|
TWI for the Children Camps to Kids |
| Date |
Activity (Updates
in Black; planned itinerary in Green) |
| 7/2/2008 (Wednesday) |
Team departs USA:
Bobby and Lisbeth departed Philadelphia, PA with 19 bags of donated
clothes,
camp crafts and games and materials for orphanages. First stop is
Munich, Germany.
|
| 7/3/2008 (Thursday) |
The airplane for Bobby and Lisbeth was not able to
continue to Sarajevo so the team stayed overnight in Munich and planned on
leaving early morning - 4 July.
David missed his flight in Chicago because of weather, but was able
to get a flight out to Vienna. We hope that he will be able to arrive on 4
July.
|
| 7/4/2008 (Friday) |
Bobby and Lisbeth arrived in Sarajevo with all 19 bags.
Dzanan, our driver, carried all 19 bags three flights up to the apartment.
Great to be back in Sarajevo and the beautiful mountains and friends. Hope
to meet with Margaret and Laura to discuss the success of the Educational
Project at the Mostar Orphanage. Margaret and Laura participated in the
New Jersey camp series after finishing their month at the Mostar
Orphanage.
We keep our fingers crossed that David will arrive at 9:00 PM.
David Arrived at 10:00 PM without his bags.
|
| 7/5/2008 (Saturday) |
The TWI team minus Azra and Vjeko and Drew traveled to
Srebrenica, Bosnia by van early the morning of 5 July. We visited the
memorial to those killed at Srebrenica and then went to the home of our
dear friends the Halilovic's. The team spent the night with these dear
people and enjoyed their hospitality.
Saturday July, 5th Leptir Center
Srebrenica
 Our camp
with special needs children at the Leptir Center in Srebrenica was
conducted by a small team of TWI volunteers and included both children and
their parents from the Srebrenica enclave and surrounding areas.
Though this camp was facilitated by a smaller number of volunteers
it went very smoothly and not only did the children have a good time, but
their parents were very involved and enjoyed their time at the camp as
well. Both Serbian and Bosniak
participants worked together toward the shared common goal of creating
opportunities for their children.
|
7/6/2008 (Sunday) |
We were up early and out to the "Olympic Camp"
for kids held at Liptor Center in
Srebrenica. The Olympic camp hosted
about 65 children, parents and grandparents for a day of Olympic fun. The
children were registered and signed our Olympic banner. We broke into
our Olympic groups - China, USA, Greece and England. The teams built
a lego-bridge and played games and competitions. The craft was to make
Olympic medals and everyone made one (even the mothers and fathers of the
children. After lunch we held more songs and games and after the closing
ceremony, we all recited the Olympic creed. We hated to leave, but
had to return to Sarajevo.
Upon arrival in Sarajevo, we met with the remainder of our team and
were overjoyed to have Azra and Vjeko again with us. They had just seen
the New Jersey teams on the airplane taking those teams back to the United
States after two-weeks of super camps through-out Bosnia. We were ready
for bed and ready to start early tomorrow for Zenica with the full team.
We hope to see Ajsa the former director of the Zenica Orphanage along with
Merila, one of our first friends from Zenica when we get there.
Good-night. Overnight
Sarajevo
Drew arrived from London in Sarajevo earlier in the day and we
hosted a team meeting at Erma's apartment this evening..
|
 7/7/2008 (Monday) |
We were up early and on the road to
Zenica from Sarajevo
at 8:30 AM. We now have our van and Vjeko's car. Our interpreters are
Pater, Amina and Alden. The American Team is Bobby, Lisbeth, Kristen,
David and Drew. The chiefs are Vjeko and Azra. We arrived at the
Zenica Orphanage and had a great discussion with the director. We then
joined the bus with all 65 kids, 20 staff and 12 returning kids and we
were off to the picnic grounds. They started cooking immediately. Fires on
pits with chicken, hot dogs, chovop, and many other Bosnian foods. We
began our Olympic games and crafts. Everyone participated and gold medals
were received by all. They built bridges to friendship, and Olympic medals
to take home with them. We finished the picnic in the early afternoon as
it was quite warm and we had to get the little kids back to   the orphanage
for nap-time.
It was great seeing our children at the orphanage and the many
returning teens now on their own. After 10 years we have quite a
following. We then returned to Sarajevo and dinner at a new restaurant in
town. Then to bed as we travel to Kozarac tomorrow.
|
| 7/8/2008 (Tuesday) |
Traveled to Kozarac by van and car.
