Sometimes it only takes a little will and an exchange of (female) energy to shake us up and remind us that each of us, in our own way and in our own domain, can make this world a better place to live.
No matter how small these steps seem, they are all important.
This is exactly why there is an Association for Help and Education “Women for Women” in Konjic, which unites women and helps them to be stronger and more independent. It is a place of healthy and positive atmosphere that is often missing in this everyday life.
The association was founded in 2014 with the aim of helping and supporting women and their families in Konjic and beyond.
They implemented a number of projects, including providing support to women victims of violence, organizing seminars and workshops, and helping in the education and employment of women.
A successfully conducted IT literacy workshop, organized by the Women for Women International Sarajevo Association, is also one of their activities.
The association has around 30 active members.
They are hard-working, enterprising, environmentally aware, brave mothers, sisters, activists, humanitarians and philanthropists, and the head of the Association is Mrs. Lejla Halilović, who successfully brings them together and manages the association.
One of their projects is “Konjic u vez”, that is, a tailoring, sewing and embroidery course that helps all interested women master and save these beautiful and useful crafts from being forgotten.
The project was supported by the Association for the Development and Affirmation of Society NODAS from Sarajevo, and the valuable hands of the association’s members created a lot of pillows, checkers, pillowcases, kitchen sets, and during the coronavirus pandemic, they also made countless masks and distributed them to equestrian institutions and citizens.
Then, together with the Association NODAS, they handed over donations of masks, sheets and compresses to the Konjic Health Center and the Konjic General Hospital.
The association “Woman for Woman” provided support to individuals and institutions through its work, which was especially demonstrated through their concern for the health and well-being of the citizens of Konjica during the coronavirus pandemic, when in addition to protective equipment, they also donated laptops for students who were unable to follow online classes. .
Their work was also recognized by numerous tourist agencies and they engaged them in the production of promotional and decorative cotton checks, which also wanted to promote environmental awareness and reduce the use of plastic bags.
Checkers contain recognizable equestrian motifs, and for the needs of the market, they also make checkers with other motifs.
The project “Konjic u vezu” significantly helped unemployed women, who were engaged in this project, after it was extended to the production of bed linen, towels and pillows with embroidered motifs and messages, personalized gifts, embroidered details on T-shirts and emblems on sportswear.
The association also took part in the “Writers’ Caravan”, where the equestrian writer, member of the association, Mirjana Kapetanović, presented her book “I trust in my strength” to a wider audience of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even at the World Congress of Women in Rome and Milan, where she demanded to speak in the Bosnian language and promote our language and country.
The book was published in Italian and Bosnian.
They made a significant step forward through the project “Life is valuable even when you’re sick”, because they spent three years using the project to point out cancer patients, considering that Konjic, unfortunately, has a large number of patients.
The support and education organization “Woman for Woman” Konjic regularly participates in local events such as the Food Festival “Food Fest Konjic” and “Winter Town”, which are held every year in Konjic, where they present traditional Bosnian cuisine, homemade cakes , juices, treats for children and other contents.
It is also important to mention their organization of the Festival of Women’s Creativity “Mozaik”, where the creativity of women from Bosnia and Herzegovina was presented and promoted through gastronomic offer, traditional creativity, cultural values and promotion of the City of Konjic.
On the occasion of the “Day of the City of Konjica”, they organized a creativity bazaar called “City with Love” where products with embroidered motifs of the Stone Bridge and Neretva, unique handicrafts, souvenirs and jewelry were presented.
For the fifth year in a row, in the month of March, on the occasion of Women’s Day and Gender Equality Week, awards are given, i.e. plaques in three categories: Successful woman from public life, Successful, invisible woman and “Organization of inspiration”, as well as certificates for participants of the tailoring course and sewing.
The plaques they award have a strong resonance in the local community and represent a prestigious recognition.
Their special engagement is reflected in the fight for women’s rights through the development of a local action plan to combat gender-based violence, a project funded by the EU.
The primary goal of the association is to help and support women and families of victims of violence through seminars and assistance in education and employment.
For the purposes of protests and going out on the streets, due to the brutal murders of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the oppressed position of women and girls, they made 1000 pieces of red scarves with the slogan “Not one more”.
By participating in protests, they show that they continuously provide support to victims of all forms of violence and demand more active involvement of institutions in the protection of victims.
Association Women for Women International, together with the Network of Women’s Associations for Rural Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Association for the Help and Education of Women “Woman for Women” Konjic, conducted a campaign to collect financial aid for the women of Palestine under the name: “One carnation – one bread for the woman of Palestine”, on the occasion of marking March 8 – International Women’s Day, in this way they wanted to help and show solidarity with all the women of Palestine.
This association exists for all brave and daring women, to bring them together as much as possible, to support each other and rejoice in the successes of others, while constantly working on themselves, is the message of president Lejla Halilović.
The mission of the Association for Help and Education “Woman for Woman” Konjic is to build and preserve trust, friendships, proudly represent the City of Konjic, and fight for equality and a better position of women in society. They tell them to work on themselves, get educated and invest in their own development, because only an educated woman is a strong woman who can fight against prejudices, get rid of fear, rely on others, connect with other strong, strong, determined women.
Written by: Ajla Kovačević
This story was written thanks to the generous support of the American people through the “Local Works” program of the United States Agency for International Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina (USAID). The content of the story is solely the responsibility of the author and the “Network for Building Peace”. The views expressed in the story do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
