Alumni Impact: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"
Later this week, FIUTS staff members will head to Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit with alumni of the Youth Leadership Program. We're looking forward to an amazing reunion with over over 100 participants, as well as a chance to see some of the incredible community service projects that participants have planned and implemented using the skills they learned during their time in Seattle.
Here's a blog post from the Spring 2014 team from Jajce about their successful project to bring students in their community from different backgrounds together for a day of friendly competition and teamwork!
By Erna Mecavica, FIUTS Youth Leadership Program with Bosnia and Herzegovina Participant, Spring 2014
Members of the YLP group, L-R: Said Salihefendić, Erna Mecavica, Hana Alkić, Anamarija Barić, and Josip Jelica
It's been a year since we went from a small city in Bosnia, Jajce, to one of the most beautiful places we've ever been, to Seattle, where our dreams came true, where we learned how to be leaders and what it means to be a leader, how to help our community, and where we learned who we are and what we can do, what our biggest strengths are and also our biggest weaknesses.
After a month, we were full of experiences and new ideas about what we can do to help Jajce. We wanted to change something, to take our biggest problem and make something good about it. So, we decided to make a project which will show our children, who are divided in two nationalities and who go to two schools under one roof, that being different, having a different nationality and belonging to an other religion, is not something bad; it is something that we all should be proud of. We wanted to show them that they can play together, have fun, make new friendships, and that they are all same, human beings.
So we made a sport competition for seniors of two primary schools. 85 of them played basketball, football, volleyball, handball and athletics. Our goal was not the winning part, but that the children have fun together and learn from each other.
Everything was better than we expected. They made new friendships, learned that being different is something beautiful and that they can do amazing things only if they work together. We made certificates for all participants and trophies for the winners. We also had seven amazing volunteers who helped us a lot to make our dream come true.
At the end of the day, exhausted but happy, we closed the project with final words for the participants about the goal of the project and our wishes to them to always have a lot and different friendships which will last forever. It was not just a project for us, it was more than that! It was our dream that came true, and we are so thankful for everyone and everything who helped us to change something and to be proud about the fact that WE change it, that WE made something good for others.
Students Josip Jelica, Hana Alkić, Erna Mecavica, Anamarija Barić, and teacher Branka Babić
We are thankful for being YLP Alumni, and all people who taught us everything we need to know about leadership, changing and solving problems, especially the US Embassy in Sarajevo, State Department and FIUTS! We are also very thankful for everyone in Jajce who helped us and gave us their support, especially our volunteers of whom we are really proud.
At the end of the day we realized that, it is maybe the end of one project, but it is the beginning of something great, of something that will change our community, because every end is a new beginning.
Great work, Jajce team! Your FIUTS family is so proud of you.
The Youth Leadership Program with Bosnia and Herzegovina is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the program here.