Naša zajednica is a relatively young association established in August 2018. The idea for the establishment of an organization was born within an already existing informal group titled “Kladuša is ours”. This informal group often organized cultural events in a local abandoned hotel, where they organized certain exhibitions and events, which attracted the masses. The visitors asked the group to organize certain cultural events, educational workshops, etc. They were organized as a political alternative group, and in order to separate political and civic activism, one part of the group decided to establish a non-governmental organization.
Naša zajednica Association started with smaller projects. The Association worked with the Mediacentar on the project focusing on deradicalization of young people. They thought that their work would generally be based on smaller projects. That changed in 2019, when the IOM published a call for project proposals and recognized them as a partner organization, giving them a chance to apply for more funds.
“Velika Kladuša was in focus, not just because of the migrant crisis, but also because of a large number of young people from Velika Kladuša, together with young people from Zenica, who went to the battlefields in Syria. It was actually one of these struggles against extremism and radicalization, where the Association “Naša zajednica” was recognized as someone who has experience in working on such topics,” our interviewee said.
After analyzing the problems of young people in Velika Kladuša, the Association concluded that the lack of a cultural institution, which has not been active in this local community for ten years, is one of the major problems. There is a building under construction where the cultural institution was located, but it is not serving its purpose for a full decade.
The space where young people could play musical instruments, certain creative workshops, where they can meet new acquaintances, create new ideas, activities and discuss/plan joint initiatives, is very important. Although the members of Naša zajednica were skeptical, that as a relatively young organization, they actually managed to implement the project, they found different solutions for certain situations that lead them to a place where they are right now – Alternative house of culture.
The project is in its final stage and what they managed to achieve in two years was a good trigger to wake up young people in this local community. Also, during the implementation of the project, the most challenging problem was in providing the space for the Alternative house of culture, so now it is located at its third location. All three spaces were private property, because the municipality has no space, while private property owners rent space to persons/companies which pay more money.
In the new space, we had to adapt the space, so we have created three rooms, one smaller that serves for rest, kitchen, and the similar activities, one room recreation, workshops, etc., and third room is reserved for musical activities.
The working hours of the Alternative house of culture are adapted to students, so that everyone can participate in the activities, and the Naša zajednica works in the period from 12 to 8 pm. The current space is the most popular because they are near the high school center. Additionally, they emphasize that the great advantages of the Alternative house of culture are that new ideas, initiatives have been created here, new talents have been discovered, young people who started playing a musical instrument, or started playing chess.
The advantage of this space is that some youth organizations as AsuBiH and the Students’ council use for their meetings, so their initiatives were created in this space. Through the photographic workshop, Hasan Mujakić, became one of the leaders of the Association in photography. Over time he also started working on the social media, and became a well-known photographer. He won different awards on many competitions, such as the EU award, IMEP etc.
Users’ work is usually displayed in the Alternative house of culture. The artwork of members is specially displayed, such as works from the last art workshop.
When asked if they apply to other calls for project proposals, they pointed out that they have applied to some smaller calls. Due to lack of human resources, they did not dare to apply to some larger calls for project proposals. According to their internal policy, so far, they have not intended to apply to municipal public calls. Last year, the municipality was providing help in the amount around 3,000 BAM per organization. Those funds were not enough to cover the costs for one whole month, taking into account the rent, utilities and a fee for one person.
During the conversation, they have mentioned other associations which do wonderful things in Velika Kladuša. They emphasized the work of the Cancer Relief Association/Udruženje za pomoć oboljelim od karcinoma and everything they did for their users, as well as and the Association of Paraplegics, which brings together children and parents who have children with developmental disabilities. From the youth organizations, they mentioned the DOM (Democratic Youth Organization), which is one of the oldest organizations in Velika Kladuša.
The association “Naša zajednica” are concerned how will they find new projects. For this year, they believe that they can cover the costs until the end of the year on the basis of the own concept of self-sustainability that they apply in the Association. In terms of cooperation with other organizations and applying to certain calls for project proposals, they emphasize that they have no negative experiences. For this year, they plan to apply to three larger grants and to contact all embassies for assistance. They emphasize that they currently need assistance for the implementation of workshops on project management and project applications writing, not only for young people, but also for middle-age people.
There is also a library in the Association for which they procured 200 books themselves. The rest of the books they have received through citizens’ donations. They currently have around a thousand titles. Books are available to everyone and can be read within the premises. However, books can be borrowed only by members of the Association. There are some more T-shirts and promotional material that were part of a crowdfunding campaign, in which they sold the promotional material and some art works, paintings, T-shirts, etc. They sell some of the material now, but not much. The Crowfunding campaign was supported not only by the citizens of Velika Kladuša, but also other local communities (Cazin, Bihać) and countries (Germany, Sweden …).
When it comes to the situation in the local community, they pointed out the problem of brain drain, the migrant crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
They generally do not have cooperation with the municipality. However, on the day marking the day of the municipality of Velika Kladuša, the Association organized the exhibition of old photographs of the local community. The municipal council invited citizens to visit it. One additional positive initiative is the initiative of the Association “Sutra je novi dan” that has launched visits to women in all parts of Velika Kladuša using a movable mammogram. In the first round, there were 100 medical examinations and in the second round, that will be organized in the coming period, this great initiative will be completed. In 2019 they cooperated with this Association in the form of an exhibition, which was organized for generating sales and all revenue was given to the Association “Sutra je novi dan”.
Naša zajednica currently has around 70 and 80 users, while the number of persons who visited this Association is much higher. During COVID-19 pandemic Naša zajednica had to move its activities to the online world. They notice that they have a lower number of users, but not significantly.
When it comes to health care in the municipality of Velika Kladuša, they point out that there are a large number of citizens who do not have health care. It is also the problem of costs refund for citizens with difficult social status, no matter if they have health insurance, if they have to have a medical examination in Bihać and pay the bus ticket. Another bad thing in the municipality is that some medical examinations and interventions in the emergency service are charged additionally, under the pretense that citizens take advantage of the working hours of the emergency room.
When it comes to infrastructure in Velika Kladuša, they have adapted the first and second space for people with disabilities, while other institutions in the municipality of Velika Kladuša were not adapted and it is a huge problem.
Finally, they also pointed out that the name of the Alternative house of culture was here because this space was created with the aim of being a replacement cultural institution, which will not stop its work the day when the real Home of culture is renovated. As they say, this place will always be open to meetings of young people and nurturing their talents.
In the first meeting with the representatives of the Association Naša zajednica the Local Works Project is presented as the reason for the visit to this Association. Representatives of the Association were introduced with all opportunities that are offered to them within the website Local Works and all tools they can use for their work.
The field work within the Local Works project indicated the importance of networking of civil society, organizations and other actors that are important for the development of the local community. During the conversation with the representatives of the Association Naša zajednica, they presented their most important project Alternative house of culture as well as all other opportunities that this center provides to young people.
Article prepared by: Nataša Tomić
Interviewers: Maida Zagorac and Mirjana Ribić
