College education for 10 talented students in BiH

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

January – March 2020

Executive Summary:

We appreciate the continued generosity and commitment of our supporters and we would like to share with you just how much your support is impacting our programs.  We are off to a great start this year. Bosana’s 11th Annual Benefit held on March 7^th was a tremendous success. The goal for this event was $60,000 and we have surpassed it by raising $74,474. The event, organized during the weekend of International Women’s Day, focused on women, the importance of higher education, professional development and achievements, as well as philanthropic work.

We hosted a panel discussion with Sanja, Majla, Marsela, Mahira & Djenita - all very successful women who have made their careers in America in senior positions. The annual 'DoGooder Award' was presented to Djenita, for her many years of support and contributions to the Foundation.

Matea and Lejla, our former students, traveled from BiH to represent Bosana’s students at the event, and their heartfelt speeches were the absolute highlight of the night.  Last, but certainly not least, we were honored to welcome the United States Ambassador to B&H, Eric Nelson, to the event. In his remarks, the Ambassador recognized the importance of the Foundation’s work for the youth of BiH, as well as its programs of cooperation with the United States Embassy. We thank all of the participants, honored guests, volunteers, and supporters from afar, who helped make the 11^th Annual Benefit a success!

Students and Program Update:

This first quarter of the year marks the end of the fall semester and the exam season. We are proud to share with you that our students had a very successful exam season and that they will enter into the new semester ready to tackle new projects.

As we are all aware, the global changes in many countries have altered the way our students are attending their classes. Universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have switched to online learning in order to keep their student population safe from Covid-19 pandemic.  For the most schools in B&H this is a new process, and both the faculty and the students are adjusting to this new teaching approach. Some students do not have all the necessary equipment and some are lacking internet access, so this part is more challenging for them. Bosana is working on accommodating our students and havealready provided a few laptops for students who need them. We will continue to offer our support where it is needed.

Spring semester will be challenging for all. Strict movement rules are being implemented in B&H as we speak. Most of the population won’t be able to leave their house unless absolutely necessary. Positive news in all of this is that everyone is doing their best to find ways to adjust to the new normal and there are many free online academic resources now available to students across the globe.  This is very beneficial for students in B&H, where academic reasources are not always available and many students have to order books from different countries.

Highlights of the quarter:

We are excited to report all these exciting news about our students:

• Pink Shirt Day, or Anti-Bullying Day, was acknowledged on February 26. It is a day when people wear pink to school or work in solidarity against bullying. Suncica was hired at the Youth Center in East Sarajevo and Catholic School Center to lead workshops on this subject.

• Pelka, our student from Tuzla, attended several seminars and professional development classes, some which were “Peace with a Female Face” held in Sombor, Serbia; lectures titled “War with Photos” and “Living Monuments”.

• Three of our medical students, Milica, Saima and Selena, attended the international congress for medical students and young physicians in Sarajevo. The 5th SaMED congress was organized in February of this year.  Saima presented her work titled ‘Prevalence of Ophthalmic Disease Among Competitors of the Friendly Competition in Special Olympics “Parallel”.

• Saima was one of the organizers of the Biomedical congress organized in Tuzla at the beginning of March -Tuzla Brain Week.

• Nejra gave presentations during the pastquarter representing Center for student career development at the Economic Faculty in Sarajevo. These presentations are part of the CEO project, and they are done at various high schools in Sarajevo canton. In addition, Nejra is a part of the team working on organization of the Economic Forum of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2020.

• Matea and Lejla, former Bosana students, traveled to Los Angeles, California to attend this year’s Bosana Benefit. They spent a little over a week in Los Angeles, sightseeing and meeting our donors and volunteers. It is very important for our students to attend the event and share their stories with our donors. Bosana supporters can see firsthand how much their support means to our students and where they end up after graduation. Lejla is Bosana’s first employee and Matea is a young entrepreneur.

Last quarter we reported that our student Benjaminand his co writer and friend Lama have published a beautifully illustrated children's book called "Heroes without Capes". We are so proud to have had his book promoted at our annual event. We only had limited number of books and they were all sold at the beginning of the evening.

