Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – May 2026

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 marked by a harmonious blend of collaboration, friendship, and memorable experiences, featuring both engaging indoor activities and invigorating outdoor games. Each day offered unique opportunities for creativity, language learning in English and German, and enjoyable puzzle picnics in the sunshine. Spending time outdoors fostered energy, happiness, and deep connections among all participants. A major highlight of May was the active involvement in the “Mind over Screens” (MoS) project. The Svitac team organized and delivered interactive workshops in elementary and high schools, focusing on online safety, digital well-being, and privacy protection. Collaboratively planning these activities, exchanging ideas, and developing new training materials brought a strong sense of teamwork and shared purpose. The overall success of these activities was driven by the strong cooperation, positive atmosphere, and creative energy shared between local and international volunteers. Furthermore, the Svitac centre hosted vibrant intercultural exchanges, where volunteers organized presentations and discussions that encouraged participants to compare educational systems, share experiences, and broaden their perspectives. At the same time, regular activities for children and youth continued successfully, creating a welcoming space filled with learning, creativity, and active participation. International volunteers also engaged in various daily activities, focusing on different initiatives such as supporting online events and promoting the organization through social media.
      • In May, approximately 145 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 learned about various domestic and wild animals, phenomena in nature, talked about spring in general, and slowly prepared for our Spring Party. In the creative segment, they crafted various decorations and ornaments. Participants continued to learn and write numbers; this month, they learned to write numbers from 31-35. 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 (Freddy the Mouse and His Adventures, Happy Leaf and his family, Little Ship and High above the Clouds). In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops, they learned vocabulary related to animals (zoo, domestic), fruit, desserts, nature, turtles, and horses. 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 the International Family Day workshop, where they created colourful paper chains of families holding hands while learning about love, togetherness, and the importance of family bonds and kindness in their communities.
        • Older group –They covered the following topics: inclusion (why is inclusion vital in a multi-ethnic society, what are some common barriers to inclusion in schools, communities, or workplaces, how can these barriers be addressed), cultural appropriation vs. appreciation (how can individuals engage with other cultures respectfully), media representation of diversity (how media portrayals can shape public attitudes and beliefs about different ethnic and cultural groups, and the consequences of these portrayals on societal attitudes), and cultural diversity (how cultural identities continue to evolve and why celebrating diversity is so important in today’s world). 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 and phrases, working on grammar, completing school assignments, and engaging in projects. The highlight for the older group was interactive workshops on ‘mentors,’ where they developed communication and leadership skills, gained experience, and learned how to better support and motivate young people, while building self-confidence, creativity, and problem-solving abilities through teamwork and sharing experiences.

MUSIC PROJECTS

  • During the guitar workshops, participants explored a diverse repertoire, including children’s songs, classical compositions, and popular tunes, with an emphasis on technique, note reading, and composition. They practiced triads and dyads on the first, second, and third strings, while also focusing on sight reading and various arpeggios over a C major cadence. Participants continued to work on the duet “Travellers Song,” a Canadian folk song, and honed their skills with pieces such as “Ode to Joy” by Ludwig van Beethoven, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” Additionally, they practiced two etudes in C major and A minor by Julio Salvador Sagreras and collaborated on duets in C major. Efforts were made to develop an understanding of harmony and melodic material through major and minor scales, pentatonic scales, and chromatic approaches, including the transcription of “Bistra Voda” by Leb i Sol. Participants also engaged in beginner’s apoyando exercises and learned the children’s song “Na Kraj Sela” on the second string.
  • The samba group continued to practice their composition “Turnaround” while also initiating work on a new rhythmic concept utilizing samba percussion. They began developing a composition in 4/4 meter that incorporated both bass and rhythm guitar. Additionally, younger participants focused on further developing, exchanging, and integrating short rhythmic patterns into the composition using boomwhackers.

VOLUNTEERS

  • In May, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) greatly appreciated the collaboration with an international volunteer from Germany.
  • Four volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Croatia and Italy (6-12 months).
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