Physical Health Bosnia and Herzegovina Project #44427

Mobile Team for Children with Cancer

by Association Heart for the Kids with Cancer

Project Report | Aug 3, 2026
Compassion Beyond Hospital Walls

By Matea Jovanovic Nesic | Project leader

Mobile Team visit to Tuzla

Between April and July 2026, our Mobile Team continued providing psychosocial support, practical assistance, and companionship to children with cancer and their families across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through home visits, family support, transportation, and community activities, we remained present during both joyful milestones and the most difficult moments.

Below are the highlights from this reporting period.

Supporting Families Through Every Stage

Throughout May and June, our team carried out regular home visits to a member of MladiCe (Young Survivors) of our Association who was in the terminal stage of illness. These visits focused on providing emotional support and ensuring the family never felt alone during an incredibly difficult time.

In June, following the child’s passing, members of our Mobile Outreach Team attended the funeral and visited the grieving family, offering comfort, compassionate conversations, and continued psychosocial support. Standing beside families through loss remains an essential part of our mission.

Strengthening Our Parents’ Houses Network

In late June, members of our Sarajevo team visited the Parents’ House in Tuzla. The visit provided an opportunity to meet with colleagues, discuss ongoing projects, identify current needs, and strengthen cooperation between our two locations. These regular exchanges help us improve the support we provide to families throughout the country.

Supporting Parents’ Emotional Well-being

During this period, we organized a psycho-spiritual workshop for parents, led by a respected hafiz and his wife. The workshop combined emotional support with spiritual reflection, creating a safe space where parents could share their experiences, find encouragement, and strengthen their resilience. Similar workshops have received excellent feedback from families and continue to be a valuable source of comfort.

Helping Children Access Care and Rehabilitation

Our Mobile Outreach Team assisted seven children and their families by accompanying them to the Institute for Medical Assessment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where disability assessments were conducted. Navigating administrative procedures can be overwhelming, and our presence helped make this important process less stressful for families.

In July, during our annual Rehabilitation Camp on Vlasic Mountain, the Mobile Team provided transportation assistance for children with mobility difficulties, ensuring they could fully participate in camp activities alongside their peers.

Looking Ahead

In the coming months, we will continue to:

Provide home visits and psychosocial support to families across the country.
Support bereaved families through ongoing follow-up visits.
Strengthen cooperation between our Parents’ Houses and regional teams.
Organize workshops promoting emotional well-being for parents and caregivers.
Assist families in accessing healthcare, rehabilitation, and social services.

To our GlobalGiving donors and supporters, thank you for making this work possible. Your generosity allows us to stand beside families not only during treatment, but through every challenge they face. Whether offering a listening ear, practical assistance, or simply being present when it matters most, your support helps ensure that no child and no family faces childhood cancer alone.

Mobile Team meeting in Tuzla

Spiritual/psychological workshop for parents

Rehabilitation camp

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Mar 30, 2026
Support, Awareness and Community connection

By Matea Jovanovic Nesic | Project leader

Agriculture packages 1

Between January and March 2026, our Mobile Outreach Team continued its mission of offering emotional support, practical assistance, and connection to children with cancer and their families throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite challenging winter weather limiting travel, our team worked steadily—through home visits, community education, grief support, and transportation assistance—to ensure no family walks this journey alone.

Below are the key highlights from this period.

Emotional Support Where It Matters Most

School-based Mental Health Awareness & Charity Bazaar – Sarajevo

At Maarif International School Sarajevo, we participated in a charity bazaar organized by the school community. Alongside the event, our psychologist held a short lecture for students, introducing them to the emotional challenges children with cancer face and explaining how peers can offer understanding and support.
This combination of community engagement and education helped strengthen empathy among young people while raising awareness in a warm, interactive environment.

Standing With Grieving Families

During this period, our team attended a funeral of a child who lost their battle with cancer. Our presence offered quiet companionship to grieving parents and reaffirmed that they are not alone in their sorrow.

We also visited several grieving families in Sarajevo and Celic. Our Sarajevo-based psychologist and social worker, along with our Tuzla psychologist, provided compassionate conversations, grief counseling, and continued follow-up—ensuring families feel supported long after the hospital chapter ends.

Accompanying a Family to the Embassy

In Sarajevo, we provided support to a family preparing for medical relocation to Italy. Our team accompanied them to the embassy, helping with emotional reassurance and offering practical guidance during an incredibly stressful moment. These acts—often invisible—are vital to families navigating complex medical systems.

Community Awareness and Education

Marking International Childhood Cancer Day – Gradacac

On February 15th, we joined the Health Center in Gradacac to discuss “Community Support for Children Battling Malignant Diseases.” Together with a dedicated team of pediatric physicians, nurses, and representatives from local elementary and high schools, we explored how local systems can become more sensitive, informed, and supportive of families facing cancer.

After the roundtable, participants, students, and community members gathered in the city’s cinema to watch the documentary “Heroj”, which tells the story of our brave Afan Habibovic. The film moved the audience deeply and opened important conversations—bringing the reality of childhood cancer closer to those who have never witnessed it firsthand.

Reaching Families Across the Region

Cazin & Bihac – Winter Fairs, Family Check-ins, and Survivor Follow-up

Our shop team participated in winter fairs in Cazin and Bihac, using the opportunity to connect with families currently in treatment and those who have completed therapy. These encounters help us quietly monitor children’s well-being, their reintegration into school and community life, and any challenges families are facing.

Workshops and Support at the Parents’ House

Due to severe winter weather, our mobile field visits were reduced. However, our team organized several in-house workshops at the Parents’ House in Sarajevo for both children and caregivers, including:

Yoga and relaxation sessions for mothers
Creative workshops for children and parents
Psychosocial support talks and group activities

These activities offered emotional relief, social connection, and a sense of routine during difficult months.

