Alumni Impact: "The kids are our future"
The Spring 2013 group in Seattle
Youth Leadership Program alumni in the town of Bijeljina are developing a project that will encourage local kids to go outside and play.
Twice a year, FIUTS hosts groups of high school students from Bosnia and Herzegovina who are participating in aYouth Leadership Program. Upon returning to Bosnia, these students use the skills they learned in Seattle to develop and lead community service projects. Here's an update from one of the Spring 2013 program participants!
Hello everyone! My name is Natasha, and I’m one of the lucky six students from the small town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina that participated in Youth Leadership Program last spring. Our stay in the US was very exciting and full of new experiences. We met a lot of different people, tried lots of new things and, as you may know, gained some leadership skills. We had several courses in team building, project writing etc., and we got to use all of that very soon after we came back home.
Since I have small cousins, I noticed that they don’t play outside with other kids a lot. I remember, when I was their age, my parents couldn't make me come in the house! The weather was very nice and warm, and I remembered the games I used to play with the kids in my neighborhood. Ilija, Bojana, Arsen, Andjela and Luka all knew what was I saying, so we eventually got the idea to do something about it.
We decided to do several workshops with kindergarten kids, and soon made a plan of action. We visited the largest local kindergarten and got permission to take our words into action.
During our workshop, we talked about their habits, games, friends. They were shy at first, but soon started speaking freely – we became friends! We taught them some of our childhood games and used some that Ms Randi Gottlieb suggested in the book she gave us during her workshop in Seattle. The kids showed us their creativity while drawing their superheroes and patience while teaching us some things too.
The kids are our future, but we have to do something for youth and adults too, and that’s where our other project steps in. We will upgrade a street-workout park in one neighborhood, as soon as the weather allows us to.
