General Impression
Overall Rating: / 10
I am so thankful to Love Volunteers for facilitating the best volunteer experience I could have hoped for. I volunteered with a local NGO in Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 2016. I chose to volunteer in Bosnia because of my interest in conflict studies and peace building initiatives. The goal of the project as a multi-ethnic youth centre appealed to me based on these interests and wanting to learn more about the beautiful country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.I went in to my volunteer placement with very little knowledge of both the language and of the work that I would be doing. Luckily, the local NGO, their staff, the other volunteers, and most importantly the kids that I was working with were all quick to welcome me. Even with the language barrier, the kids were so sweet and ready to embrace yet another foreign volunteer. The daily work (which I struggle to even call work because I honestly enjoyed every day so much) was split between the younger group of kids in the morning, an older group of kids in the afternoon, and various workshops for adults in the evening. The staff were very flexible with the international volunteers and allowed us to create workshops based on our individual interests/skills. These workshops included various arts & crafts activities, music workshops, dance workshops, English lessons and German lessons. I was also given local language lessons twice a week which were great in helping me communicate with the kids, although there was always somebody to help translate when needed.
Aside from how much I loved the volunteer work, I can't speak highly enough of the local team and the other volunteers that I had the pleasure of working and living with. Everybody was so kind, welcoming and informative. If I needed anything, whether that be help translating, advice on a workshop, or even help buying a bus ticket, there was always somebody there who was more than happy to help. The amount of work that the staff and volunteers put in to this centre to create a fun, educational, multi-cultural environment is truly inspiring. My only regret is that I couldn't stay for longer. I highly recommend this program to anybody who is interested in volunteering abroad, my time in Brčko exceeded my expectations in every way possible. Thank you, Love Volunteers, for organizing this program!