It’s September in Trebinje, an ancient region in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the grape harvest is in full swing. On the 30 hectares of ‘Podrumi Vukoje 1982’ vineyard harvesters began work in the early morning, as they try to get the harvest in before the hottest part of the day arrives. With…
Safety Instead of Fear for Ana and Her Children
“I am the most afraid at night. I lay in bed and there is always something crackling. The house is moving” says 53-year old Ana. Even if there were no sounds, long yellowish tapes with which she tried to seal the cracks above her bed remind her that her home is falling apart. Literally. Fear…
Replanting Hope in the Flood Plains of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Long lines of light grey clouds almost completely cover the sky above the small town of Srebrenik. The air is heavy and dry; giving the impression it is about to pour down at any minute. “People here still live in fear of heavy rains“, says Senad Hasić, one of the inhabitants. The deep fear stems…
Up! Up! in Dubai
I was standing in a basket floating above the Dubai desert trying not to think that I was in the basket floating above the Dubai desert. I was scared and the incredible, eerie silence around me just emphasized that feeling. “There is a thick fog at the take off site, so we will probably…
REPORT: Western Balkans Refugee Response
This report provides a brief overview of World Vision’s work in Serbia during the Western Balkans Refugee Response from September 2015 to July 2016. Click here to access it.
CAMPAIGN: Where Are The Children?
In 2016, I came up with an idea of an advocacy campaign ahead of local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The campaign played with the election motto of various political parties putting children rights in focus and asking the question: Where are the children? Campaign advocated for three issues: 1) it asked media to be…
No One Wants To Be a Refugee – I know, I Used to Be One Too
I hated being called a refugee. I felt like my whole identity was put into that one sad word. So as I stood at the entrance of the city park in Belgrade earlier this week with my team from World Vision, I watched them trying to find a place to sleep on wooden benches, flimsy…
Belgrade Provides a Short Rest for Refugees
“Everything got destroyed in Syria. War. Horrible war,” says Fadi, a physics professor from Syria, as he sits on a thin blanket in a park in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. The sky is almost completely covered in gray clouds and it seems like the rain is about to start any minute. If it does, Fadi…
Farmers Are Given The Chance to Revive Their Farms After Devastating Floods
It’s cloudy and cold during the month of November. Dozens of farmers are standing in the village’s open market, their feet planted in mud, waiting for the distribution to begin. Each one tightly grips a sheet of white paper in their hands, ready to present it when their number is called. Their eyes are on…
Tito’s Nuclear Bunker Awaits Rebirth as Gallery
A group of Balkan artists aim to turn one of the world’s most expensive military facilities – the former Yugoslav leader’s hidden bunker – into one of Europe’s most thought-provoking art venues. Artists from the Balkans may be short of money. But they are not lacking in imagination if their plans to turn a…
