Author: Natasa Tomic
The Women’s Association “Venera” from Kotor Varos has 50 members, of which 25 are active. The association was founded in 2018, with the aim of preserving tradition, folk customs and heritage of the Kotor Varos Municipality and to work on the networking of women. With their work, they want to economically empower women who gained their strength through skills and crafts that have been disappearing lately.
In addition, some of the other activities include socially responsible work, and humanitarian actions that are implemented as their possibilities allow, usually at intervals of around two months.
Lack of space and young members is the biggest problem of the Association
The President of the Association, Miroslava Kalamanda, points out that one of the biggest problems the Association faces is the lack of suitable working space.
“As the Association is a craft-production type, we lack storage, work space, as well as space for sales, as a special channel from which we are financed. All active members of the Association contribute with their knowledge, raw materials they produce themselves in their gardens, or with some smaller collaborations within the local community,” she explains.
The Association has the support of the Municipality and the Ministry through mini-grants from which they were able to provide certain tools and machines (sewing machines, machines for processing fruits and vegetables).
The activities that are currently implemented in the Association are the preparation of the winter camp and preparation for several fairs where they plan to present their work, the agricultural fair in Banja Luka, and the RTRS carnival in Kotor Varos.
The average age of the women in the Association is between 55 and 60 years old, and the members are worried about how the Association will survive in the long term. But as they state, they do not give up on their intention to animate younger women, who would surely bring new and fresh ideas and raise the work of the Association to a higher level.
Currently, the oldest member of the Association is 84 years old.
As they state, their experience with women in Kotor Varos was positive and all women who joined the Association showed a high level of interest.
Satisfactory cooperation within the local community
Our interviewee, Mrs. Miroslava, points out that the association has excellent cooperation with the Municipality and claims that they would not even have the current space if they had not received it from the Municipality for use.
Also, the Association has good cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Kotor Varos, which constantly invites them to fairs and various types of presentations. Also, the Tourist Organization personally promotes them at various events.
It is important to emphasize that, according to Miroslava, the Association most often achieves its sales thanks to the Tourist Organization. Among other collaborations, they mention the good collaboration with the Duga Association from Banja Luka. They meet with organizations like Merhamet and Caritas regularly at fairs and thus exchange their experiences and knowledge.
Great potential of the Kotor Varos Municipality
Our interviewee believes that there is a lot of potential within the Kotor Varos Municipality, especially in the field of agriculture and tourism.
In her opinion, the biggest problem is the brain drain, which is the biggest driving force behind the development of every municipality. What she noticed through the work of the Association so far is that young women, especially single mothers, must work two jobs to be able to survive in this Municipality.
“The local community can change consciousness if it has the will in coordination with local authorities and associations at the local community level,” concludes Miroslava.
Previous successes of the “Venera” Association
The women from the Association are most proud of what they have made themselves, as well as the products they have collected, which have enormous value. They note that they have recently discovered handicrafts made of dyed feathers, which are woven into certain items of clothing. They believe that it is over 120 years old.
Their craft-type works are mainly embroidered shirts, blouses, christening towels, tablecloths, and household decorations. Among the other products, they distinguish the production of jams, cakes, salads, brandies, and liqueurs. Also, they boast of harvesting wild products – rose hips, blackberries, wild apples – from which they make products that they describe as a real gift of nature and their additional incentive.
Association “Venera” presents its work ten times a year on average at various fairs and events. In this way, their work becomes much more visible. They particularly highlight the fairs within the Municipality, especially the Kotlicijada, which is held within the Tourist Organization of Kotor Varos, where this year they won first place.
They also highlight the Gastro Manifestation, where they can boast of winning first places at all appearances.
The members of the Association set aside a portion from what they earn from the sale, and later treat themselves to a nice trip. They are very grateful that they helped the women from the Association in this way and made it possible for some of them, for the first time in their lives, to go somewhere further than Kotor Varos. This year they managed to save for a trip to Makarska.
What does the future hold for them?
The members wish to organize their own fashion show, in which they will include their granddaughters, daughters and other women from the Kotor Varod area as models.
Their goal is to show their works and motivate young women to think more about old crafts, tradition, customs, or the beauty of the original heritage. They are not shying away from selling to a wider market, they just need help in the form of a larger space, expanding sales channels, mastering social networks and promotion in the modern digital world.
