College education for 10 talented students in BiH

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

April-June 2016

Executive Summary:

Bosana students have been working hard during the past three months. They have attended lectures, completed midterms and at the end of the quarter started taking final exams. This year, we will have the largest graduating class since Bosana was registered. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments but also of our donors who made this all possible. It’s an accomplishment we can all be proud of. This year, we will also resume accepting new applications and we hope to accept five new scholarship recipients. The application process was opened July 1^st and we will be accepting applications until mid august. We expect to receive a large number of applications that our selection committee will then have a month to select top five candidates.

Students and Program Update:

Last quarter has been busy for our students: lectures, midterms and final exams. Beginning of this quarter was slightly easier since Bosana students were still taking their classes but towards the end of this quarterfinal exam season started and it is still in full swing. All of our students have started taking their final exams and results we have so far are very impressive. We have a number of students that have already passed all of their exams and will have a worry-free summer season.

Twelve (12) of our students are on good track to graduate by the beginning of next academic year. After the exam season is over graduating students have to prepare final project and schedule their defense in order to obtain the diploma. Students are hoping to schedule the defense date by the end of the summer, so those who wish to continue their studies, have enough time to apply for graduate programs. We will report more on final exam results and project defenses in our next report.

Highlights of the quarter:

• Bosana students presented our organization at the fair organized by the US Embassy in BIH where they invited all the organizations that they have supported through grants. The fair was called “Volontiraj I ti/Volunteer” and the goal was to inspire others to join our organizations and volunteer to help us advance our programs. At this fair hundreds of NGOs and volunteers presented their programs. Our students had their own booth and promotional material. Students talked about Bosana scholarship and what is expected of students that are part of Bosana Foundation.

• We all know that volunteer experience counts once job opportunities arise, but there is more satisfaction to volunteering during the time our students spend working on different projects. Our students volunteer at different organizations and often they work with children. Every day we see how that experience changes them and how much it helps the lives of children. Matea, one of our students, has been volunteering in orphanages, elementary schools, church camps and puppet shows for eight years. She said that now her greatest joy is to bring a smile to children’s faces at a local hospital. Matea also entered the European Voluntary Service (EVS) the Best Volunteer Ever competition.

• During the month of May, our student Amila represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in Budva, Montenegro at a “56. Masinijada”. Engineering Universities from former Yugoslavia are competing in seven fields of study. There were representatives from 16 universities, future mechanical engineers, from six (6) countries of the Balkan region. Amila won third place in area of “mechanics of fluids”.

• Matea and Selma, two of our students studying in Mostar have entered completion “Putujemo u Evropu/Lets travel to Europe”. Seniors from BiH universities, who have perfect grades and volunteer experience were eligible to apply. The idea was to give opportunities to students from Bosnia to spend a summer as students from other European countries would – traveling through Europe. Winners would get: monthly InterRail ticket (to use it on all European trains); visa so they can travel through different countries; pocket money and student ID. Both Selma and Matea won this competition and they will spend more than three weeks of August traveling through Europe.

• Elma, our Professional Development student, has completed her master’s program in mechanical engineering and defended her thesis on June 21^st, 2016.

Bosana students for Humanity:

Bosana students continue to help their local communities every month. Every month they give portion of their scholarship and Bosana matches the amount so they can help families in need. Each month students choose families in different cities. In this quarter students did their projects in Bosanaska Krupa, Tuzla and the month June fund was given to one of Bosana’s graduate students – Edin who is in need to rebuild his family home so he has a place to live. Edin is from Tuzla orphanage so securing a home for Edin was a priority for our students to help him realize his dream. Students have agreed to give funds from June, July and August to Edin. The house is old and devastated; and he needs to rebuild most of the interior (plumbing, walls, fixtures etc.). This kind of a project is very expensive and he cannot do that without financial help. This is the reason why the funds were given to Edin.

Our student Adnan used funds from month of April to help a family of 6 – mother and five children. When Adnan asked what is the most important thing they need, mother said to have health insurance. Portion of the money was used to pay yearly fee for children to be able to go to hospital and use their services. The rest of the money was used for food and hygiene products.

