Several years ago, Vesna Vukmirovic (28) from Doboj faced the same problem that young people throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to struggle with: the ever-increasing unemployment in the country, and shrinking of an already narrow job market for young people. However, volunteering with a local NGO helped Vesna to achieve two personal goals: to secure a job in the field of social protection and contribute towards positive change in her local community.

A few years back, Vesna started volunteering with the Doboj-based Primanatura, a women rights and protection NGO. Her first duties were to assist in office administration and conduct research on needs of special needs children. In her words, this experience gave her more than great personal satisfaction, but an opportunity to gain skills and practical knowledge that she would have had difficulty obtaining elsewhere. After about a year of successfully volunteering, Vesna was given an opportunity to join the organization as one of its paid staff.

Today, she coordinates about two-dozen volunteers who help run local Centre for Children With Special Needs, which was opened by Primanatura in May 2010. This centre now enables some 30 children from Doboj and surrounding area to enjoy regular social and therapeutic services, services that would not otherwise be easily available. Volunteers, of various ages, life circumstances and qualifications, currently work in the Centre doing tasks ranging from serving a cup of tea, taking children to a cake shop to playing with and educating children.

One of these volunteers is Branka Gojkić (26), a former client of the Centre who – owing to her physical disability – has felt isolated from the rest of the society for a long time. “I feel good because of volunteering,” says Branka who is now equally taking part in the Centre’s activities alike all other engaged staff and volunteers.

As it is generally a case elsewhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Doboj has no organized activities for the children with special needs. It lacks specialized schools or medical institutions where parents could get answers to numerous questions and issues related to growth and education of their children. This makes the work of Social-therapy Centre, its volunteers and staff, even more important for this local community.

For five days in a week, the Centre organizes workshops, games and individual counselling to help both children (many of whom have been isolated for a long time) and their parents. Just like the paid staff, volunteers go through specialized training aimed at ensuring that the services they provide are carried out in a professional manner. “We work slowly, and we work with people (volunteers) who have both patience and vision,” says Primanatura’s Director Dzemil Vejzovic. He adds that volunteers have been increasingly engaging in a work with mothers of children with special needs, as well as fundraising activities for the Centre.

You too can become a part of such important project!

Find out which local organizations – such as Primanatura – exist in your communities, or whether there is a Local volunteer service in your vicinity. Ask around how and where you can volunteer to help individuals and organizations that need it.

Activate yourself: become engaged, become a volunteer.