
      • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: mine awareness, activism in the local community, culture and diversity of dialects in the UK, final exams in high schools (the types/preparation) and ecology in general. 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 and phrases, grammar, and got help with homework and school projects. The highlight with the older group was the workshop for World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development when they discussed the richness of cultural diversity in Bosnia and the UK and how to develop respect and mutual understanding for different cultures.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In May, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 8 Weltwärts, ‘Love Volunteers’ and ESC volunteers from UK, Germany and Turkey.
  • Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Seven volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Spain and Slovenia (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.
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