Our student Elma and Armin used funds from month of May to help a family of three. Grandfather and grandmother are taking care of their eight-year-old granddaughter. Her mother passed away from cancer and even though her father is alive and well, she never met him. Grandfather is unemployed and has difficulty moving due to back surgery. Grandmother is working odd jobs when she gets a chance but their income is barely keeping them above the water. When asked what they need most, they said that food and hygiene products are what they need. Elma and Armin purchased basic food items and some candies, since that was on little girls wish list.

Challenges:

This has been a very eventful quarter but we have no significant challenges to report.

Bosana 7^th Annual Event:

Another year, another successful event. Bosana 7^th Annual Benefit was held in Los Angeles on April 16^th. We had over 200 guests and with the help of sponsors and silent auction donors we were able to fundraise little over $40,000. This year, our musical line up was Mak Grgic and Damjan Krajacic who entertained our supporters during the main event and silent auction. Traditionally, our main event was followed by an after party and Nebuloza band donated their time and talent, as they did for every event so far.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

January- March 2016

Executive Summary:

First quarter of the year is always a busy time for our students. In January and February most of them have final exams scheduled. It is the end of fall semester; exam season is in full swing and also beginning of new spring semester. At the end of January Bosana supporters from Phoenix, Arizona have successfully organized a benefit gala on behalf of Bosana Foundation. Gala titled Bosana Changing Lives was able to fundraise over $30,000 US dollars.

Concluding this quarter, volunteer staff has started preparing for our main event of the year. Bosana Annual Benefit will take place in Los Angeles on April 16.

Students and Program Update:

In our last report we mention how the last quarter of the year is generally slow for our students. That was the time for our students to relax a bit and start preparing for exam season, because the first quarter brings with it a very hectic exam schedule. The exam schedules are not the same for all students, some start in January others in February but by the end of the quarter, most of our students have taken their exams. Our students worked really hard preparing for their exams and their results are showing this commitment. More than half of our students have passed all their exams and are ready for the second semester. Some were not able to pass all scheduled exams; however, they will have a chance to retake them in April. All in all, we are very happy with the results and cannot wait for the end of this academic year when we will have more students’ graduate college.

Highlights of the quarter:

• One of our Professional Development students, Esma K. graduated this March. Esma has applied for graduate program in Sweden and was accepted. At the end of this year new chapter of her life will start and we wish her all the luck.

• Anes H. Bosana graduate of mechanical engineering has officially graduated from Royal Air Force College Cranwell (RAF Cranwell). He was one of the first two cadets from our country that was privileged to attend this college and has officially been offered a position in the BIH Army.

• Two Bosana students who are studying genetics at the University in Sarajevo Anela Zorlak are part part of five teams that won support to realize projects in the next six months as part of the “Quarry Life Award”. This competition was held in over twenty (20) countries and over 450 candidates submitted their projects. This group of students, that prepared the project without the support of their professors, was able to be in the first five (5) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the next six (6) months they will spend time in quarries to develop their projects and in September 2016 they will have to submit their reports. At that point, selection committee will chose the top three (3) projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina and they will get monetary rewards. In December of 2016 international selection committee will chose the top three projects. Monetary rewards for international winners will be between 10,000 and 30,000 Euros.

• Adnan H. our student of mechanical engineers in Bihac decided to temporarily change organizations where he was volunteering in order to help one local family build a home. The family was able to raise funds for materials but they still needed people to donate their time and build their home. Adnan spent two months helping the main electrician set up electricity wires, first into the foundation of the house; than once the walls were put up he worked on setting up complete electrical installation in the entire house.  

Bosana students for Humanity:

Bosana students continue to help their local communities every month. Every month they give portion of their scholarship and Bosana matches the amount so they can help families in need. Each month students choose families in different cities. In this quarter students did their projects in Gorazde, Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

In January students decided to help children with Down syndrome in Gorazde. They have used half the funds to buy classroom material for children in one classroom and the other half for family of one of these children. Bosana students from Gorazde visited the children, bought the classroom material when they realized how much time they spent in these classrooms and how limited their supplies were.

In February, four Bosana students studying in Sarajevo chose to help one family that lives in Kiseljak. This is a family with nine children and both parents are unemployed. This family lives under terrible housing situation and they are surviving by selling firewood. The whole family is sleeping in one room and they said that food and clothes for the children is something they need the most. Students used their funds for this month to buy mostly food for this family.

