As kids we all have used Wikipedia to search for the origin of a word, and we have all bumped into the fraze “it comes from the Greek word…”. By this we have a sense of the Greeks’ influence on today’s literature and philosophy. So I’m going to take you through a stroll of our adventure in this photo exhibit project in Greece. This experience showed me how volunteers in crisis situations shape lives and social needs. After the photo contest in which ten countries took place (Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Albania, Montenegro, and Luxembourg), I got the bigger picture of how people take care of themselves in crisis situations.

I had the opportunity to explore the historical metropolis and learn about the art and history of the city, alongside meeting new positive people that will stay in my memory for a lifetime with their perception and way of thinking. I felt in a way that we all belong together, and should be compact and react for the better of the whole group, not only individually. In these times when we’re faced with some type of a crisis situation we want to meet common people, those types that actually look to help the whole society not only looking out for their interests. 

These types of projects are why we believe in a better future, and actually make a step towards a better society as a whole. It’s nice to hear someone sing your song, but imagine when the whole group gets the rhythm of the music right as well. That’s the feeling I was left with my last steps in this chapter, and can’t wait to start the next chapter.

“Harmony is a symphony, and symphony is an agreement” -Platon.

Follow our various social media channels to find out how to get involved in your local communities: Website, Facebook, Instagram. 

Remember, ONLY WHAT YOU GIVE IS YOURS.

#BRAVO #BRAVOBIH #WORLDOFCHANGE #MAKETHEWORLDWONDER #BRAVOVISOR #ONLYWHATYOUGIVEISYOURS #EuropeForCitizens

Between the 25^th-28^th of February, IASIS NGO had the honor to host partners from 9 different European countries in the context of  O’visor project and to organize a photo exhibition in Athens. Μore specifically, the photo exhibition was based on voluntary intervention in crisis situations, such as earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters. The photos were collected by natural disaster activists and depicted different ways of intervening in crisis situations. It is also proof that in the face of a natural disaster all people are equal. We are proud of hosting partners from 9 different countries and to all interact with our volunteers, participate in interesting workshops and exchange good practices all together for the same cause.

In the context of O’visor project and of our partners hosting in Greece, we also organized a study visit to our first boarding house, where our partners had the opportunity to get to know better with the services provided through our NGO to vulnerable people with mental health problems. Our partners also had the chance to get to know with the intervention in the community program as well as our clothing bank, Fabric Republic.

The day after, we had the opportunity together with our partners to visit the historical monuments of the city and to organize a pleasant, guided tour of our partners and participants in the center of Athens. We are looking forward to meeting you at the next Sarajevo photo exhibition in April, as well as to participate to the local and international rounds of Karl Popper Debate competition.

Follow our various social media channels to find out how to get involved in your local communities: Website, Facebook, Instagram. 

Remember, ONLY WHAT YOU GIVE IS YOURS.

#BRAVO #BRAVOBIH #IASISNGO #MAKETHEWORLDWONDER #BRAVOVISOR #ONLYWHATYOUGIVEISYOURS #EuropeForCitizens

My experience in the project “O’Visor” was amazing in terms of what I was able to learn about helping others. I have a history of projects dedicated especially to young people, but we put the focus on Crisis management, which sadly is becoming more of a problem nowadays.

 

One of the good reasons this project is successful, relies in the cooperation among countries which really represent Europe and its good parts. Having the chance to share how certain topics are perceived in other countries, what “help” means in other places, is one thing I will keep with me and try to replicate in my local context. – Paolo Senatore

“O’Visor” represents a truly enriching experience, in all its forms. Just the level of the partnership is a powerful tool on which we could fulfill real European values. The pictures regarding crisis management helped me understand the power of the people, where even a little help can mean something great for others. With me I will bring the understanding of how people can help in any way, and how everything is important even small things. – Imma Criscuolo

Follow our various social media channels to find out how to get involved in your local communities: Website, Facebook, Instagram. 

