Ongoing AfterSchool Tutoring for 70 orphans in BIH

Place(s): Orphanage in Zenica

Period: September – December 2014

Beneficiaries age: 6 - 17 years old

Number of volunteers who supporter this program in this quarter: 10

Afterschool Program activities in September – December Quarter

Classes were organized and held twice a week, mostly on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Nearly 50 beneficiaries attended the classes this quarter, which included lessons in Math, English, Physics and Bosnian, creative and computer workshops and music lessons. Students who took extra lessons from the mentioned subjects had satisfactory marks and wanted to learn more and get better results. Each beneficiary got one teacher/volunteer who worked with him/her on improving their skills. They worked hard and continuously especially in the month of December which was the period of exams. At the end of school term they brought their report cards where it is clearly shown that they have no marks lower than 3 (which is equal to a C). This is a huge improvement considering that many beneficiaries when this project started three years ago were failing lot of their classes. This shows continues improvement because now no beneficiaries are failing.

More about the Creative workshop

Creative workshop was held on Saturdays. Several students mostly girls participated in creative workshop where they learned how to paint using decoupage technique over wood, glass and paper. Students who graduated from high school and are still in the orphanage couldn’t wait for this workshop. They were happy when they saw what can be made out of wood and glass. They made perfect boxes for jewelry and amazing glass gallons for pencils. They feel proud and happy that they can make something like this. Later, on December 20^th we had an exhibition where we sold some boxes and gave them the money. This has encouraged the beneficiaries to want to get even more creative and to find ways how they can continue making extra income.

An hour of code

This event is a worldwide event were programmers participate from all over the world. All kids interested in coding and computers especially those who attend our computer workshop came to Input office and had a great time. There were about 15 kids who enjoyed themselves during this hour of code. They came together with their caretakers and had a great time in our centre.

A visit to city’s library

We promised to all participants of the Afterschool program to bring them to certain places if they actively participated and keep on studying at our Afterschool Program. On November 23^rd we brought them to the City’s library where the Director of the library welcomed us in the American corner and prepared a short speech about the American history. We also visited all other departments of the library that the beneficiaries have never seen before and they were so happy to see that. The director of city’s library promised to give one free membership card to one of the students in the second term and for the management of Input to decide who is the most deserving from the Afterschool program to receive it. This gave an incentive to some beneficiaries to try even harder.

A visit to the theatre

Our Program coordinator organized for the beneficiaries to watching a play called “The princess and the pea” in the theatre for 20 kids from the orphanage. We talked to orphanage administration and we gathered 23 kids and brought them to the theatre. The play was so entertaining and educational since actors talked in English as well. Kids enjoyed and asked to watch more plays in the future which is also our objective.  

A visit to cinema

Our Program coordinator contacted cinema’s management to allow some of our beneficiaries to attend a movie in 3D projection. After receiving an approval from the director of the orphanage we brought them to the cinema. We brought around 50 kids and we enjoyed watching a cartoon “The legend of Sarila” which carried a message that good always wins. After the cartoon finished we had lunch and juice in cinema restaurant. Later on, we escorted kids to the orphanage.

A celebration of the New Year

We organized a party for all kids in the orphanage with a singer and a karaoke. We also brought them a lot of snacks, juice and sweets. Kids were very happy and they were singing and had a lot of fun.

Achievements/results in this quarter

• Beneficiaries visited city’s library, cinema and theatre.
• Beneficiaries learned how to make different drawings using decoupage technique.
• Beneficiaries made a lot of boxes, pencil holders and colorful cutting boards.
• After continuous attendance to our afterschool program several students successfully enrolled into college. Some of those who enrolled into college have written letters to express appreciation and how important the afterschool program was in helping them achieve the results to grant them the entrance to the university.  
• Kids got no less than 3 (average C) on their report cards.

*it is important to note that the new law regarding photographing children is in place were its highly restricted. Because we want to respect the privacy of the children in orphanage and this law, we will only occasionally, when given permission submit photos with our reports.   Hopefully the details of the report are enough to best pain the picture and achievements of this program.