Josip is entering his last semester of graduate studies. There are various requirements for his major and one of them is an internship during the last semester. Josip is planning to work on his internship and has applied for the Work and Travel program which is part of the international cultural exchange program. He hopes to use this summer to work, travel, meet new friends, and improve his language skills.   

“Students for Humanity” project is still thriving.  Bosana students are all setting aside a part of their monthly scholarship funds for their own humanitarian projects.  Some of Bosana’s former students are also part of this project.

In October, our students donated to Stefan, a student from Tuzla, who needed financial assistance during 2019/2020 academic year.  Bosana students donated 500 BAM to Stefan for tuition and other accademic expenses so that he is able to finish the first year of his master’s program.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

October-December 2019

Executive Summary:

The year is coming to an end, the fall semester is almost over, and our students are about to tackle yet another exam season. We are excited to report to our donors all of the inspiring news from this quarter. Bosana has some of the best and most dedicated students and we can only hope that our supporters are as proud of them as we are.

Bosana received incredible support from our donors for the Giving Tuesday campaign and the End of the Year campaign. In addition, the scholarship program received five laptops as a donation from Hired, Inc.

Bosana Advisory Committee has been in the planning mode for months now preparing for the next annual gala. Bosana 11th Annual Benefit is scheduled for March 7^th. This event will offer another meaningful and fun evening focused on women of Bosnia and Herzegovina, their education, successes, as well as their philanthropic work.

Student and Program Update:

The last quarter of the year is also the beginning of the new academic year. Bosana students focused all of their energy on classes and, towards the end of the quarter, on their midterms. Students who were accepted into our scholarship program this year have found organizations where they will volunteer during their next few years and have adjusted to the new schedule and their new obligations quite well. As always, besides classes, midterms and volunteering, our students found time for additional educational activities, which will help them excel in their respective fields.

The scholarship program received a noteworthy donation in November, thanks to our longterm supporter and first Bosana mentor, Tea Sisic. Tea’s employer Hired, Inc. donated five laptops for five lucky Bosana students. It is very hard for studentsto have to wait on their friends and roommates to borrow their laptops to complete their assignments and universities usually have very limited number of public computers. These donations are a tremendous help to our program and our students.

Highlights of the quarter:

We are excited to report all these exciting news about our students:

• Galib earned his BA degree back in May, and just this this past month, he received his first official job offer. To Galib, community service and volunteerism were always a priority and we are very proud that these experiences helped him find employment.

• Our student Benjamin was a Speaker at the 4th International Social Research and Behavioral Sciences Symposium in Antalya AKEV University.

• Benjamin and his co-author and friend Lama have published a beautifully illustrated children's book called "Heroes without Capes". They want to show us that heroes are present everywhere around us and that it is our task to recognize them. In the book, difficulties, limits, borders do not exist - only love, potential and opportunities do!

• We are proud to share that our student Adi received the “Golden Plaque” at his University in Mostar, which is given out to students who exemplify excellent academic achievement. Adi received this recognition for the second year in a row, distinguishing his academic success as a student with highest GPA in 2018/2019 academic year.

• Bosana friendships last even after college graduation. Our former students Milena from Bijeljina and Denis from Bihac worked on a project together in Banja Luka. The project was called “60 White Roses” and it is a project focused on peacebuilding, peacekeeping, and civilian victims of war.

• Dzelila volunteers at the “Lotus” organization in Zenica, and during the month of October she held a workshop for members of this organization. The workshop was part of the project called “Prevention of violence against children in digital environment” and this project was implemented by the organization “Hope and Homes for Children in Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

• Selena and Saima, two medical students attended Winter Medical Congres for young doctors and medical students in Zagreb. Selena studies at Medical University in Foca while Saima is a student at Medical University in Tuzla. They have both shared their excitement after the four-day program, where they had the oportunity to learn directly from experts and to make new friendships with students and doctors from around the world.