In March, our student from Bijeljina now studying in Banjaluka used the funds for this month to help two different families that live on the outskirts of Banja Luka. Children from these families are using services of the organization where our student volunteers, so she already knew that these families are in desperate need of help. One of these families was an unemployed single mom with one child living on minimum help she gets from the state. The other family had three minors living with their grandmother with minimum monthly income from social services. Our student bought food and hygiene products for both of these families.

Challenges:

This quarter did not present any challenges. Our students were fulfilling their obligations accordingly; on the other hand, this quarter was more challenging for our students. It is the time of final exams; students were studying hard and taking their exams as scheduled. The exam season, even though demanding, was very successful for our students. They reported good grades and most of them are, at this time, in very good academic standing.

Donor driven update worth mentioning:

PHOENIX, AZ

Bosana supporters from Phoenix, Arizona organized the “Bosana Changing Lives” Gala. The event was a great success; supporters that were part of planning committee, volunteers and attendees were more than happy with the outcome. Nebuloza band was in charge of entertainment and former Bosana student Selma Selman gave one of the most inspiring and moving performances that night. Between ticket sales, dinners and silent auction items, this event raised little over $30,000, which will give nine (9) new scholarships to the deserving youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ATLANTA, GA

One of Bosana Board members organized a holiday party at his home and asked his family and friends to donate to Bosana foundation instead of bringing gifts. This simple gesture and idea successfully raised nearly $15,000 for the Bosana Foundation. This is an example of a small yet very creative effort that will make a huge difference for the youth in BIH.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

October-December 2015

Executive Summary:

Last quarter of the year tends to be slower than the rest of the year. Bosana students are getting closer to the end of semester, finishing their classes and starting to prepare for exam season. At the end of the quarter they are taking midterms which are requirement to be able to take exams in January exam season. Two Bosana students graduated in first month of the quarter and are ready for the next big step in their lives.

Students and Program Update:

Most lectures are concluded by the end of December, and during the December students are taking midterms. Success in midterms will allow our students to take final exams in January and February. Results we have so far are promising, majority of our students passed their midterms and now are studying for the final exams.

Bosana students are studying at various locations and universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so their exams schedule differ. Majority will have their final exams in January; some of them are still taking midterms and will take final exams the end of January or in February. All in all, we will have all results by the end of February.

Bosana offers to our student’s option to take tutoring, and some of them decided to use this opportunity and prepare better for upcoming exam season. We are very confident that this year will be the best one yet. This group of students is very dedicated and determined to complete all their tasks and graduate as soon as possible. They are trying really hard to finish everything in due time.

Highlights of the quarter:

• One of our students from the first generation of Bosana students has finally graduated in the first week of October. He was studying philosophy and social services and is currently completing a year long internship through ERASMUS program in Austria working with special needs children and elderly.

• Another Bosana student, Sajdin who completed Interior Design major from Art Academy in Sarajevo also graduated in October. Sajdin’s final project was so superb that it ended up being the best one ever done by a student in this department. Professors invited everyone to attend his project defense and Sajdin is hoping that this project will allow him to complete his masters abroad.

• One of our students in Sarajevo received a laptop, a donation from a donor that has been supporting Bosana since its inception.

• An article was published about voluntary work of youth on the website “Nove generacije”. They published several stories and one of them was about Milena, Bosana student and her voluntary work in this organization. The organization where she volunteers focuses on helping high risk children with homework and studying, but they also leave some room for playtime. Milena talked about the work she is doing and how much volunteering and helping these children changed her point of view on life.

• One Bosana student studying medicine at University of Mostar, received the Dean’s Award for best first year student due to his perfect GPA. Stipan has been the exemplary student since the day he was accepted to Bosana family and this year he also received Bosana’s student of the year award as well as a monetary award.

• “Social Entrepreneurship among BiH youth” is the first Bosana project that was done in collaboration with US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this project was to provide professional trainings through workshops, lectures and hand-on experience on topic of youth activism and social entrepreneurship to at least 60 beneficiaries ages 18-25 across both entities in BIH to empower them to become change makers in their own local communities.

