The 15 participants and 3 teachers returned to their homes in Banja Luka, Mostar, and Zenica in late March, after a 23-day U.S. program.  Each team carried home a written project plan, and their $200 USD mini-grant award.  Criteria for the projects included:  

1.The project serves a need in the community in a constructive way.
2.It involves everyone in the city group in selecting, planning, and completing.
3.It is completed by August 1.
4.Each member identifies and involves at least one additional volunteer in the project.

THE PROJECTS

The group from Banja Luka created a service project called “Children’s Rehabilitation Center,” which focused on providing companionship for children at “Dr. Miroslav Zatovic,” a residential children’s hospital near the city. They wanted to provide social interaction, help the young patients with their homework, teach them useful social skills, and generally make their stay at the hospital more pleasant. Many of the children in the hospital have disabilities or chronic situations that require long-term stays away from their families and friends. The participants planned to travel to the hospital each week during the project period, and spend time with the children.

Tanja: “It was surprising, but I realized that it’s a skill to work in a team when you don’t always agree. I’m an only child, and I learned this skill doing this project. And I learned that, as teens, we can accomplish something quite complicated that no one else is doing.”

The idea for the “Children’s Rehabilitation Center” project was developed in the United States, and preceded any contact with the target hospital itself.

The five YLP youths and their five volunteers were going to the hospital two per day, Monday – Friday. Initially, it was difficult to gain the trust of the children, many of whom have mental and behavioral problems as well as physical challenges. The YLP youths arranged some sessions with the Hospital Psychologist to receive training on how to understand the children’s needs and work more successfully with them.

The children ranged in age from infant to early teen-age years. As the YLP youths gained the childrens’ trust, they began asking the children about what would make their stay in the hospital more pleasant. The children requested more age-appropriate books in the hospital library, a DVD player, and their own computer!

The goal of the Mostar team’s project, “Workshop for Teens,” was to support reconciliation and co-existence efforts in their divided city by creating a “neutral environment” where teenagers could come together and spend time with each other. The venue was a series of arts and hand-crafts workshops, based on the idea was that an arts workshops would attract a different set of youths than would normally be willing to gather for pure socialization.

Amra: “This project helped me to become responsible. I really learned what it means to be persistent. And you have to be presistent if you want to accomplish something. I also see that we can do things – we can make our ideas become real – if we do it step by step.”

Gaining permission to use a room at the Gymnasium for their workshops required several meetings with the principal. “We had to win her trust and prove to her that we were serious,” stated the project members. Then they learned that to use the building on a Saturday, a member of the building maintenance staff had to be present, and he had to be paid. This problem was solved creatively in conjunction with the Student Council, which had a small treasury, and was willing to make a small grant to the YLP group.

Mersad: “I thought when I returned from the US that I knew how to do a project. Wow, was I wrong. I really learned the difference between making a presentation ABOUT something (just in your head and with words), and actually DOING it – making it happen. You learn about all the problems that come up, about how important it is to have a group to work with you. And you learn that you can’t make things like you have in your head, but if you work hard, you can get close to it.”

School trips and school calendar changes affected the intended schedule for the workshops, but the group adjusted and found solutions as each challenge presented itself. In the end, they held 5 workshops and reached their target number of students. They were quite satisfied that their project had drawn together students from several schools in different parts of the city who normally would not have come into contact with each other.

After considering several options, they decided to donate the remaining art materials to Nazaret, local home for children with special needs.

Professor Diana BeÓiƒ: “Looking back at the program in the States now, I realize that everything was perfect: the work, the learning, the training the sightseeing – all was exactly what we needed to be able to do what we did at home.”