Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – October 2025

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Danijela Jović, Lejla Ajanović, Edna Čorbadžić, Valentina Perić, Ana Oparnica

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Annalena Tabea Milkerat

‘ESC’ volunteers: Elisa Laura Emilia Ryynänen

      

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 marked 30 years since Ellie Maxwell, the founder of our organization, first arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although she left us too soon, her spirit lives on in the lives she touched. Her family and friends joined us in Brčko to remember her, celebrate the work she began with Svitac, and reflect on the lasting impact of her vision within our community. Additionally, Jane and Mark from Firefly International visited Svitac to learn about our work, engage with our team, and meet both previous and current participants and volunteers. We are grateful for the time they spent with us and for the ongoing support that allows us to carry Ellie’s legacy into the future. At the beginning of the month, we were also happy to welcome a new volunteer from Finland, Elisa, whose energy and fresh perspectives are already sparking new ideas across our workshops. Her involvement in planning sessions with children and young people has brought renewed excitement and engagement, turning everyday activities into inspiring and interactive experiences. Our Halloween event brought plenty of smiles and excitement! The children arrived in imaginative costumes and took part in a variety of fun games and activities, including Fishing candies, painting balloons, and musical chairs. There were also sweet cupcakes, chocolate cakes, and many other sweets prepared by our volunteers. The event was filled with laughter, creativity, and a lot of sunshine in the park. 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 October, approximately 142 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 various variations of collages with fallen leaves, talked about migratory birds, hedgehogs, owls, wild animals, and coniferous and deciduous trees; participants made various decorations during the month. The group also engaged in rhythm practice, song rehearsals, and dance choreography. This month they finished with the Cyrillic alphabet and started learning and writing numbers 1-6. With each number they did something symbolic, e.g. number 2 (practiced things that come in pair), number 3 (did a craft of Three little pigs), number 4 (taught the participants values and emergency phone numbers: police, ambulance and fire department), number 5 (learned about the 5 senses of the human body), and for number 6 (insects that have 6 legs). 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 (Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Bears, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast). In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops, they learned vocabulary related to greetings, days of the week, birds, insects, occupations, farm animals and forest. 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 workshop for World Children’s Day, where they enthusiastically participated in creating motivational messages in English, German and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. This engaging activity fostered teamwork and encouraged the children to express their hopes and dreams.
      • Older group –They covered the following topics: non-violence (is non-violence an effective method for achieving social or political change today, is violence ever justified in self-defence or for a greater good, how does non-violence relate to human rights and equality), peace (what does it mean to ‘fight’ for peace, can true peace exist without justice), and what are considered the real virtues nowadays. 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 workshop held on International Day of Non-Violence, when they discussed what non-violence means in everyday life, shared personal experiences, and reflected on the values of empathy, understanding, and dialogue.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In October, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) greatly appreciated the collaboration with 2 international volunteers from Germany and Finland.
  • Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Four volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Slovenia and Italy (2-12 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.
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