by Zelimir Mijic

19 November 2007

Tuzla, Bosnia: Since the beginning of 2007, UNV has been working with the NGO Zemlja djece (Children's Earth) to improve the psycho-social condition of street children and youth, through a spectrum of various educational, counseling and recreational activities offered at the TELEX Teenage Centre. For Jasminka Cikaric and Hava Suljic, the Centre in Tuzla was their first real school.  The two former street children had never had formal education before coming here. (Read attached stories below)

UNV provided financial and technical support to the project, including the mobilization of local volunteers to implement the project. Although the project is of limited one-year duration, its success has meant that replication is being planned.

Activities of the project included the improvement of the quality of life of 50 street children in Tuzla, with a focus on their access to education and counseling, encouraging volunteer actions by the youth and raising local awareness of the values of volunteerism, humanism and collective effort.
 
The Centre offered a variety of educational and counseling services to children and their families, focusing on their integration in school and other social systems:  pre-school preparation; additional lessons for street children involved in regular school system; preparation of street youth who were taking school exams integrally (without regular school attendance); vocational training for older out-of-school youngsters; provision of meals at the Centre on a daily basis; advocacy activities for improving the legal status of these children.

Zemlja djece is an independent NGO working to provide organized assistance to all children in need, demonstrating and highlighting the specific role of volunteerism in community development and social inclusion processes.