Bosana comes full circle with Bosana students alumni network. Bosana students are now giving back to the next generations of Bosana students. Alumni network had one of the first working sessions solely organized and run on their ideas. Denis, Esma, Amila and Lejla had a Skype meeting where they discussed their ideas for the alumni program.

“Students for Humanity” project is still thriving . Bosana students are all setting aside part of their monthly scholarship funds for their own humanitarian projects. This year, even students that have already graduated have decided to contribute to this project.

Funds collected during the second part of the year were used for three different projects. In October, our students donated to Aida and Miroslav, two hard-working students who needed financial assistance to continue their studies. Aida is a senior at the International University of Sarajevo and Miroslav is a fourth year student at the University of East Sarajevo. Bosana students donated 1000 BAM to each student, to cover their tuition and other academic expenses in order to be able to finish their final year and graduate.

Students have also donated part of their funds to former Bosana student Selma’s project “Get the Heck to School”. Selma started a project which provides educational opportunities for Roma girls in Bihac. The goal of this project is to support Roma girls so that they can stay in school, encourage further education, and lower the rate of child marriages within the Roma population.

Links:

• website

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

July - September 2019

Executive Summary:

This is the most exciting and rewarding quarter for our students and all Bosana staff members. The exam season comes to an end and the time to slow down and relax begins. It is time for summer internships and conferences, as well as Bosana Student gatherings!

As usual, Bosana scholarship application process was held during the summer break and we are happy to announce that we have accepted a new group of students into our programs.

And perhaps the most noteworthy announcement this quarter is that one of our former Bosana students has become a Bosana employee! A last year’s graduate, Lejla was selected for the Bosana Field Liaison position based on her outstanding volunteer experience with nonprofit organizations, which distinguished her from other applicants.

Students and Program Update:

Scholarship Application Process. Throughout the first two weeks of August we received over 80 scholarship applications from students all across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each year, our Selection Committee has a tough decision to make because we have a lot of deserving, brilliant and driven youth who apply to be a part of our scholarship program. The Bosana Selection Committee reviewed all aplications and selected a group of students from the application pool to proceed through the interview stage. These students were interviewed in the first half of September. After a meticulous review of the applications, interviews of the top candidates, and Committee consultations, nine (9) students were accepted into the Bosana Scholarship Program and additional five (5) into our Professional Development Program.

Summer Break. After the exam season came to an end, some students went back home to study, while others went to spend time with their family and friends. A number of Bosana students decided to continue with their professional development by way of completing internships, attending seminars, or presenting at conferences. Turkey was the most popular destination this summer amongst our students who took part in various conferences, trainings, camps, summer classes, and internships.

Team Building and Award Season. The Annual Bosana Student Team Building was organized at the beginning of August. Our students enjoyed river rafting on river Una in Bosanska Krupa and other team building activities. Our students Denis and Aida who organized this gathering received a special recognition and a financial award for their time and efforts. We also announced the winner of the Bosana’s Student of the Year award - Stipan. Another award went to Senita for her exceptional commitment and volunteering.

Highlights of the quarter:

We are excited to report all these positive news about our students:

• Amina earned her B.A. degree in Financial Management at the University of Economics in Sarajevo. Amina will continue her studies and in the next academic year she will enroll into graduate program at the same university.

• Mediha graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry in Sarajevo at the end of this quarter. While still working on her thesis, Mediha was officially offered a job in her hometown Gracanica as a technical professor at local Dentistry High School.

• Dragana graduated from the University of Law in Banja Luka just this year and is now working at the local municipality.

• While working on finalizing her Master’s Degree, our student Sanela was offered a one year paid internship in Sarajevo as engineer of investment preparations.

• Our former student Milena started her first post-graduate job as a Project Coordinator at the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bijeljina, BIH. She graduated from the University in Banja Luka with a degree in Political Science.

• Ivana completed her internship in Turkey through the program of International Federation of Medical Students’ Association. She was thrilled to be a part of the program where she met students from different parts of the world, traveled through Turkey and observed surgeries in several hospitals.

• Nejra attended an international volunteer camp in Istanbul, Turkey.

• Zenajda and Romana also travelled to Turkey with student associations from their respective universities.

