College education for 10 talented students in BiH

BOSANA FOUNDATION

Scholarship and Personal Development Program

Quarterly Report

October - December 2016

Executive Summary:

For our students, the last quarter of the calendar year also represents the beginning of new academic year. During the months of October and November students started classes and their new school year; they met new professors and started with a new material for this year. U.S. Embassy project was completed in Mostar, Kladanj and Tuzla and our students are pleased with the outcome. Also newest Bosana mentor visited out students in Sarajevo.

Students and Program Update:

December means that the end of fall semester is coming to an end. Many students already had their first midterms and are well into the second part of the midterms. In January they will start with their final exams.  

Last quarter we had five Bosana graduates, this quarter we have two additional graduates. Our student Matea defended her diploma paper this quarter. We also have three students who are ready for final oral exams and now are just waiting to set the date.  

New Bosana students accepted into our program are adjusting well; they have been volunteering and trying to use everything Bosana has to offer. This year we have a lot of students working on their professional development; most of them are taking language classes hoping to be more competitive once they are ready for demanding job market.

Highlights of the quarter:

• The Dean of Medicine at the University in Mostar as the best student of the year has selected our student from Mostar, Stipan for the second year in a row. Stipan had all straight A’s since he started his studies and we are all very proud of him.

• Five of our students that graduated in the past quarter have started their graduate studies.

• This November our new students Dzenana and Mediha represented Bosana Foundation at the Third International Sarajevo University Fair. Universities from all over the region send their representatives to such events where high school students have option to learn more about potential universities and about scholarships available to them.

US Embassy Project final stages:

“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.

Workshops and lectures were completed in 2015, projects were also realized, websites created and individual groups completed their tasks. This year students went back to complete the final stages of their projects and evaluate the impact their project had.

In final phase of fundraiser for “Egipatsko selo” students in Mostar collected warm clothes, shoes, food, school supplies, toys and sanitary products. Additional money donated during this event was used to buy food supplies for this particular home for children, since that is the most important item on their list.

New Donor updates:

We are happy to announce that Bosana’s new mentor visited our students in Sarajevo during the month of October. Annel met with Bosana’s President and few students studying in Sarajevo. He was able to learn first hand what it means to be a Bosana student and he already started mentoring one of our students.