Our friends from “AMICA” at the party

Volunteers

Svitac and Amica make a world for UNITED's International Day against Fascism and Antisemitsm

When we heard about the chance to participate in the International Day against Fascism and Antisemitism we thought of Amica – Kuća Prijateljstva (house of friendship) as the perfect place to do that.  Amica is a youth centre in which there are Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Roma children all together.  We took photos!

We wanted to come up with a project that would make the topic a bit more understandable for the children. We thought of all the different people in the world who still have one thing in common: they share the same planet. “Different people – one world”.  The idea was then to create an Earth with all these different people together.

 We got  UNITED posters and postcards that we distributed at the SVITAC and Amica youth centres in order to reach as many people as possible.  I prepared a big balloon with glue and old newspapers to be our earth.

 On the 5^th of November I went to Amica with Dina, Svitac’s volunteer coordinator, and Tamara, one of our new local volunteers.

We took all the materials we needed with us – water colors, paper, glue, old clothes, plumes and other decoration stuff.

At Amica there were already ten children and two women of the staff waiting for us, so all in all we were 15 people to work out our planned project.

The first thing was to color the earth blue. Since it was so big,  many children were able to do it together.

Meanwhile an 11-year-old boy drew the continents. He had a small globe as a model. Then we colored the different parts in various colors.

When the other children were finished with painting the earth we all started together to create the inhabitants of our world. We drew, painted, cut out and glued Europeans, Asians, Africans and Indians.

The last step was to make the people settle their world. We hung them very mixed from the bottom of the earth.

It was big fun for everybody of us and the children are very proud of the outcome, every time I visit them they remind me of the workshop.

Dina documented the whole project in photos. Svitac Director Gordana then chose some of these photos to share with UNITED.

Halloween party is becoming annual event organized by Svitac’s international and local volunteers for children and young people of Brčko.

This year there was:

Story reading-

Scary costumes -

Games-

Happy volunteers-

The Rebecca Davis Dance Company

www.rebeccadavisdance.com

Collaboration Between Svitac and RDDC:

The Rebecca Davis Dance Company (RDDC), in conjunction with Svitac, began a collaborative partnership in 2009 when Rebecca first travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) to establish a series of dance workshops designed to build self-esteem and encourage social integration amongst youth. Since 2009, children have presented a dance work each year at the Annual Children’s Day Festival.

In 2010, RDDC selected two Brcko youth to travel to the United States for one-month of extensive dance training. In 2011, Rebecca returned to Brcko during the Children’s Festival to prepare another short choreographic work which was performed at the Annual Festival. The video excerpt of this dance can be seen here:

History of RDDC:

The Rebecca Davis Dance Company (RDDC) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit arts organization based in Philadelphia, USA. It has been working in BiH since 2009. The mission of RDDC is to build sustainable projects in post-conflict countries using dance training, performance and exchange as a tool of reconciliation in conjunction with community revitalization and economic development.

In 2005, RDDC was founded on the notion of bringing literary works, significant historical events and modern social issues to the stage using the medium of dance. The Company has grown quickly, amassing a repertoire of six original full-length contemporary ballets: Antigone (2006), Helen Keller (2007), Darfur (2008), Greed: The Tale of Enron (2009), Van Gogh (2009), and Braving the New World (2010).

Presently, RDDC is focused on building sustainable dance programs for underserved youth in three countries: Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Guinea. For more information, please visit:

www.rebeccadavisdance.com

www.youtube.com/rebeccadavisdance

During the period of five days of summer camps we had:

English language workshops

Arts and crafts workshops

Dance workshops

Music workshopsMusic festival

Children s day

playing Samba

being creative

 taking a deep breath

having fun

socializing

See ya all next summer

My name is Emilie. With a British mother and a Canadian father, I was born in Paris, where I ended up spending the first 18 years of my life. So I guess I was always going to be one of those multi-cultural, multi-lingual expats, itching to see more of the world. I left France after graduating from a bilingual international school to study English literature at the University of Bristol for three years. As soon as I was finished, I was off again, interning at a human rights organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, for three and a half months. Then I fancied moving to London and discovering the capital.

In London, I completed another internship for a non-profit organisation, worked on the 2011 UK Census and as a private tutor, and took Spanish classes. But already, after living in London for only five months, I could feel the desire to see more of the world eating away at me. So when I received an email from Youth Networks about an opportunity to be an EVS (European Voluntary Service) volunteer with Svitac (Firefly Bosnia), an organisation that works with youth in ex-Yugoslavia to promote understanding between Croats, Serbs and Bosnians, I was game. Since then, it’s all been a bit of a rush really.

I was interviewed over the phone and offered a position within two weeks of applying and I only booked my flights to and from Ljubljana, Slovenia, this week. From Ljubljana, I’ll take a long bus journey to my final destination. I’m really looking forward to volunteering for Svitac and discovering a new country, culture and language.

I think I’ll enjoy being in a multi-cultural environment again. I’ve also always found working with young people quite fulfilling and inspiring and generally feel pretty young myself! I like creative writing, dance and theatre, and hope to organise those kinds of workshops in Bosnia, as well as teaching a bit of English and French. But most importantly I like to feel like the work I do has an impact, and I think this will definitely be the case in Bosnia. I read One Day, by David Nicholls, recently and was very pleasantly surprised with it. There’s a quote I really like, when Emma Morley is thinking about her future the day after graduation: “simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you.” Maybe I can try to make a difference in Bosnia… In any case, it will most definitely be an exciting experience. As the French say, en avant l’aventure!

