This school year, one hundred students from ten primary schools in Bugojno, Busovača, Fojnica, Jajce and Divičani will participate in the project “Bridges of Trust and Cooperation” implemented by the humanitarian organization “Genesis Project”. The goal of this project is to reduce the undesirable consequences of the pandemic on children and young people and to build their psychological resistance to stressors. The beginning of the project activities was published at a large online meeting, which was attended by students, principals, pedagogues and psychologists from the schools covered by the project.
“In the upcoming workshops, students will learn how to take care of themselves and their emotions, and how to better understand their own and other people’s behavior. Research in Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that every sixth child said that they have certain mental health difficulties. A certain number of children who do not show difficulties now, due to the consequences of the pandemic, are at a higher risk of showing them in the future. Because of this, we decided to offer children, teachers, parents and everyone who works with children methods and approaches useful for caring for the mental health of children and youth”, says Lana Lugonja, project coordinator at the Humanitarian Organization “Genesis Project”.
All activities within the project “Bridges of Trust and Cooperation” are supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth, Culture and Sports of Central Bosnia Canton, and it involves primary schools: “Berta Kučera” and “13. Rujan” in Jajce, “Busovača” and “Kaćuni” in Busovača, “Jajce” in Kruščica and “Braća Jezerčić” in Divičani, “Muhsin Rizvić” and “Ivan Goran Kovačić” in Fojnica and the First Elementary School in Bugojno and the Third Elementary School in Bugojno.
Within the project “Bridges of Trust and Cooperation”, the expert team of the Humanitarian Organization “Genesis Project” is developing a manual with a detailed explanation of the workshops that can be held in any school and with any group of children and youth. Students, teaching and professional staff participating in this project will contribute to the creation of the manual. The manual will be free and available online on the website of the Humanitarian Organization “Genesis Project”.
The project “Bridges of Trust and Cooperation: Building Post-COVID Resilience in Children in Central Bosnia Canton as a Tool for Building Security and Trust” is implemented with the support of Canada through the Canadian Local Initiatives Fund.