• Sedin was part of the ERASMUS program in Germany during July and August.

“Students for Humanity” project is still active. Bosana students are all still setting aside part of their monthly scholarship funds for their own humanitarian projects. This year, even students that have already graduated have decided to contribute to this project. At this time, students are waiting to collect a larger sum while they are looking for a new project to support.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

April-June 2019

Executive Summary:

This reporting period has been marked by few exciting events for our students. Spring semester is coming to an end, students completed their midterms and started taking their final exams. Several students graduated in the past three months while many others are getting closer to their goals. BOSANA organized a workshop for our junior and senior students to prepare them for the next phase of their professional journey. In the next quarter, BOSANA will open application process for the next academic year and select new scholarship students. BOSANA’s notable acomplishments are testament to our extraordinary suporters. Our work would not be possible without the support of our valued donors, volunteers and community partners.

Students and Program Update:

BOSANA students have been busy this quarter with lectures, the end of semester, midterms and start of the final exams. Midterms are over now and majority of our students are halfway into their final exams. Thus far, results have been commendable, however, we still have to wait until the end of July to have all results available.

We are waiting on our students who are seniors to complete all their requirements. So far we had four students who officially graduated in May and June, and we are expecting more graduations by the end of this year.

Several students attended conferences while some presented their work at international conferences. During this semester we had a few students that were part of the exchange program and there will be couple more that will spend some time abroad during this summer. It is important to emphasize that these exchange programs are very competitive and students have to earn their rights to be part of the program.

“Kick start Your Career”

BOSANA organized a workshop for our students that are either in their last college year or have recently graduated. Training was divided into two sections taught over two weekends. “Kickstart your Career” workshop was tailored specifically for BOSANA students with focus on creating their professional biographies, resumes, cover letters, interview skills, time management, working in teams and other skills relevant for today’s job market. This is one more training in line that is designed to help our students build additional skills to help distinguish them from the rest of the graduates that are coming into the job market.

Highlights of the quarter:

We are excited to report numerous positive news about our students:

• Dragana K. earned her Law degree at the University of Banjaluka in May.

• Galib G. earned his degree in Social Pedagogy. His thesis was titled “Family abuse as the indicator of the current status of Zenica-Doboj Canton” for which he received a perfect score.

• Ivana N. completed all her requirements at the University of East Sarajevo- Faculty of Medicine Foca. BOSANA family now has one more doctor of medicine.

• Denis S. earned his M.A. degree in Biology-Genetics at the University of Sarajevo.

• Benjamin Avdic presented his article “Parents as co-therapist in education and rehabilitation of children with developmental disorders” at the 10^th International Scientific-Vocational Conference focused on “promotion of the quality of life of children and young” in Istanbul, Turkey. Benjamin was part of the organizing board for this conference.

• Jasmina, our former student who is now gainfully employed, is BOSANA’s newest donor.

• Josip completed his ERASMUS exchange in Poland and is coming back to Mostar to take his final exams.

• Saima, our medical student from Tuzla was coordinator for the Special Olympics Friends Competition. This is a main annual event but the project is active during the rest of the year and she is part of this ongoing project.

Furthermore, Saima is going to spend a month in Poland, at the Medical University of Lublin as an exchange student through International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. During this exchange Saima will be working on a special project in neurology called “Modifying the anticonvulsive activity of antiepileptic drugs by gap-junction blockers”.

• Ivana B. will spend a month in Turkey as an exchange student, also through program of International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. Ivana’s focus will be general surgery. As part of this exchange, Ivana will work on her surgical practice, learn about different approaches in various hospitals in Turkey, and observe procedures that are not part of the standard curriculum in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She will have opportunity to visit one of the best hospitals in Turkey as well as several different cities.

