The youth non-governmental organization Agape was created as a result of a youth initiative from Ljubuški with the primary goal of starting activism, social and cultural scene in this local community. The non-governmental organization has been operating for 12 years, and some of its most famous activities are the humanitarian Christmas fair, the Musical Time Machine evenings, thematic panels, and theater performances. The activist of this non-governmental organization, Mihaela Šimović, told us that all members of Agape try to get involved in as many activities as possible. The beginning of her activism in this non-governmental organization is connected to her participation in the humanitarian Christmas fair.
“The Humanitarian Christmas Fair attracted me and that was the reason for my more active involvement in this non-governmental organization. It took us two to three months to prepare the fair. All members of our organization are volunteers who give their contribution. Unfortunately, the last two years the fair was not held, because there are not enough of us. However, we are not giving up and hope to organize a fair next year. It is important to point out that we collected and distributed a lot of money for humanitarian purposes. We distributed packages to 300 families in our city, which is a very nice story. That’s when we realized how small our problems are compared to theirs. We want to help each other in different ways,” says Šimović at the beginning of the conversation.
In the following, he states that a large number of citizens and private companies from the city of Ljubuški have participated in humanitarian actions so far, which sponsored the procurement of packages. The money and packages that were collected during the humanitarian action were donated to socially vulnerable residents of this city. This humanitarian activity consists of two parts. The first is the organization of the humanitarian Christmas fair, while the second part is the field trip, during which the organization’s activists visit their fellow citizens.
In addition to entertainment, citizens at the fair had the opportunity to enjoy a variety of salty and sweet dishes, as well as hot and cold drinks. In addition, handicrafts of local creatives were exhibited at the stands, and citizens had the opportunity to buy them as part of the humanitarian campaign. The entire income that was generated during the Christmas Fair was used to buy basic foodstuffs for citizens of a weaker financial condition.
In addition to philanthropic work, Agape volunteers were also active in theater arts. As Šimović states below, the idea was to gather screenwriters who were supposed to write a theatrical text for performance on stage. Their initiative was realized, and fiction workshops were started where the script would be written. They gathered actors and actresses with the aim of realizing the play. In this plan, a lot of work and effort was invested with young amateur actors and actresses from Ljubuški, Grud and Čitluk. The result of all this was the text for the play, which was brought to life on the stage.
“The script for the play ‘Our Everyday Fear’ was created after three months of productive work. The play talks about things that are avoided to be talked about. Danijela Biloš, Ivana Milićević, Tonka Nosić, Katarina Vučić and Emanuela Zlopaša were involved in the script. We have been working hard and acting for the last few months so we hope that the audience experienced at least some of the feelings that we wanted to convey with it. The members of the acting team in the play ‘Our Everyday Fear’ are, in addition to my little one, Ivan Mlinarević, Tonka Nosić, Denis Nižić and our youngest actor Antonio Matić. The directors of the play were Nikolina Herceg and Sead Đulić. Mr. Đulić is from Mostar and has his own youth theater. He helped us a lot in the whole process. The performance was performed on December 9, 2023. in the Ljubuški Cultural Center”, notes Šimović.
When it comes to the near future, he notes that the members of this non-governmental organization are in favor of all options, especially when it comes to working with young people. They especially emphasize their philanthropic work, but also that related to ecology.
“Through the activities of our non-governmental organization, we want to highlight the problem of improper disposal of plastic products. At our last fairs, ‘Greetings to Summer’, ‘Action Reaction’ and ‘Musical Time Machine’, we had everything eco. I believe that the activities of the association will go in that direction. Also, we hope to organize the jubilee tenth humanitarian Christmas fair next year,” Šimović points out.
In the following, he states that they had workshops on the topic of ecology for kindergarten children where they were taught about recycling. With the OktoberMEST action, they wanted to develop awareness among young people and children to take care of nature and the environment that surrounds them. In addition, they worked with boys and girls from kindergartens in Ljubuški. Eco bags previously donated by Laser Ljubuški doo were provided for all participants.
“Children in kindergarten know better than some adults where plastic belongs and where paper belongs. It gives hope that certain things might change. Realistically speaking, our city is very clean. However, we must make the citizens aware that they should be careful of the river that flows through Ljubuški, and that they should protect it even more”, notes Šimović.
Activists of this non-governmental organization also planted 30 seedlings in the area around the Crveni Grm regional school, which took place as part of the Let’s do it BiH campaign.
He points out that they achieved excellent cooperation with Mayor Vedran Markotić, who wholeheartedly helps them in their activities, especially when it comes to the Humanitarian Fair.
Finally, our interlocutor points out that this non-governmental organization is not a closed type, they invite their fellow citizens to join them and contribute to their environmental and philanthropic activities.
Written by: Hazim Okanović
This story was written thanks to the generous support of the American people through the “LOCAL WORKS” program of the American Agency for International Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina (USAID). The author and “Network for Peace Building” are solely responsible for the content of the story. The views expressed in the story do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
