Author: Sladjan Tomic
When the system fails, they show up. When you do not have enough money to buy a meal, they prepare it for you for free. When you are young and eager to learn and connect, but also to travel, they find a way for you to travel for free. They are the Association “Youth Volunteers” and have existed for a decade.
The story of the “Youth Volunteers” from Visoko begins almost when the story of their founder Belmin Debelac, who began volunteering at the Foundation “Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun” in 2006. Only six years later, he founded the Association, which not only grows from year to year, but manages to be the only Association in the area of Visoko that employs five people. In the meantime, Belmin has perfected and used his knowledge and is the first certified coach from Bosnia and Herzegovina to have a Salt-approved profile, is an expert on minority issues, and in 2009 was the fourth young European leader in the field of minorities. During the ceremony when he was announced a winner, he used his “5 minutes”, and addressed the President of the EU Parliament in Brussels.
Although his European career was evident and achievable, he stayed to work and live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Visoko.
400 projects have been realized in 10 years
Ten years ago, with a group of friends, he started the Association “Youth Volunteers”, but he had no idea that he would realize 400 projects in that period. Many of them are local, regional and international. The first international project was within the Youth in Action (European Commission) program, which sent young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina on trips across the old continent.
“My first approved project within the “Youth in Action” program was on the topic of human trafficking, 13 European countries participated. I am proud of this project and it is the first project funded by the that the EU Commission that “Youth Volunteers” applied for, and it was approved within the “YIA program”, Debelac said for Local Works.
He says their cooperation with the city is perfect. NGOs across Bosnia and Herzegovina have a funding problem, but Youth Volunteers do not. As much as 70% of financial resources are provided from the European Union, and the rest from all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as private donors. Youth Volunteers have good cooperation with everyone. However, they have the best cooperation with the city administration in Visoko. They signed several memoranda of cooperation and partnership agreements, and a memorandum of cooperation with the Center for Social Work.
Distributed over 400,000 meals
Volunteerism and helping citizens not only in their local community, but also beyond, is the main principle of the Association “Youth Volunteers” and their founder. Therefore, in 2014, they opened a soup kitchen, the first and only one in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is funded from project funds of an NGO.
“We are not registered as a soup kitchen, but we are registered as the Association “Youth Volunteers”, and the soup kitchen is our project,” adds Debelac.
Since its inception, they have managed to distribute over 400,000 meals, and have been of particular importance to citizens during the pandemic and lockdown.
“In that period, during April 2020, we distributed over 700 food packages worth over 20,000 BAM.”
An average of 80 people ask for meals every day, although 250 of them have a right to a free meal. However, many cannot come because they live in the vicinity of Visoko, i.e., outside the city zone.
“The Center for Social Work is the only institution that approves the users of soup kitchen by law. We have never given ourselves the right to say – you can eat, you can’t. The Center is an authorized institution to select users based on the criteria, users who will exercise the right to use the services of the soup kitchen”, our interviewee explains the conditions under which users can get their free meals.
5,000 young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina were given the opportunity to travel for free
Apart from helping their fellow citizens of lower financial status through free meals, this association mostly helps young people. On several occasions, they provided free English and German language courses, as well as life skills and computer literacy courses. Around 300 young people participated in these activities. Although this number is huge, it could have been higher, but young people, according to our interviewee, are passive and not interested in additional activities.
“It is very difficult to motivate them. If we published a call for participation at free course lessons and 120 people applied for the call, 30 people attend the course. Regardless, free these language courses are free. The certified language teacher is paid, textbooks and CDs are free, the learning material is free, as well as the material for each user (notebooks, pens…). Refreshment is free as well. The problem is also our perception – if something is free, it’s not good”, says Debelac.
For 10 years, they have been helping young people to improve their knowledge by participating in regional and international seminars, conferences and trainings. Within several European programs, they sent more than 5,000 young people to Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy, Turkey, Estonia, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Portugal, the Netherlands, Croatia, Spain and many other countries.
“These are young people from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. I emphasize – all over Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are registered at the state level, these are exchanges where we send a group of three to five people. We usually make sure that it is a multiethnic group. So, around 30 registered candidates, we choose one candidate from the “region” of Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo… We mix groups to break down prejudices. Unfortunately, we still have a situation where young people have never been to another part of the city where they live, such as Mostar,” said Debelac.
The benefits of such trips are multiple: upgrading knowledge and skills, getting to know and creating new connections-friendships, paving the way for reconciliation.
“People are coming back reborn. Young people probably do not have the opportunity to travel. And then when they find themselves on an international project where the participants are young people from 10 countries, only then do they realize how pointless it is to talk about some invisible borders. Nobody asks them if they are Serbs, Croats or Bosniaks. For them, they are all Bosnians and Herzegovinians.”
Many years of work and creating a good reputation have been recognized by volunteers across Europe, so currently in Visoko there are three volunteers from Turkey who participate in creating a better environment for the residents of this local community, and help in the work of the soup kitchen.
Young people seem to be giving up on Bosnia and Herzegovina, but our interviewee is not giving up on Bosnia and Herzegovina or young people.
“It simply came to our attention then. I have had some very attractive offers in my career. However, I was born here, I live here, and I hope to die here – in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Visoko.”
“I would like young people to open their eyes and take advantage of all the opportunities that are offered to them,” says this humanitarian and activist.
When asked what would help their Association and whether they need help, he replied: “We don’t need anything.”
If citizens are willing to help, then they can provide help in food, groceries or money to the soup kitchen.
“Every month we pay for bread for the users, utilities, food safety samples, but also the costs of maintaining the soup kitchen. With more money, we would have a better nutritional value of the meal”, adds Debelac.
During the conversation, he recalls an anecdote when a fellow citizen brought five kilograms of meat for Eid, with the message that she hopes it will be enough for two or three days.
“The cook then laughed and said that a minimum of 15 kg of meat is needed to prepare a daily meal for our users. People have no perception of how much food we need. Annually, our kitchen spends between 130,000-150,000 BAM”, explains the Visoko activist.
With each of their activities, they try to help their local community, so all their “main” suppliers are from the Visoko area.
Belmin’s activism is an example of how individuals should love their country and how we can all be useful part of our society and our fellow citizens.
