Today I will depart for my trip to the Balkans. First of all, I want to share with you all how successful my/our fundraising drive was for this trip. Initially my goal was to raise $2,400 so that I could cover the $1,400 costs for myself and 3 youth to attend the camp as well as my travel costs. However, thanks to all of your resourcefulness and generosity, I was able to raise (either directly or indirectly) $3,500! Therefore, I was able to donate $1,800 to Firefly directly as well as pay for my airfare and any other related travel costs as well as any other costs I incurred to fund raise for this cause. It just goes to show how powerful a community we are and I have been truly inspired by this entire endeavor.
Yesterday, Gordana- the Firefly Bosnia Coordinator, sent me a list of participants at the Firefly International camp. Looking at the list made it all very real. There will be 48 youth participating; 4 young volunteers (former campers); 6 staff; and 6 staff from Brcko; as well as 11 staff from the UK and US (of which I am one). Many of the camp participants are in fact teenagers and the age range is 9 to 18. This will mean that some of the camp participants may be old enough to remember what happened during the war or were born during that sad time. Next to the name of a participant on the list it says whether she or he is a Serb, Bosniak (Muslim) or Croat. Hopefully the camp will help play a role in the youth eventually not seeing each other as Serbs, Bosniaks or Croats but as people who share a common community. I know that that will not be easy but it's a huge and admirable step for all of them to come to the camp where they are willing to set aside their differences and find common ground.
The camp will be held in Savudrija, Croatia an idyllic seaide resort town on the Northwest Istran coast very close to Croatia's border with Slovenia. I will be meeting the group and camp participants there this Friday. Following the camp's end on July 15, I will travel back with the camp coordinators and youth to Brcko in Bosnia. Brcko has a complex status. In 1995 at the Dayton Peace Accord, the Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina was divided into two administrative entitities- the Republic of Srpska which is primarily inhabited by ethnic Serbs and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina which is primarily inhabited by Bosniaks (Muslims) and Croats. The Brcko District, however, was created in 2000 out of land from both entities, is multiethnic and is not governed by either entity. It is self governed and also remains under international supervision.
I will also have the opportunity to travel in early August to Mostar and Sarajevo. Mostar is in Southern Bosnia in the Herzegovina region. It is famous for Stari Most (Old Bridge), a 14th century structure built by the Ottoman Turks and destroyed during the Bosnian War in 1993. It has since been rebuilt and become a symbol for hope and new cooperation between the different ethnic groups in the city. I also look forward to visiting Sarajevo which I understand has again become quite hip and lively.
This will be my last entry on this blog before I leave for Europe. Hopefully I will have the chance to visit internet cafes to keep you all updated!
Yesterday, Gordana- the Firefly Bosnia Coordinator, sent me a list of participants at the Firefly International camp. Looking at the list made it all very real. There will be 48 youth participating; 4 young volunteers (former campers); 6 staff; and 6 staff from Brcko; as well as 11 staff from the UK and US (of which I am one). Many of the camp participants are in fact teenagers and the age range is 9 to 18. This will mean that some of the camp participants may be old enough to remember what happened during the war or were born during that sad time. Next to the name of a participant on the list it says whether she or he is a Serb, Bosniak (Muslim) or Croat. Hopefully the camp will help play a role in the youth eventually not seeing each other as Serbs, Bosniaks or Croats but as people who share a common community. I know that that will not be easy but it's a huge and admirable step for all of them to come to the camp where they are willing to set aside their differences and find common ground.
The camp will be held in Savudrija, Croatia an idyllic seaide resort town on the Northwest Istran coast very close to Croatia's border with Slovenia. I will be meeting the group and camp participants there this Friday. Following the camp's end on July 15, I will travel back with the camp coordinators and youth to Brcko in Bosnia. Brcko has a complex status. In 1995 at the Dayton Peace Accord, the Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina was divided into two administrative entitities- the Republic of Srpska which is primarily inhabited by ethnic Serbs and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina which is primarily inhabited by Bosniaks (Muslims) and Croats. The Brcko District, however, was created in 2000 out of land from both entities, is multiethnic and is not governed by either entity. It is self governed and also remains under international supervision.
I will also have the opportunity to travel in early August to Mostar and Sarajevo. Mostar is in Southern Bosnia in the Herzegovina region. It is famous for Stari Most (Old Bridge), a 14th century structure built by the Ottoman Turks and destroyed during the Bosnian War in 1993. It has since been rebuilt and become a symbol for hope and new cooperation between the different ethnic groups in the city. I also look forward to visiting Sarajevo which I understand has again become quite hip and lively.
This will be my last entry on this blog before I leave for Europe. Hopefully I will have the chance to visit internet cafes to keep you all updated!
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