Arrived about 6:00 PM and had a delicious dinner prepared by the wonderful
ladies of the "House of Peace". Many of the team went for a swim
at the water-park. Overnight Kozarac.
|
 7/9/2008 (Wednesday) |
 Up early and on the road to the wonderful school in
Prejedor. We hosted about 110 children and 15 super helpful teachers and
administrators. Children signed the registration banner, had their
pictures taken and went into the new gym for some free play. Bobby told
the story of the Olympics to be held in August in China and the kids were
broken into three teams (China, USA, Greece). The teams played games
(Bobby, Alden and Dzanan); worked on their Olympic craft, and sang songs
and danced. Lunch was served and after lunch we had the final Olympic
Ceremony and turned off the torch. Gifts were provided to all.
After the camp we traveled to Sanski Most and stayed in a wonderful
hotel by the river. Everyone loved relaxing and having supper.
|
| 7/10/2008 (Thursday) |
 Our camp in Sanski Most hosted 75 kids and 10 teachers.
We took pictures of each child, and they all participated in the opening
Olympic ceremony where we lighted the Olympic torch ( crepe paper with a
light and a fan to make it look like flame) all sang the Olympic song and
Bobby told about what will happen at the Olympics in China in August 2008.
Crafts, games, songs, competitions all went smoothly. Lunch was great and
after lunch we held the closing ceremony where each child received a medal
and a TWI bag. The staff received TWI tee shirts. TWI always gives balls
and sports equipment to each school we visit.
At the close of camp we traveled back to Sarajevo and on the way
stopped by a lake for a swim. We arrived back in our apartments in
Sarajevo about 8:00 PM tired and ready for bed. Tomorrow we are off to
Rama and the camp for Special Needs Children - a special project we host
each year. We look forward to the arrival of Vanja from Montenegro and Pat
from the USA.
|
| 7/11/2008 (Friday) |
The
team traveled by van to Rama this afternoon. Pat arrived safely and
on-time with all of her luggage. At the Rama monastery we were
treated to a delicious dinner with fish, fresh veggies, cabbage, pita,
potatoes, watermelon. The team is now sitting down to a cup of
coffee at the cafe. Tomorrow the children will arrive by bus at
11:00 AM and we will swim and have free time before camp. Vanja also
arrived from Montenegro by bus on time and ready to join the
team.
|
 7/12/2008 (Saturday) |
Camp for Disabled Children at Rama.
Friday July, 11th-Sunday July, 13th
Special Needs camp at Rama
The Special Needs camp at Rama was very successful.
The entire TWI team was together for the camp and we were able to
dedicate a lot of time to the special needs children and their families.
One of the greatest successes of the camp was the arts and crafts
projects with the children. The
families also enjoyed the crafts and the time spent in the craft room
seemed very enjoyable. Our
nature walk to the difference Olympic countries was also a great success.
We were able to take the children in wheelchairs and those who had
difficulty walking as well. The
team did a great job dividing into groups that set-up activities, helped
the children with physical needs, and cleaned up (especially after
tattoos) on the walk. The
families also enjoyed the free time that was afforded to them.
They spent time at the café drinking coffee, eating ice cream, or
just socializing. They also
enjoyed swimming with the children and spending time by the water.
We had rooms for 46 but it
appears that we miscounted and ended up having to put mattresses on the
floor for some of the kids! The TWI team arrived Friday evening in time
for a 7:30 dinner, a swim, long time at the coffee house to talk and then
all were in bed by the magic hour of midnight. All were awakened at 7:00am
this morning with the ringing of the church bells -- I am in the room by
the bells, so for sure I was up and dressed by 7:30..... we spent the
morning with a team meeting, time to set up the room and...of course a
swim before the bus arrived with the children at 11:30. That is when we
discovered that we had more children and mothers than we had beds ---
thanks to our dear friend Fra Mata we got things settled after lunch and
now everyone is either swimming, lying in the shade, napping or at the
coffee shop.
We have officially opened camp
at lunch and will begin our craft time at 3:30 PM followed by games in the
yard behind the chapel...then free time before dinner at 7:30 PM which is
followed by musical activities. Then the kids go to bed at 10:00 PM and
the mothers can have time for coffee on the lawn with the team.
Lunch was fantastic - veal cutlet, chicken, rice, tomatoes, bread, juice
followed by water-mellon.
Vjeko took the children for a
hike in the afternoon. They had several stops where they were introduced
to the Olympic countries and told about these countries. When they
returned to the Rama Monastery, they worked on crafts and played games. In
the evening we held a dance time. The craft was to make a butterfly. It
was a big hit!
|
| 7/13/2008 (Sunday) |
We were up early and the children and their families had
free time to swim and just enjoy the natural beauty of Rama. We again had
a short hike and held our Olympic Camp complete with torch. After another
wonderful lunch, the campers packed and we prepared to leave Rama for yet
another great year. This is the eighth year we have held our camp for
Special Needs children at Rama and the staff and Fra Mata just get better
with each passing year.
