Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) Project Report – September 2023

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić, Edna Čorbadžić, Katarina Radić

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Jonathan Ludwig, Simon Müller

‘ESC’ volunteers: Yasmine Mirza Stoner, Noama Ayeesha Rana Chaudhry, Hasan Hüseyin Demir 

      

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 began with the arrival of new volunteers from Germany, the UK, and Turkey as well as a visit from dear friends from Firefly International Victoria and Thomas Crawley. Our youngest participants have been participating in various activities and enjoying themselves in plenty of sunshine while Jonathan’s trombone abilities enhanced the music workshops. We are delighted that the “SambaŠ?” music group now has two brass instruments, and we are eager to hear new tunes. Drawing and other creative methods were used with the younger participants while international volunteers ran joint English and German workshops. 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 140 participants regularly attended Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) activities in September. 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 autumn and worked with materials from nature, such as leaves, branches, and cones, and made interesting creations and life forms. The youngest participants enjoyed the creative part and modeling fun items. The group continued with music workshops, practicing rhythms and rehearsing songs. Participants continued to learn and write numbers; this month, they learned to write numbers up to 19. They did warm-up exercises and yoga for children, and every Thursday they danced, did sports, and practiced reading and listening to stories. In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to greetings, autumn, and nature. 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 the International Day of Peace when they created a symbolic ‘peace bird’ out of hand prints.
      • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: peace, democracy, mental health, and social networks. 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 practicing 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 International Day of Democracy when they discussed young people’s essential role in advancing democracy, why it is important, and what are advantages and disadvantages.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In September, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 5 Weltwärts and ESC volunteers from Turkey, Germany, and the UK.
  • Visa process has been started for two volunteers from Germany.
  • Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Five volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, France, and Turkey (1-12 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 participated in the Erasmus+ youth exchange project “Raise local leaders” in the Czech Republic from 8th to 16th September. The course aimed to improve the quality of youth workers’ competencies and attitudes in intercultural learning, non-formal education methods, and understanding the main concepts of youth leadership while working with youngsters and their ideas targeting local development and community volunteering. The project brought together 33 participants from the Czech Republic, the Republic of Armenia, Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Spain, Georgia, Estonia and France.
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