Support to Roma Families

We provided transportation and essential supply assistance (hygiene items, food packages, and other necessities) for a Roma family whose child is undergoing treatment. This support is especially important, as minority families often face additional socioeconomic barriers that complicate access to care.

Agricultural Seed Packages

As part of our long-term support program, the Mobile Outreach Team prepared and began delivering this year’s agricultural seed packages to families. These packages help families maintain self-sufficiency, reduce financial strain, and create a sense of normalcy through seasonal routines.

Looking Ahead

In the coming months, we plan to:

Resume more frequent field visits as weather conditions improve
Expand school and community awareness programs
Strengthen follow-up support for grieving families
Continue assisting minority communities and families relocated for treatment
Develop more workshops supporting emotional resilience and parental mental health

A heartfelt thank you to our GlobalGiving friends, donors, and supporters: your generosity empowers every step we take. Because of you, families receive comfort during grief, children find safe spaces to learn and create, minority families receive essential assistance, and communities grow more compassionate and aware.

Thank you for helping us carry hope, dignity, and human connection to every child and family who needs it.

Together, we continue making sure no one fights alone.

Workshop in Sarajevo 1

Workshop in Sarajevo 2

International Childhood Cancer Day - Gradacac 1

International Childhood Cancer Day - Gradacac 2

Workshop in Tuzla 1

Workshop in Tuzla 2

Maarif school bazaar

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Nov 26, 2025
Stronger Together: Love, Support, and Connection

By Matea Jovanovic Nesic | Project leader

Days of Pediatric Psycho-oncology

Between July and December 2025, our Mobile Outreach Team continued its mission of standing beside children with cancer and their families wherever support was needed—whether in Bosnia and Herzegovina or beyond its borders. This period was marked by deep emotional work, regional collaboration, and meaningful steps toward strengthening psychosocial care for families facing pediatric cancer. Through every visit, workshop, and conversation, our message remained the same: no family walks this journey alone.

Highlights of Our Field Work

Cross-border emotional support – Turkey

Once again, our outreach expanded beyond Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our team visited six families from Bosnia and Herzegovina currently undergoing cancer treatment in Turkey, as well as the Medical Park hospital. These visits provided emotional stability, practical guidance, and a familiar presence far from home, helping families feel supported during an especially challenging chapter.

Standing with grieving families – Tuzla region

Our psychologist attended two funerals of children treated at the hemato-oncology department in Tuzla. These moments of solidarity offered quiet comfort and compassionate support to families navigating profound loss.

Strengthening Psychosocial Care in the Region

“Days of Pediatric Psycho-oncology” – Regional Convention

One of this period’s proudest accomplishments was organizing our first-ever regional convention, “Days of Pediatric Psycho-oncology.” The event brought together psychologists, social workers, medical professionals, students, and representatives from Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, and we were honored by the presence of government officials and leading experts. Participants praised the event as much needed, emphasizing how important it was to promote childhood cancer awareness and psychosocial support on a broader scale. The convention included expert lectures and presentations from regional associations, strengthening collaboration across borders.

Community and Professional Development

Team-building for medical staff

We organized a team-building event for medical professionals, focused on strengthening communication, fostering trust and team cohesion, encouraging peer support, and promoting psychological well-being. Alongside these educational components, the activity offered space for fun, connection, and emotional reset.

Motivational workshop with young survivors (MladiCe)

Our MladiCe community gathered for a motivational workshop designed to support their ongoing medical and psychological needs, encourage adherence to follow-up care, and deepen group bonds. Through shared experiences and open dialogue, young survivors found strength and reassurance in one another.

Children’s Week workshop – Tuzla

In Tuzla, we organized a joyful workshop for children and parents in celebration of Children’s Week. Through fun activities and games, children learned how to relax, calm down, use kind and respectful language, build self-confidence, strengthen empathy, and practice positive thinking — all while simply enjoying the moment and having fun. Parents took great joy in watching their children laugh, play, and connect with others, and many shared meaningful conversations with our psychotherapist, reflecting on their children’s needs, emotional development, and their own experiences as caregivers during treatment.

Mental health awareness in Sarajevo

Our psychologist from Sarajevo visited a madrasa during Mental Health Days to speak with students about how to support peers undergoing cancer treatment, why awareness matters, and how to break down myths and stigma surrounding childhood cancer. The session helped cultivate empathy, inclusion, and mental health literacy among young people. Two of our young survivors acompanied our psychotherapist during this visit.

Our Impact This Period

Throughout this period, our team expanded psychosocial support beyond the country’s borders, reinforced the importance of community-based grief support, elevated pediatric psycho-oncology as a recognized regional field, empowered survivors through motivational and health-focused engagement, strengthened the healthcare workforce through team cohesion activities, and promoted understanding of childhood cancer among youth through school-based awareness initiatives.

Looking Forward

In the coming months, we plan to continue visiting families abroad when needed, deepen regional collaborations initiated at the convention, develop structured programs for bereavement support, expand survivor-focused activities and long-term follow-up guidance, and bring more awareness workshops to schools and youth communities.

A Note of Appreciation

To our friends, donors, and partners through GlobalGiving: your support makes it possible for us to stand beside families—whether in their homes, hospital rooms, school halls, or even in distant countries where treatment takes them. Because of you, grieving parents are met with compassion, survivors find strength and community, medical teams feel supported, and families abroad feel less alone. Together we continue turning hardship into resilience and loneliness into connection—one visit, one workshop, one shared moment at a time.

Workshop with MladiCe

Workshop with medical staff 1

Lecture in madrasa

Visit to Turkey 1

Visit to Turkey 2

Visit to Turkey 3

Children's workshop in Tuzla

Links:

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