Return
to Special Needs Page.
Return
to 2008 Success Stories
We finally left at 6:00PM and stopped along the way at a beautiful
lake to have supper. When we finally dropped off all of our staff, it was
quite late and we were ready for bed. Tomorrow we plan to take it easy in
the morning and leave for Mostar about 3:00PM. We hope to see the former
director of the Potoci school near Mostar tomorrow evening and possibly
have our traditional dinner by the river.
|
| 7/14/2008 (Monday) |
Travel to Mostar. Overnight
Mostar.
Monday July, 14th-Tuesday July, 15th
Mostar
The camp in Mostar was our smallest camp, but also one of our best.
The children really enjoyed getting so much personal attention.
Our arts and crafts were once again a big hit, and the children
were very excited about getting to keep the crafts they made.
In addition, the children were overjoyed by the shirts that they
were able to keep.
|
| 7/15/2008 (Tuesday) |
Camp in Mostar
Orphanage. Overnight Mostar
Mostar:
The orphanage in Mostar has always been the most magical and emotional
stop for me along my travels the past four years. The kids there just mean
the world to me. Needless to say, it was bitter-sweet to hear that most of
the children would be in Italy during our camp time. There were about ten
kids there, making it a very laid back camp. We still did pretty much
every aspect of camp, just slightly modified to work with the number of
kids. We had the opening and did a mini nature walk to talk about the
different countries and the Olympics. We gave the kids craft time so they
could decorate tote bags and butterflies (they did such a great job with
everything!). That was followed by music and games. I think the camp was a
great success despite the low number of children. On the plus side, since
there were so few children, we were able to bring most of them to
"the river" with us to enjoy some free time. It was great to see
the TWI members and the kids get more one-on-one time than they normally
would have. In the end, I was very happy with how everything came together
(although I do wish I could have been able to see the other children that
I love so much!).
|
| 7/16/2008 (Wednesday) |
Camp in Mostar Orphanage. Travel to Trebjne. Overnight
Trebjne. |
| 7/17/2008 (Thursday) |
Camp at Trebijne. Travel to Montenegro.
Leadership Camp, Overnight Montenegro.
This year, I (Emily)arrived at camp later than everyone else, so my
thoughts are more limited. However,
I must say that though I was there for only 7 days, I would have to say
that this year’s camp was one of the best camps I have ever attended.
The group was well balanced and worked extremely well together.
Camp ran smoothly and the children truly enjoyed themselves.
Historically, Trebinje has been my favorite school.
And while I did have a great time there, this year, there were only
80 children, instead of the usual 200.
While it is sad for me, it is probably a sign that families are
starting to bring in more money and are able to go on vacations, so I
should actually be happy.
This
is usually the biggest camp for TWI and leaves the travel team dying for a
swim in the Adriatic in Montenegro. However, this year we had a very
manageable size camp with about 80 children. The smaller number was a
great help and allowed us to
get everything we hoped to accomplish done with great success. Being in
the music group, I taught the kids the Cha Cha Slide, Macarena, Chicken
Dance (or Duck Dance as they call it), and several other musical games.
Once they got warmed up, they were fantastic! The school itself was very
welcoming and had a helpful staff, not to mention they provided they
biggest possible feast for lunch! They had every type of meat you could
think of with plenty of salad and bread to go along!
|
| 7/18/2008 (Friday) |
Camp at Montenegro
Orphanage. Leadership Camp, Overnight Montenegro.
The camp in
Bijela
Orphanage was outstanding. Similar
to Trebinje, there weren’t too many children there (33 total) but the
ones that were there had a terrific time.
In the seven years I have been with TWI and the four months I have
spent in Bijela, it seems to me, that each time I’m there, I get the
chance to get closer to children that either didn’t have an interest the
year before or were too shy. This
year was no different, and I think that this was the case for the entire
team.
One thing I think that
made this year run so smoothly was the craft.
Historically, craft “holds up” the process of camp.
The craft room was not the problem, but the craft itself was simply
too difficult for many children, so the volunteers had to help each
individual child, which takes a lot of time.
This year, the difficultly of the craft was perfect.
I will admit that I’m kicking myself for never coming up with the
idea of doing multiple “easy” crafts instead of one difficult one.
Not only does time run smoother, it build the confidence of the
children because they don’t feel stressed or frustrated.
Further, it gives them more to take home and keep as a memory.