Project had four (4) stages: lectures and workshops for 30 Bosana students about social entrepreneurship and activism, workshops and lecture on how to execute your own socially entrepreneurial project and how to get others to help you, realization of four (4) mini projects that encourage social entrepreneurship among the youth and creation of brochures and website to share ideas and best practices developed during the project. There were four (4) winner out of nine (9) teams that participated in project. Team number one was from Bihac, and the other three teams were from Tuzla, Kakanj and Mostar.

Bihac team fundraised more money to be able to finish their warning signs that were supposed to be placed on the banks of Una River. They will place warning signs for tourists and local residents, marking the areas where Una river is not safe for swimming. They have received support from local authorities and were promised financial help to complete this project.

Kakanj team organized an exhibit of photos taken by cell phones. The idea was to encourage young people to use their phones for smart things; taking creative photos of nature and historical sites, memories from childhood etc. They also held award ceremony for winners of this contest in mid-October.

Mostar worked with children during their project realization. Their project was called “Djetinjstvo je tako sretno, samo zato sto nista ne zna…ili?” and the goal was to help and improve living space in orphanage “Egipatsko selo”. They held workshops to encourage creativity in children and to help them develop self-esteem.

Tuzla organized a workshop “Zajedno preko prepreka” created as a part of the project addressing issues of youth in their community. This is for the entire group of young people with disability or without disability, young people who are faced with various issues each day. This workshop should help them identify these issues and together find solutions for the same. This team also painted a wall in a local disability center to improve the area where these young people spend a lot of time. They have used their money to buy supplies for painting, because people that are staying in this center spend most of their time painting or using some other way to express themselves creatively.

Bosana students for Humanity:

Bosana students continue to help their local communities every month. It is turning into a long term project and now they have created their own logo. Every month they give portion of their scholarship and Bosana matches the amount so they can help families in need. Each month students choose families in different cities.

Since October was the beginning of the academic year and some students graduated while some were placed on probation due to their academic success, students agreed to skip this month. They were not sure how many will still be participating in their humanitarian project.

November was reserved for city of Tuzla. Students agreed that they should help a young boy whose family was trying to collect the money for his hospital bills. Little boy named Stefan has congenital heart defect and his treatment costs about 10,000 euros because it has to be done abroad. His family doesn’t have that kind of money and fundraising campaigns were organized across the country. Bosana students donated November amount to Stefan’s medical fund.

In December students decided to help someone in city of Bihac. Nadja had a great idea to buy supplies for someone who will knit scarfs, hats and mittens for children. She also bought candy and prepared gift bags with sweets and scarfs/mittens for little children whose parents did not have money to give the gift bags for New Year’s Eve. That way they would help a lady who is in need of a job and at the same time brighten up a holiday for little kids. Actors from a local theatre dressed up as a bunny and a bear, so they had a lot of fun singing songs and playing with them. She found these kids through local center for social work, and lives of twenty (20) little kids were happy and carefree for at least that one day.

Challenges:

This quarter did not present any significant challenges for the Bosana staff. All students were taking classes and studying hard. They completed their voluntary hours and four teams that had to complete their projects worked tirelessly to finish them on time. Beginning of next quarter will be a bit more stressful due to final exams, but the end of this quarter, when our students took midterms, was very good. Majority passed their miters and is ready to take their final exams.

Donor driven update worth mentioning:

Irnela B., a new Bosana mentor organized fundraiser in Texas in collaboration with Humanity First organization. Fundraiser was very successful and well received. Bosana has so many supporters, and if half of them decided to organize a small gathering to fundraise for scholarships, our students would secure their scholarship until the graduation. We encourage our donors to pay attention to these small fundraisers and maybe consider organizing one on their own.

On January 30 2016, another group of Bosana supporters in Phoenix Arizona will organize a fundraiser to help raise funds for Bosana Scholarship. We are excited to see how successful their event will be.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

July- September 2015

Executive Summary:

Third quarter was both exciting and vital for our students and their studies because the end of this quarter, for many of our students may define the whole upcoming academic year depending on how they complete their exams. It was the time to study and relax but also a time that Bosana organized a project supported by the US Embassy in BIH and our student gathering/teambuilding. We have also successfully completed our first summer camp “Back to Nature” in Vlasic Mountain. All in all, our students and Bosana staff had a fruitful and busy few months.