Remember, ONLY WHAT YOU GIVE IS YOURS.

#BRAVO #BRAVOBIH #MOBYDICKETS #MAKETHEWORLDWONDER #BRAVOVISOR #ONLYWHATYOUGIVEISYOURS #EuropeForCitizens

Adventures that make us grow – by Katarina Petković

It has been a while since I found myself wandering around airport, trying to find which way should I go to get on a correct flight. Find the ckeck-in. Find the gate. Get your documents checked. It felt strange at the beginning, I could not understad why am I so lost, considering it used to be so famlilar and natural to me just two years ago. I found my travel companion near the gate and I felt relieved that I have complany. I do not have to go through this alone. It is okay, we have all been under pressure, the whole world as we know it was changed and each and every one of us was trying to adapt to what seemed to be our new reality. 

I sat on the plane and I have to admit that I was cheerful like a child to get the window seat. I have always loved to watch the Earth from above. It makes you realize how small we are, with all of our ups and downs, our joys and our problems.

Athens welcomed us with her arms wide open. We were checking the weather report, praying for a bit more sun and hoping we won’t have to wear umbrellas. I always lose them. The luck was on our side and we got to explore sunkissed Acropolis and we even went to the beach; to listen to the sound of waves with our eyes closed and our shoes getting a bit of sand inside, but who cares.

Our hosts’ welcome was even warmer and we really felt that Athens was our home during the days we stayed there. I was amazed by all of the activities of IASIS- NGO based in Greece, that fights for the rights of marginalized people and provides amazing help in the situations of great need. They have an amazing hosting home for people with mental impairments and people who are socially endangered and require a warm meal and a place to stay. I was so happy that I was able to personally meet some of them and hear their experience. They were grateful because they felt seen, there were people who took care of them even when they did not know how to ask for help. They also offer a support from local psychologists that volunteer in order to raise the quality of the mental help of those individuals; I was deeply moved by their initiative, beacuse, as I previously mentioned I consider that many people were negatively impacted by different unfortunate events that develloped in recent years- starting with global pandemic and followed by many restrictions and also economic crisis.

The biggest impression that I got from the photo exibition is this: We are all the same when we find ourselves in situations of crisis- we require help as soon as possible and as much as possible. Volunteers play the key part in rescuing and helping others- people form the community who are happy and ready to help their neighbors in need. I think that the exibiton succeded to demonstrate how impotant is any kind of help that an individual can provide, however small and unimportant it might seem. One individual cannot do much on their own; but when we sum up all of these individuals, we finaly get amazingy large group of people that are working and doing their best to solve problems that occur in their society and thus make their communities better.

To conclude my story, I wanted to say that this experience made me remember what am I capable of; it started with my anxiety about the upcoming trip and ended up as a great inspirational jorney- sometimes people might have a problem that seems extremely hard to solve, but when they get help and support from others, it can help them to overcome their fears and grow in ways they couldn’t possibly imagine.

 I cannot express how grateful I am for this experience, which could not be possible if I didn’t take part in the O’VISOR project. I appriciate that SFERA, an NGO from Serbia was so kind to choose me as their representative. They are an official partner of a project which is organsed by an NGO BRAVO, based in Sarajevo. BRAVO did an amazing job organizing a series of events and activities, and all of that of course with the help of Erasmus + programme – a programme that helps and supports young individuals like myself to grow and expand their knowledge and explore ways to contribute their society in order to make positive changes in their communities. 

Only what you give is yours!

‘It’s good to be back!’ – by Saša Vujanović

‘It’s good to be back! were my first thoughts as I set my foot on the streets of Athens. As I used to live there, and I was overwhelmed by all the memories coming through as I walked through some of the famous Athens’ spots, like Monastiraki square and a nearby flee market to find the exact same store where I used to go shopping, seems like forever ago.

