In small, neglected communities, the needs of children are most often what brings people together and unites them. People work and act in unison for children’s benefit. An additional problem faced by the villagers is the departure of the population in search of work. Only older locals remain in the villages, eagerly awaiting the weekends when their families visit them.
Unfortunately, due to young people’s obligations and pace of life, these visits are becoming less frequent. Due to the lack of facilities for children that cities have, grandchildren often reluctantly visit grandparents. Tahir Huremović, Fehrat Kovačević and Novalija Huremović are three grandfathers who decided to take matters into their own hands and, guided by the same vision, try to change something. Since in their village, Donja Obodnica, the village Vakuf was a gathering place for children and young people for decades, they decided to turn that part of the village into a children’s playground.
Unconditional love and a break from school obligations
“As a child, I played at the same place. Even today, children play here today, although unfortunately there are fewer and fewer of them. We started building the playground out of the desire that our village is full of children again and that our grandchildren, all our children, have the will to visit the village again. Children today are immediately looking for internet, which I understand is normal, but one should take a break from time to time. The essence of socializing is in the countryside and in nature”, explains Tahir Huremović.
Encouraging close relationships, despite physical distance, is an invaluable for all children. Older family members can be positive role models and can provide a sense of cultural heritage and family history. In addition to giving their grandchildren unconditional love, these grandfathers have the best interests in their hearts. Fehrat Kovačević regularly brings his great-granddaughter to the new playground. His gentle look and sincere smile addressed to his great-grandchildren says it all. He would give everything for his children, he tells us: “As soon as I heard about this action, I came to join. I made benches and a basket. My great-granddaughter is here with me today. She’s overjoyed, and I’m glad I have a place to bring her now. By the way, I often take care of my two grandchildren and her. Before, we didn’t have a place to visit. When you don’t have any content, then a place like this for children means a lot and that’s where we all gather, not just children.”
Cultural heritage and family history
Novalija Huremović is also one of the locals who joined the project of constructing the playground. He believes that the infrastructure in the village is very poor, so he gladly responded to the action and is happy that this neglected piece of space has been arranged, revived and saved from oblivion: “We consider this a serious problem and one of the possible reasons our children left municipalities and even country. Unfortunately, my two grandchildren now live outside BiH, but I am still happy that we will be able to spend the little time we have when they visit me playing with other children from the village. Last time I just took them for a walk on the road and now they can play here from morning until night. I sit next to them and enjoy as much as they do. My heart is full when they are happy. And the feeling is even better when I know that I was part of this story and did everything with my own hands with my friends.”
Playgrounds as a gathering center for all generations in the village
These three retirees, three grandfathers, believe that over time, people began to lose touch with their tradition, so it was an additional motive for them to try to keep their younger family members closer to them in some way. Despite the trend of leaving, the local school is attended by a little more than a hundred children, so that is why this initiative was a response to the specific needs of the community. This playground, built by joint forces, is specially guarded and maintained by the locals, because it offers them many benefits. It is an irreplaceable gathering place, so this small park is already popular among the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, young and old, and we hope that new ideas and new civic initiatives will emerge from these gatherings.
This is exactly what we want to strengthen through the I Love My City Fund, through which this project is supported – civic activism and love for our community.
