https://svitac.org

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amina Omerović, Teodora Krsmanović, Denis Muharemović

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Ada Gabriela Groneick, Paula Scholz

‘ESC’ volunteers: Alp Eren Alçın, Canan Karahan

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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 went by quickly and brought about significant changes. We said goodbye to Simon and Joni, who spent a year with us and we already miss them a lot! Orla, a volunteer from the United Kingdom, also completed a six-month project with our organization; we wish her a safe trip to Georgia! Some of our participants have entered first grade in school. We wish them a happy school year filled with good friends and good grades! We also welcomed our new international volunteers from Turkey and Germany: Alp, Canan, Paula, and Ada. They did the animation, worked on the musical system, wrote notes, and drew musical instruments with our youngest participants. Our local volunteer Eldar led a literacy workshop for participants aged 16+, and the Sambaš group continued to work on new compositions. 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 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 types of music (opera, jazz, rock, and classical music), jewellery and jewellery symbolism, learned about different types of musical instruments (looked at what a trumpet, trombone, guitar, rattles, and various percussion instruments look like), discussed mosaics (where they come from, what materials they can be made from). Of course, as the seasons change, so do our youngest notice changes in nature. The group talked about the arrival of autumn, and the colours that dominate, and drew a big tree on the poster. The youngest participants enjoyed the creative part and modelling fun items (e.g. necklaces, bracelets, flip books – mini animation booklets, small mosaics from plasticine, beads, straws, and an autumn tree). The group continued with practicing rhythms, rehearsing songs, and dance choreographies. The participants did short writing exercises, which included the Latin letters A, B, C, Č, Ć, D, Đ, and Dž. They did warm-up exercises and yoga for children, and every Thursday they danced, did sports and practiced reading and listening to stories (Little Red Riding Hood, When Frogs Want a King, The mission Assembly, The Tortoise and the Rabbit). In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops they learned words related to furniture, animals, colours, numbers, and autumn. 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 a creative workshop for the International Day of Peace when they painted a peace dove on the canvas and discussed the value of peace in the globe.
    • Older group –  They discussed the following topics: literacy and how important it is to be literate in different segments, democracy, equality, peace, the elections and the current political scene. 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 International Day of Democracy when they discussed democracy in general and its important role in human society.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

• In September, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) very much appreciated the collaboration with 4 international volunteers from Germany and Turkey.
• Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Four volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany, Belgium and Poland (4-12 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) staff continued with the implementation of the project “Values for young people through volunteerism”. The third event referred to the benefits of different volunteering programs, challenges, obstacles, and active topics regarding digital transformation, multimedia, and forms of project visibility. The participants had the opportunity to hear ex-volunteers’ experiences, learn about quality methods for project visibility, and experience practical work by writing a short project announcement in the form of an article, or recording a video for volunteerism in the local or international community.
• Svitac’s (Firefly in Bosnia’s) volunteers accepted the invitation from high school JU Gymnasium “Vaso Pelagić” to take part in “Media Competence” workshops and other activities related to the German Language Diploma (DSD) educational program. The program lasted three days, and our international volunteers from Germany Canan, Ada, and Paula, as well as our local volunteer Eldar, were tasked with assisting with German communication while attending numerous activities and lectures, honing media skills, and sharing experiences. They also had the opportunity to meet young people from different cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.