Thanks to the Erasmus + programme funding and the collaboration of NGOs BRAVO from Bosnia, IASIS from Greece the project called O’VISOR was made. I was so happy that my sending organization Sfera Serbia was also one of the partners because I was given this great opportunity to take part in the exhibition activity in Athens, which was showing photos which were taken by volunteers in some extreme situations, like floods, earthquakes and forest fires. We discussed about the importance of volunteers in such occasions and also expressed what do we found the most interesting and important when it comes ti volunteering actions.

The host organization made a great impression on me while visiting a local social center which helps people with different kinds of needs: starting from people with mental health problems, or others with financial problems to ones that ar just lonely and appreciate the company and help of the community. It made me happy that they feel accepted and seen since many of them were struggling during pandemic and had hard time living on their own. Personally, I am a huge fighter for inclusion and I used to volunteer at a similar place so it made me really happy to see how some idea from a local NGO can be realized and how those people appreciate the activism being put into practice.

I was also amazed with their collaboration with the charity organization ‘Fabric Republic’ because so many families get to have clean clothes and by upcycling they also make a huge impact in saving our environment.

Last, but not the least, we saw IASIS working offices so we learned that they also make workshops to educate youngsters and and also provide mental health advice by offering internships to students who are completing their education in the psychology and psychotherapy field.

I got back to my homeland with the great impressions about this project, with many new acquaintances and a great deal of ideas on how to make myself more involved in the problems in my community and use things I learned during this activity to help people in need.

Follow our various social media channels to find out how to get involved in your local communities: Website, Facebook, Instagram. 

Remember, ONLY WHAT YOU GIVE IS YOURS.

#BRAVO #BRAVOBIH #SFERASERBIA #MAKETHEWORLDWONDER #BRAVOVISOR #ONLYWHATYOUGIVEISYOURS #EuropeForCitizens

Coming from our great partner organization from Albania, New Vision Organization (Organizata NewVision) here are 2 testimonials! The first testimonial is a recap from the Round Table event held in Tirana back in December and the second testimonial is a recap from the Photo Exhibition event held in Athens just last week!

Round Table, Tirana, Albania

Part of the O’Visor project was the “Round Table” which took place in Tirana where for 3 days 100 youngsters from these 10 countries visited Tirana and carried out activities within this project. The aim is to create some manuals with references from volunteers, organizations and informal groups who have experience in volunteering. The 4 introductory lists with 4 separate discussion topics were filled in the blink of an eye. It is worth noting that all topics focused on “Volunteering”. It was not long before a panel took the stage.

The panel consisted of 4 different volunteers, each good at what they do. I was part of that panel too. Throughout one hour we talked about Volunteering, the impact it has on us, why we chose it and like the icing on the cake an inspiring story that had happened to us. After a while we all got together where we exchanged ideas and personal experiences. In the end each group managed to draw significant conclusions and recommendations for Volunteering. I can say with conviction that everyone was a great example for the world.

Photo Exhibition, Athens, Greece

As part of the O’Visor program, the next activity “Photo Exhibition” took place in Athens, Greece. During the first day of the event, the local organization “IASIS”, organized an event which had at its core the promotion of volunteerism in cases of emergencies and natural disasters. Beforehand all participating countries sent photos where they themselves have voluntarily helped in these cases  by creating a diverse exhibition. Volunteering in cases of civil emergencies involves many different situations ranging from: earthquakes, fires, floods, etc. which were submitted by all partner organizations. After the launch of the event, all participants had to vote for the most beautiful photo, explaining why they it and the winning photo was taken during an earthquake where a man with a dog were looking under the rubble. The essence of this picture is that in case of disasters and civil emergencies the human beings are not the only one affected by this kind of unfortunate events.

Follow our various social media channels to find out how to get involved in your local communities: Website, Facebook, Instagram. 

Remember, ONLY WHAT YOU GIVE IS YOURS.

#BRAVO #BRAVOBIH #NEWVISION #MAKETHEWORLDWONDER #BRAVOVISOR #ONLYWHATYOUGIVEISYOURS #EuropeForCitizens