https://svitac.org

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

Local volunteers: Eldar Bešić, Amna Balija, Aida Slomić, Edna Čorbadžić, Valentina Perić

‘Weltwärts’ volunteers: Annalena Tabea Milkerat

‘ESC’ volunteers: Hacer Balıkcı, Sedanur Bagay, Ömer Ensar Bayır, Ahmet Selim Tekiz

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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

  • Throughout this month, the beginning of the school year brought adjustments to activity schedules in the youth centre, and the favourable weather allowed for a blend of indoor and outdoor activities. We bid farewell to several volunteers who completed their volunteer service, while warmly welcoming our newest team member, Annalena from Germany, who has joined us as a long-term volunteer. Selim and Ömer, our Turkish volunteers, shared their country’s culture with our participants. They talked about traditional foods like baklava, kebabs, and simit, and explained how meals are an important part of daily life in Turkey. They also highlighted popular places to visit, such as the busy streets of Ankara and its architecture. For young people, they recommended lively bazaars, music festivals, and interesting sightseeing spots rich in history and modern life. Their presentation brought Turkey closer to Brčko, fostering a friendly cultural exchange. While our team continued running daily activities, we also marked a series of special events in celebration of the International Day of Democracy, the International Day of Peace, and the European Day of Languages. These events were more than just dates on the calendar — they became opportunities for meaningful engagement, creative expression, and cultural exchange. 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 September, 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 continued exploring various autumn-themed, interesting, and educational topics, creating different variations of fallen leaves and decorations. This month, we focused on competitive and team-based outdoor games, as well as playing educational cards and making jewellery. The group also engaged in rhythm practice, song rehearsals, and dance choreography. Participants continued to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, focusing on writing the letters Ч, Џ, and Ш (Č, Dž, Š) along with simple words in Cyrillic. 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 (The Monkey and the Camel etc.). In the English, German, and Turkish language workshops, they learned vocabulary related to cats, fruits, fish aquarium, and sports. 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 held on the International Day of Peace. During this event, we discussed the concept of peace with the participants, adapting our discussion method to suit their ages. They watched an animated video about peace in the world, which sparked great interest. In the creative part of the workshop, the children designed posters featuring the message, ‘We want all children in the world to live in peace.’ They incorporated various decorations, such as doves of peace, flowers, and hearts.
    • Older group –They covered the following topics: democracy (what does democracy mean, is the democracy the ‘best’ system of government, or just the ‘least bad’, how can young people participate in democracy), voting rights (should the voting age be lowered to 16, should voting be mandatory – like in some countries, what barriers prevent people from voting – how could these be reduced, how can democracy better represent minority voices), and peace (what should be included in peace education programs for children and young adults, how can media influence perceptions of peace and conflict, what actions can individuals take in their daily lives to promote peace in their communities). 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 Democracy, where they discussed what democracy means and how they can contribute to it in their everyday lives.

ESC, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

• In September, Svitac (Firefly in Bosnia) greatly appreciated the collaboration with 5 international volunteers from Germany and Turkey.
• Sending ESC and ‘Weltwärts’ – Three volunteers from Bosnia are doing their service in Germany and Italy (11-12 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.