Students and Program Update:

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Third quarter for all of our forty-two (42) students starts with summer vacation but it ends with exams and official end of the academic year. Therefore, second part of the quarter is busy and stressful. Students are taking final exams and by the end of September they generally know if they will qualify to transition to the next academic year or if they will have to repeat the year. Bosana staff is extremely proud to have more and more graduates; few students graduated last quarter, and this quarter we had two that graduated in September and two more that will graduate in the first week of October. This year significant number of students passed all exams and not only qualified to transition to next year but passed all exams with flying colors. It has been a prosperous academic year!

Unfortunately, we also have three of our students who will have to repeat the year for the second time, which means that they are losing their scholarship. We also have two students that are waiting on results, and they should be known in the first two weeks of October. However, these two students are positive that they will pass their exams and continue their studies without interruption.

This summers bi-annual Bosana student gathering was organized by our students Adnan, Denis and Nadja from Bihac and Bosanska Krupa who proposed the best idea for our gathering and team building. Students visited National Park "Una" and famous waterfall "Strbacki buk" and they learned about the history and natural beauty of Bihac and Bosanska Krupa. Aside from sightseeing, the students took part in various team-building activities.  The whole idea was to spend this weekend outdoors so the students had to cook together, sleep in tents and they played team-building games on the banks of Una River. Brave few even decided to swim in the cold and very wild river. 

As we do each time, students voted on their favorites during the gathering and four students were rewarded with 50KM cash for: “Bosana’s newest discovery”, “the life of the party”, Bosana’s Ambasador and “Best Buddy”.

In the end, students were sad that this gathering lasted only over the weekend, especially since campfire was on the list of planned activities, but the one night they spent in camp it was raining and they never managed to do it. T hey had so much fun that few students even decided to come to the camp next year to volunteer.

Furthermore, each year, Bosana rewards a best student based on his/her academic achievement, volunteerism and their timely response with Foundation. This year, our best student award was given to our student Stipan who also received 500KM for his great academic achievement. A first year medical student, Stipan passed all his exams with straight As all year long.

Summer Camp Project:

Summer camp “Back to Nature” organized in Travnik and Vlasic Mountain was completed very successfully. This is a pilot project that was available only to a small group of attendees of 30 children ages 10-14 and it success showed us that it has a potential to grow in the years to come. Four of our Bosana students worked as counselors and they were so positively overwhelmed by the camp and its positive effects not only on them but also on the beneficiaries. Children were able to reconnect with nature and spend time away from all the electronic distractions of the world we live in today. Project received support from municipality of Travnik, Ministry of Refugee and Migration and local media and it seems that next year will bring more participants and support from different organizations, as well as BIH Diaspora.

“Social Entrepreneurship among BiH youth” Project

This project sponsored by the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a goal to provide professional trainings through workshops, lectures and hand-on experience on topic of youth activism and social entrepreneurship to at least 60 beneficiaries ages 18-25 across both entities in BIH to empower them to become change makers in their own local communities.

Project had four (4) stages: lectures and workshops for 30 Bosana students about social entrepreneurship and activism, workshops and lecture on how to execute your own socially entrepreneurial project and how to get others to help you, realization of four (4) mini projects that encourage social entrepreneurship among the youth and creation of brochures and website to share ideas and best practices developed during the project.

Last workshop was held on September 12^th and out of nine (9) teams that participated in project, four (4) were winners. Team from Bihac was the winner of the first place. Their project focuses on informing tourists of danger that Una river can bring. They will place warning signs for tourists and local residents, marking the areas where Una is not safe for swimming. The other three teams are from Tuzla, Kakanj and Mostar, all Bosana students who will see that they also realize their projects that will be beneficial for their communities.

Highlights of the quarter:

• In September, our student from Tuzla studying Physical Education has defended his diploma paper and became one more Bosana graduate. He was accepted to Bosana Foundation in 2010, the first group of students, and we are very excited to see him graduate.

• Our student Ajna who studied law at the University of Sarajevo has officially graduated last day in September. Ajna was accepted to Bosana family in 2012 and she is hoping to continue her studies and complete her master’s degree.

• Our students Haris and Sajdin will also be graduating in the first week of October.

• Bosana helped our student, Anela with her traveling expenses to attend a conference in Italy because she was honored for her volunteer work with Inter-religious Youth Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Anela spent two weeks in Italy volunteering and working with children.