“Students for Humanity”

Our student led project is still active. BOSANA students are still setting aside part of their monthly scholarship for their own humanitarian projects. Former students, which have graduated in the past years, have decided to contribute to this project. At this time, students are waiting to collect larger sum while they are looking for a new project to support.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

January –March 2019

Executive Summary:

BOSANA’s fundraising efforts have gotten off to a great start this year. During the second half of March we have marked our 10^th Annual Benefit with our most loyal volunteers, donors and supporters. To celebrate this important milestone, BOSANA invited Amira Medunjanin, a renowned singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina who performed with Bojan Zulfikarpašic, Nikola Stajic and Pero Krstajic. Amira is a singer, humanitarian and a true amabasador of traditional Bosnian song called sevdalinka. It was a magical night, filled with emotions and positive energy. When we started planning the benefit, we set a goal for ourselves to raise $100,000 for our 10^th Anniversary. With the help of our donors and sponsors we are thrilled that we were able to achieve our goal and reach $100,000.  In addition to our annual benefit, two former Bosana students organized fundrasing events on behalf of Bosana.

Our current BOSANA students are also working on the final stages of their project “Pairing Youth – Empowering Coexistence” with Youth for Peace as our implementing partners. This project is financialy supported by the US Embassy in BiH- Economic Support Fund.

Students and Program Update:

Beginning of the calendar year marks the end of the first semester (fall) and the beginning of the exam season. BOSANA students have finished their classes for the fall semester; they have also taken their midterms and final exams. Some universities have started with the spring semester at the end of March while others will be starting in the next quarter. Thus far, students have reported good outcomes and all of them are on good track for the next part of the academic year. We still have several students that are trying to schedule their thesis defense, and hopefully in the next couple of months we will have new graduates. The students finishing their thesis have completed their requirements and now they are only waiting on the committees to give their availability.

Highlights of the quarter:

We are excited to be able to report that we have positive news about our students:

• Josip started his Erasmus exchange program in Poland at the end of February. He is currently in his first year of graduate studies and this exchange program will enhance his knowledge and broaden his horizons.

• Anela Z. majored in genetics. She received her bachelor’s degree and last year master’s degree as well. Right now Anela is venturing into digital world of data in relation to her study of genetics. She published an article on “Big data” and genetic research.

• Two of Bosana students organized fundrasing events for Bosana. Amir, our former student started Facebook campaign, asking for donations on his birthday instead of gifts. Esma K., our former student and a loyal vlunteer, who always makes sure our designs and graphics are amazing, organized a fundraiser in Sweden. We are so proud to see how much Bosana’s support meant to our students and to have our students raising funds on behalf of Bosana for the new generations.

• Nermina P., Bosana’s first generation student and Amila B. Bosana’s third generation student attended our 10^th Annual Benefit in Los Angeles. They have given their speeches on behalf of all Bosana students thanking our sponsors and donors for their continuous support. Both Amila and Nermina talked about the significance of Bosana during their education, how much Bosana meant to them and how much it still means to have support and lifelong friends they have through our annual student gatherings. The audience was able to learn directly from our students what it means to be a recipient of our scholarship.

As mentioned in previous reports: Bosana students are still working on the third phase of the project “Pairing Youth – Empowering Coexistence”. Implementing partners of this project are Youth for Peace BiH. US Embassy in BiH is the financial supporter of this project.

The objective of the project, which will last for 10 months, is for thirty (30) BOSANA students from different ethnic backgrounds and different parts of BiH to be trained to understand and deal better with current complex conditions of the BiH society to create, promote and live their own narrative of coexistence as young citizens of this country, while also having the opportunity to multiply the newly gained awareness by sharing it and their experience with 600 high-school students across BIH in the cities and communities where BOSANA students live or study.

Our students have started sharing their experiences with highschool students in their own comunities. This phase of the project is ongoing, due to different availabilities of educators and students. In order to fully complete the implementation, students need to receive official approval from schools and municipalities. All groups of students are now working on the third phase of this project.

“Students for Humanity” project is still going strong. New Bosana students also signed up for this project and all the students are still very much excited to set aside part of their monthly scholarship for their own humanitarian projects. This year, even students that have graduated in the past year have decided to contribute to this project.

Last quarter students helped their fellow student in Tuzla with her college expenses and now Bosana students are looking for a new beneficiary that will benefit from this project.