Welcome to Bosnia Emilie!

Maja with Svitac volunteer Saira

I am from Germany from the 230 000 inhabitants big town Halle/Salle (near Leipzig). I finished my school, and then I finished my apprenticeship as an assistant of fashion/design. But my interests are also in other ways of life and I really want(ed) to see and to be in Bosnia.

Main thing: to be in Bosnia. I wasn’t interested in a specific town or village: SVITAC accepted my application. So I choose the town Brcko.

Of course I search by “Google” this town and find out: Brcko is a district, it is located in the north of Bosnia, it has 60 000 inhabitants, has a boulevard, the winters are cold and the summers are really hot.

There were 5 months before my trip to Bosnia. Enough time to prepare the trip, for example I needed a passport or to buy toothpaste. And, of course, the most important thing to say “goodbye” to my friends and family and the others, which know me. I chose the best way to do this: A Party! Afterward there were good moments with the best.

Finally came the day: The start of my trip, which should take 12 months. And we start in Berlin. My best friend, a friend, my boyfriend and my lovely mother brought me to the airport Tegel. It was the hardest part of everything to say “goodbye” here and finally to go alone to the aircraft and let the trip really start.

So I flew from Berlin to Vienna, from Vienna to Belgrade. In Belgrade waited the most difficult challenge of me: finding the right bus which to Brcko.

At the airport I asked a nice woman by the tourism information. She gave me a map of Belgrade and explained and drew my way from the bus station where the Airport Bus arrives to the other where the bus to Brcko is.

At first I was looking for the bus at the airport. There was a mean taxi driver, who said to me that the bus company exists anymore and he would drive me for 20 €. But I didn’t believe him: The bus company still exists. I was so happy and bus to the city centre was just 100 Dinar (=1€).

The next difficulty was that I could’t read anything. Everything was in Cyrillic. What should I do? Where have I to go out? But also here, there people around you, which speak English. They would help. They helped me. Finally I went out. It was the ready place. Now I took a look on the map, which direction I had to go. Besides, “WOW” I am in Belgrade. Such a big city and so much live and people. And it was so warm. Ok, go!

Here I needed help again. I am not good with maps. With asking and asking and asking I found the bus station, bought the ticket (1000 Dinar!!!!:-) ) – the people were really friendly – and sat down in the bus to my final station – Brcko.

I was the whole way between sleep and asked someone “is this Brcko?”. And also here, there are people, which smile at you and tell you what you need to know.

After three hours was the city Brcko. Hello I am there.

I’ve been in Brcko for 3 months. I got get to know my hosting organisation SVITAC. That means Edina, my Mentor, Gordana, my local language teacher and coordinator, and Sanjin, the music teacher. I also got to know my Pair Volunteer Saira. This is a nice idea from SVITAC. They will organise a Pair Volunteer for you, who is your “personal assistant”. Because of Saira I didn´t and don´t feel alone by organising and doing my Workshops. Also she is big help by conversation with the kids, because I didn’t know ‘local language’ (Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian). So I started to assist Edina with her German lessons and looked sometimes in the English lessons of Gordana. In addition I have my own workshops. At the first are the arts & crafts and now theatre/dance.

Where do I live? I live in a beautiful house. It is just 10 minutes from the youth centre. Also it is just a short way by foot to the city centre or to the ELLIE MAXWELL Youth Centre.

There are different places, where I can go in my free time. Sometimes I go with my flatmate or with Saira or Edina. But there are also the possibilities to go alone, maybe to take a walk or enjoy the coffee bars by yourself.

But you should know that Brcko has neither cinemas or theatres, and the swimming pool is rarely open. Also my flatmate had at first time problems to do something in her free time, because of her hobbies. She liked climbing in mountains or this specific wall.

My problem was and is that here is no theatre or cinema, maybe sometimes living in a city without swimming pool.

You have to open your eyes and ears to here what is going on. So the cinema was in Brcko with the film “Cirkus Columbija“ of few months ago. Also a theatre festival was coming for a whole week and you could visit some auditions.

Now my flatmate and I started to go to kick boxing. Here is club and you are really welcome to join the training. We want to become fit or don’t lost or fitness, so it was a good decision. The training is really fun, but also hard. That means you feel what you did the last training.

On nice Sundays I like to take walks by the river, sometimes I decided to go by the Sava or sometimes I decided to do by the Brka. One time I took a walk with my flatmate and the Swedish girls (also there is entertainment because of new international people in the house) to Croatia. It is just a bridge away from Brcko. And there are fantastic civapcici.

You have to figure out for yourself what you are going to do for nightlife. There are some clubs, pubs, disco bars or coffees. One time I tried a whole night with Turbobofolk. That was in Jajce (a city in the middle of Bosnia), but you will find it here as well.

I would say give everything at least one chance.

So at the end it is a small city with few possibilities to create your new life. But to travel few times is for me really necessary to get many views of this country and to be alive.

New Year’s party

Brcko youth centre.18.12.2010

recycling fashion show

New years party for children

5:00 pm- 8:00 pm.