Sarajevo 6th – 27th August 1998

Pictures from Ilidza

Gordon Fuller, Courtney Kang and myself spent a month working from the Danas za Bolje Sutra (D.B.S.: Today for a Better Tomorrow) Community Centre in Ilidza, in the suburbs of the infamous war-torn Sarajevo. Our project diverged into two strands; running a full and varied teaching and activity schedule, and writing a grant proposal on behalf of D.B.S.

Our daily schedule of classes was exhausting, but great fun too. The local children eagerly participated in our sessions of art and craft, chess, computing, Chinese and sport, whilst our basic English lesson of one hour/session proved especially popular, and undoubtedly became the most rewarding venture from our point of view.

In addition, the management of the centre asked if we could use our better command of the English language to help them to prepare a draft grant proposal. D.B.S. depends upon international funding to maintain its programme of Integrative Education, Community Development, Communication and Reconciliation, leading to Minority Return and Social Regeneration. In particular, this grant proposal introduced the centre’s plan to open a sister community centre in nearby Republika Srpska (only 3km away from Ilidza), in order to facilitate conflict resolution and bring the previously estranged ethnic groups together once again.

In this sphere, as in all others, we hope we made a valuable contribution. I speak for the group as a whole when I say that we are delighted with our rewarding experience in Bosnia this summer, and hope very much to be able to help further M.C.A.’s good work in the future.

Natalie Kear MCA President 1998/99

Last updated: February 25th, 2008