My Summer in Sarajevo

By Timur Selimovic, student (grade 10)

Enjoying yourself and relaxing, along with giving back to the community, seems to me a good way to spend a summer. From a personal as well as an inside perspective, I can say that almost no teenager likes to work during the summer. However, a balance of relaxation and leisure, along with light summer work and commitment can be a recipe for enjoyment.

During my trip to Sarajevo, I wanted to give back to the community as well as have fun, and I found out that that it wasn’t hard at all. Cooking is one of my deep passions, and it just so happened that the owner’s wife of a top international restaurant in the heart of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, was a friend of my parents’ and offered me a job. I accepted and before I knew it, found myself preparing a special curry for the Indian ambassador’s wife. Even though this was casual and non-profit work, I experienced responsibility and commitment, and learned how to make excellent traditional Bosnian coffee.

Although this work was engaging, I wanted to make more of a humanitarian contribution visited a local orphanage to donate clothing. During my visit, I found out that the orphanage took in many children who had parents that were unable to support them or to take care of them. I took a tour of it and met the kids, who were all very heartwarming, fun, and playful. I wanted to help the orphanage by setting up a CAS group, but soon found out that the government supported this group very well, and that it constantly received local donations. The man who ran the orphanage appreciated my gesture but indicated that the orphanage was not in dire financial need. Nevertheless, I donated my clothes, played with the kids, took several photos, and toured the orphanage. It felt great to be helping these kids and seeing them smile. I had made an effort to give back to the community, and it really wasn’t that hard.

During my trip to Bosnia, I also met an unexpected person from America who was actually my grandmother’s neighbor and who worked in the biggest relief organization in the country, the OSCE mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This relief group focuses on national education, national rights, democratic stability, and overall recovery from the recent war, which devastated the nation. She presented interesting facts to me about the organization, such as its working staff consisting of approximately 85% local employees and 15% international employees. This high percentage of local employees presents a significant advantage with the language, culture, and historical knowledge. Another interesting detail was that this is the biggest non-profit organization in the country, and therefore somewhat acted as the main recovery center for the country. The lady that I talked to informed me very well and asked me to consider an internship in the future.

I benefited from all of these visits and enjoyed every aspect, as well as finally going to back up my introductory statement, and maybe interesting you in getting involved.