Alumni Impact: Students in Action
The alumni of the Youth Leadership Program with Bosnia and Herzegovina are hard at work using what they learned in the U.S. to do great projects back in their home communities. Here's a blog post about an initiative from four participants in last Fall's program!
By Elena Ourdan, YLP Bosnia Fall 2014
Ena, Nejra, Elena, and Adna
After we got back from the USA, Ena, Adna, Nejra and I knew we wanted our follow-on project to be a humanitarian action. We debated a few hours on what exactly we wanted to do, until we came up with the idea of organizing an art exhibition where we would expose photographs, drawings and paintings made by high school students from Sarajevo, and give the money to charity.
First, we searched for galleries that would lend us the space we needed, and had enough luck to come across one who was willing to do that without charging us. Then we used social media to let people know there was going to be a humanitarian exposition, which we had named « Students in action », and that those who are interested in photography and fine arts could send their work on our email. The results were amazing. We received almost 200 pictures in only a few days. Choosing what we would exhibit was really hard, but after two hours spent arguing and voting, we managed to pick out 20 paintings and 20 photographs.
Presenting certificates to those who donated art
The next step was to print them out and frame them. One of our friends was kind enough to offer his help and print the books we decided to sell there as well, photos and the posters for the promotion of our exhibition for free. Then, we had to find someone who would frame all that in minimum expense, since we were afraid we would exceed the budget that was given to us. Thanks to some contacts, we found out about a man who was able to do that in a short period of time for an appropriate price, and we quickly went there and made a deal.
The choir singing at the event
When the day of the exhibition finally came, we used up the entire morning deciding where would each picture go on the wall, buying refreshments, getting our opening speech ready and trying to prepare ourselves for the afternoon.
People slowly started arriving at 6pm, and the place was filling up. The amazing choir we asked to come open the event sang three short songs, and then Adna and I held our welcome speech, where we explained to people how they could buy anything that was on the walls or those books, and that there was a box for the ones who wanted to give money without necessarily buying any of those things. More than 150 people decided to spare some time and came to support high schoolers and their art, but also to donate the money some people desperately need.
A great turnout!
The four of us not only had a lot of support, but we were also helped by friends of ours who came to every meeting we had and gave their best to contribute to this event. We are very thankful to them and every person who came that day and proved that united we can make something happen. The outcome of this project was further than amazing. We raised more than 1,000 KM (about $600), which surpassed any of our expectations.
We are already thinking about what we could do next while keeping the name « Students in action », because now we know how many teenagers out there are willing to participate and help others.
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.