Svitac (Firefly) Project Report – October 2017

 

Staff:   Gordana Varcakovic, Dina Vosanovic, Milos Popic, Sanjin Vosanovic

Local volunteers: Adin Midzic, Milica Bacanov, Nadia Selimi, Aleksa Gavric, Azra Pezerovic, Aida Zahirovic, Katarina Popovic, Merima Hidanovic, Sladjana Basic, Ivana Knezevic

‘Weltwearts’ volunteers:  Manja Momirovic, Kim Hartmann

EVS volunteers: Hüseyin Şeref Çalış, Merve Güçlü, Vlatko Mircheski                 

Self-fundraising volunteers:  Taran Anderson

 

ON-GOING PROGRAMME

  • Culture and Art Diversity around the World – includes Language, Art&Crafts, Music, Drama, and Sports workshops from Monday to Friday
    • Standard Language workshops – English and German
      • English – standard English language workshops for teenagers and young people
      • German – standard German language workshops for teenagers and young people
    • Conversational Language workshops – English, German, Turkish
      • I love English – conversational English workshops for teenagers and young people
      • “Lasst uns Deutsch sprechen!/Pricajmo njemacki!“ (“Let’s speak German”) – conversational German workshops for teenagers and young people
      • Let’s speak Turkish – conversational Turkish workshops for teenagers and young people
    • Art&Crafts workshops – practical arts and crafts workshops for children and teenagers
    • Music workshops – samba, guitar, music workshops for children and young people
    • Sports workshops – for teenagers and young people
    • Drama workshops – for teenagers and young people
  • Local language lessons for international volunteers
  • Macedonian evening – This evening was organised by our EVS volunteer from Macedonia, Vlatko Mircheski. 21 people attended this event and learnt more about Macedonian culture, history, food and everyday life

 

HIGHLIGHTS ON MONTH’S ACTIVITIES

  • This month was very busy with preparations for Halloween Party. For the International Day of Non-Violence our participants became knights for peace, who carried roses, not swords, to demonstrate that they abhor violence and encourage a peaceful settlement to all disputes. International volunteers have also been doing a lot of different daily activities and they focused on different things (fundraising, promotion of the organization through social media etc.).
  • About 130 participants regularly attended Svitac’s (Firefly’s) activities in October, reconfirming their popularity in our small Brcko District community. Participants were aged between 4 and 40 years old. The youngest and the oldest participants attended Culture and Art Diversity around the World workshops and English/German workshops for adults.
    • Younger group – They made paper pumpkins, bats, ghosts and other decorations for Halloween Party. They learned to write and pronounce letters K, L, M in local language, and new words in English and German related to typical Halloween monster names from the movies and books (e.g. Frankenstein, Mummy). They learned the song „If you are happy“, in local and in English and had quiz when they had to guess the instrument by listening the sound. Highlight with the younger group was introduction to a real brass instruments tuba, trombone and trumpet and small rhythm exercises with boom whackers.
    • Older group – They made witches, mummies, vampires, ghosts and spiders for Halloween Party. In the Language Workshops, the group learned new words related to family tree, fruits, animals, movie songs and Halloween in English, German and Turkish. In the Music Workshops the group learned about rhythm and rhythmic music, and repeated some old songs. The highlights with the older group were workshops on security on Social Media and how to create secure passwords.

 

ANNUAL EVENTS

  • Halloween Party 2017 – Svitac (Firefly) organised Halloween Party on 27th and 28th October. The first part of the Halloween was held in the morning, on 27th October, for the youngest participants (4-7 years). They had an opportunity to come in costumes and watch Halloween “Mini cinema” cartoons, after which they played games and enjoyed the snacks and refreshment. Children, who did not have costumes, had an opportunity to have fun with face paint done by international volunteers. The second part of Halloween was held in the evening, on 28th October from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and it was organized for the 8+ children. During two days the Halloween Party attracted about 150 participants.

 

EVS, WELTWARTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS’ PROGRAMMES

  • In October, Svitac (Firefly) very much appreciated collaborating with 6 international volunteers: two ‘Weltwearts’ volunteers from Germany, three EVS volunteers from Macedonia and Turkey and one self-funded volunteer from USA.
  • Visa process has been finished for three EVS and weltwearts volunteers from Macedonia and Germany.
  • Sending EVS and ‘Weltwearts’ – One volunteer from Bosnia is doing his ‘weltwearts’ service in Germany (12 months).

 

MEETINGS and PRESENTATIONS

  • Svitac (Firefly) representatives continued to attend regular monthly meetings with the youth centre coordinator and the other NGOs based in Brcko. The purpose of the last meeting was to share information about activities and plans for October and discuss activities scheduled to take place in the youth centre.
  • Milos Popic was attending, as Svitac representative, SOHO – European Training Course for EVS Support People from 17th to 21st October in Sweden. The SOHO training course was designed for those who are directly involved in the support system around the EVS volunteer (e.g. mentors and task-related support persons) on the hosting, sending and coordinating side. The overall aim of training course was to increase the quality of EVS activities through development of competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) of key actors involved in the support system around the volunteer in the EVS projects developed within the frame of the Erasmus+: Youth in Action Programme.
  • Svitac representatives attended the 5th Global ECPD Youth Forum from 28-29 October in Belgrade, Serbia. This year’s Forum was held under the general theme “YOUTH PEACEBUILDERS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE” and highlighted the following discussion themes: Peace and Education as Inseparable Aspects of Civilization, Unity in Diversity and Building Bridges for Inclusion and Young Global Citizens in the Quest for a Sustainable Future.
  • Svitac staff and volunteers attended the event “Open door for young people”. The purpose of the activity was to strengthen the cooperation between the European Integration and young people from Brcko District. One of the topics of the discussion was the possibility for young people from Brcko to engage in the NGO sector.

 

 

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