Montenegro
was definitely a lot different this year than in the past because of all
the guests we brought with us! In terms of camp, the kids were a joy to be
with (as they always are). They had a great time taking part in music,
games, story, and craft, as well as swimming by the coast with our team
members. Considering the laid back vibe that the area and orphanage has,
it was a pretty organized camp. I think part of that was because of all
the helpful hands that we had from all our leaders from the region It was
so great to see everyone interacting with the children and working as one
united team. Emily also had a brilliant idea in terms of gifts. Instead of
having the kids all rush to pick out shirts and gifts she put all the
items in the tote bags they painted and passed them all out one by one. No
fights broke out and there was no chaos! Such a smart idea!
|
| 7/19/2008 (Saturday) |
Camp at Montenegro
Orphanage. Leadership
Camp, Overnight Montenegro
Last year, when we were in
Kosovo, Bobby asked the Kosovar team how they felt about bringing our
Serbian team down to Kosovo. What
made the leadership camp so successful to me was not the training (which
was spectacular) but the relationships formed instead.
The cross-pollination of the groups showed how important it is to
get to know the “other.” In
my conflict-resolution training I received at American University, I
learned two very important principles to live by: (1) separate the people
from the problem; (2) put a face on the “other.”
I feel that the leadership training did just that.
All groups got along famously, especially the Serbian and Kosovar
delegations.
The location of Bijela was
perfect. I would suggest doing
it in Bijela again.
The seminars were also
very useful. The presentations
were clear, concise, and helpful. I
particularly enjoyed David’s hand exercise and the lovers of history
exercise. I liked the numerous
presenters and suggest that we should continue with this next year.
This year, our presenters were Bobby, Drew, David, and Vanja.
Perhaps next year, we will be able to add speakers from our
Serbian, Bosnian, and Kosovar groups as well.
I don’t think it would have been beneficial for them to have
presented this year, since it was our kick-off, but perhaps next year, now
that we all know one another and are comfortable, we can have people from
each group do a presentation of some sort.
Leadership
Conference.
First off, it was such a success! At first I was unsure how everyone
was going to interact. Having met all the leaders last year in their
respective countries, I knew they were all fantastic individuals and would
love each other if they gave it a chance, and they did! What an experience
to be sitting on the beach at night with members from all parties while
Milos played his guitar and we all sang along! Drew did a great job
talking with everyone about key leadership skills and life lessons that
could really help us all. The topics were relevant and interesting. The
ice breakers were also great to get everyone talking and pumped up about
that days topics. I heard from several people that they were so glad they
came and thought the conference was such a great idea.
|
| 7/20/2008 (Sunday) |
Leadership
Camp, Montenegro,
Travel to Mlini, Overnight Mlini.
Our first leadership camp was a great success.
I was able to talk to the participants of the camp in both English
and Serbo-Croatian, with the exception of the participants from Kosovo who
spoke Albanian. They found
that the practical exercises and “getting to know you” exercises were
very fun and educational. The
only information that I was told was not very useful for the participants
was the information given about investing and financial planning.
Unfortunately, the economic situation in the countries where our
participants come from is very different than that in the US.
I feel that the information given on money and business should have
been given on a more basic level, explaining the simple ways to save
money, rather than long-term investing in institutions that are not
available to our participants. I
would like to see more activities that involve team work and leadership in
the future. Overall the
comments that I heard were very positive and the participants were all
very excited about attending another leadership camp in the future.
|
| 7/21/2008 (Monday) |
Day in Mlini, Croatia. Overnight
Mlini. |
| 7/22/2008 (Tuesday) |
Day in Mlini,
Croatia. Overnight
Mlini. |
| 7/23/2008 (Wednesday) |
Travel to Sarajevo, Bosnia. Overnight Sarajevo.
|
| 7/24/2008 (Thursday) |
Day Free in Sarajevo. Overnight Sarajevo. |
| 7/25/2008 (Friday) |
Day Free in Sarajevo. Overnight Sarajevo.
Final Thoughts:
Emily- In
conclusion, I must again reiterate how successful I found camp.
Honestly, I cannot think of a criticism.
I am proud of our work and the friendships we have forged and am
honored to be a part of TWI and all of our successes.
Final Thoughts: David
- Overall the
children’s camps and leadership camp were all very successful.
The team worked very well together and that we complimented each
other as we worked through the camps.
Lisbeth and Bobby lead our team and kept things
in focus. Azra and Vjeko as
always did great getting all of our travel arrangements and finances in
order. The interpreters were
better than ever, and having both a Bosnian Serb and Bosniaks interpreting
made it easier for us in areas of Republika Srpska.
Pat and Emily worked perfectly together and seemed like a natural
choice for partners leading an activity.
Kristen stepped up to handle the dance portion of the camp and the
children really enjoyed working with her.
Drew used his expertise with technology to create the photo gifts
with Vjeko that were a really big hit.
|
| 7/26/2008 (Saturday) |
Depart for USA |