• Two Bosana mentors to our students Ivana and Selma in September invited them to come to Los Angeles to visit and complete a two-week residence at the Cedar Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. Ivana and Selma were able to meet medical staff, see first-hand how certain procedures are done, familiarize themselves with new equipment used in this respectable institution. This was a dream come true for these two medical students. More importantly, they were able to learn novelties in their field of study and visit all tourist attractions in Southern California during these two weeks.

• Our student Imane used her Bosana professional development fund to attend summer school in Brno, Czech Republic. It was a weeklong summer school organized through European Law Students Association. She attended lectures and interactive workshops thought by Masaryk University esteemed professors. Lecture topics focused on IT law, issues that emerged from technology use, and how to follow world trends on this particular issue. This kind of class is not offered at her university. Imane received certificate for this school and 5 ECTS points that she will be able to use for next school year.

Bosana students for Humanity project:

Bosana students continue to help their local communities every month. It is turning into a long-term project and now they have created even their own logo to represent their project. Every month they give portion of their scholarship and Bosana matches the amount so they can help families in need. Each month students choose families in different cities.

July was reserved for Sarajevo. Our students Lejla, Amila and Ajna visited a local organization providing help to at-risk children and chose five (5) families that needed basic necessities like food and hygiene products, and prepared packets for each family.

In August, students split the money between Jajce and Kakanj. Our student Amir represented our students in Jajce and helped one family with basic supplies. In Kakanj, Amila and Armel bought food and school supplies for two families.

September was reserved for Maglaj were our students Edis and Sanela visited two families in Maglaj and bought all necessary food items that families needed.

Challenges:

Third quarter is usually very stressful for our students. If they did not pass all their exams in June and July they will get another chance to take them in August or September, at the same time this is their last chance to qualify for transition to the next year. If they don’t qualify they will have to wait a whole year and prepare only for few exams they have left, but it also means that they are losing scholarships. We are proud to say that we had a lot of students that passed all their exams in June and July some completed the last few exams in September; however, we did have some students waiting until the last day of September not knowing if they are going to qualify or not. In the end majority of our students will be transitioning to next academic year.

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

April-June 2015

Executive Summary:

The Bosana students and staff have had a very eventful second quarter; there are many exiting news to share with our supporters. The Bosana Annual Benefit was held last weekend of May and it was, as usual, attention-grabbing and successful. The Bosana event fundraised close to $54,000 and this will allow us to keep our scholarship program on track and focus on our current students. Two of our donors covered an all-inclusive trip for two of our students to travel to Los Angles to attend Bosana event and meet all the people that are helping young adults such as themselves.

Students and Program Update:

The board and staff have decided to implement new strategic course for the organization, which is why we are not going to accept new students this academic year. We will dedicate this time to focus on internal development of the Foundation as well as our current scholarship recipients to make sure that the students we currently have further develop and assure success after college.

This part of the year is busy for some students, depending on the university they attend, they might have few exams that they are able to retake from previous quarter; however, most of them worked on their second semester midterms. Majority of our students had good midterm results. Classes are still in progress but some universities have started with the exam season so we are collecting documentation from our students and a more detailed report about their academic success will follow in the next quarterly report. We are hoping to have some graduates this year but we will have to wait for the final results after the exams.

This summer we are collaborating with Azra Smailkadic-Brkic, a journalist and human rights activist on a new project. During the month of August there will be a summer camp called “Back to Nature” where children will be able to reconnect with nature and spend time away from all the electronic distractions of the world we live in today. Summer camp will be at the Vlasic Mountain and it is for children ages 10-14. In order to realize the camp, our goal was to fundraise at least $3,500 to cover costs for the 30 participants, which we managed to achieve. The camp participants will be underprivileged children, as well as children from orphanages. Another important aspect of this program is that our students will be able to be part of this camp. They will work on this project as counselors, which will give them working experience, but it will also be a paid summer internship for at least three of our students. We hope that this will be our first of many summer camps where we will strive to also include more children next year, from different cities and also children of Bosnian origin living abroad. Our goal is to build lasting friendships and connections among children in BIH and abroad.

Highlights of the quarter:

• In April, our student Nermina, who studied English Language and Literature, has defended her B.A. diploma and became one more Bosana graduate. She was accepted to Bosana Foundation in 2010 and we are very excited to see her graduate.

• Our student Edin from Tuzla also completed his B.A. degree and will graduate in the next quarter with the diploma from DIF (physical education) University in Tuzla.

• Our student Anela, has been honored for her volunteer work with Inter-religious Youth Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reception was organized, at the Embassy of the United States of America in BiH, to recognize successful work of volunteers on reconciliation project.

• Our student Amila helped publicize a story of a family from her hometown that was homeless due to horrific acts of violence and domestic abuse at home. The mother with her two children was sleeping on the streets and she decided that she needed to do something about it. Publicizing the story on Facebook, she attracted attention from Bosana staff and donors and within weeks we were able to find a rent-free home for the family and raise close to $1500 dollars for the family to have in the first few months. This is an excellent example how our students can work together with Bosana Foundation to engage our donors to do even more good for our local communities in BIH.

• We are also extremely proud of our student Anes. He has been an exemplary student since he was first accepted to Bosana Foundation in 2011. Anes received his bachelors on time and started master’s program last year. He has been one of the top students in his class. In the meantime, he applied for different jobs and programs to be able to acquire some working experience. This year Anes, along with only two other students from BIH (first ever) has been accepted to Royal Air Force Academy in Cranwell, Great Britain. He will have full scholarship during the ten (10) month training and after his training is complete he will have a guaranteed job with the BIH Army.

• Nadja, another amazing Bosana student, worked with her colleagues and organized free tutoring sessions for students of Economic faculty in Bihac. This is just another way our students are trying to give back to their own community.

• Since march, our students have started their own humanitarian project where they allocate 2KM each month and Bosana double matches the total. This adds up to approximately $200/month. Our students pick different city each month as well as a family or an individual that they believe needs help the most. In April, Milena, our student in Banjaluka, visited a family to help a single mother and her twin girls. Milena studies in Banja Luka so she investigated and decided to help this family with food and other supplies.

• In may- our students Nadja and Adnan from Bihac used the monthly charity student fund to help several families in Bihac area. These families are in an extremely difficult situation and are grateful to get any kind of help. Our students brought clothes, food and some toys for the youngest members of the family. Then they visited grandma Lucija who could not afford to buy medication and little girl Majda, diagnosed with cerebral paralyses.

• In month of June, our students helped families in the cit of Mostar. Our students in Mostar: Emina, Selma, Josip and Katica divided the money from the student humanitarian fund in two batches and helped two families with food, medications and little tokens of their appreciation. They visited families living in small cities around Mostar: Salakovac and Posusje.

• Next quarter, two of our medical students will travel to the United States to attend a weeklong residency at the Ceders Sinai hospital and will also spend additional week sightseeing in Los Angeles thanks to two of their mentors who invited them to be their guests.

• Our former student Selma, who studied art at the university in Banjaluka successfully completed her Masters in Romania and was also accepted to University of Syracuse on full scholarship, as well as receiving a teacher assistant position.

• The Bosana “Do-Gooders Award” that we first gave last year to our most generous donor was also given this year to our most loyal partners from Sweden who helped two of our students build new homes in Maglaj after the floods. It’s also a big honor that the same award that was designed by our friend and a famous artist from Tuzla was also given to Pope Francis that visited Sarajevo in June.

Challenges:

There were no special challenges during this quarter. All our students are busy transitioning from classes to exams, they are getting ready and some of them are taking tutoring lessons. This year seems to be most promising of all end of the year semesters as our students are working hard and are in good spirits that most of them will be able to pass all of their classes. Besides Nermina and Edin, we are hoping to have few more graduates. Since the exam season is in full swing, and there will be few more options for our students to take exams, we will wait for the next quarter to give you more detailed report about their academic success.

Donor driven update worth mentioning:

Once again, one of our most committed donors from Richmond Virginia decided to help Bosana Foundation with a private fundraiser. This time she used her baby shower as an opportunity to raise funds for our students. Selma was able to raise $800 with her friends and family. She asked her guests to, instead of buying gifts for her baby, they donate that same amount to Bosana. Options are unlimited for those who want to help others and Selma is a great example of such individual.

Links:

• http://www.bosanafoundation.org