TWI for the Children has been blessed with successful completion of  many projects helping children in the Balkans!

 

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Click Here to review   Achievements of the TWI Projects during the years 
1997 - 2009

 

The purpose of this page is to provide a listing of  projects that TWI for the Children, Inc. has completed since incorporated in 1998. When TWI for the Children completes a project, the details of the project are put in this web page.  Some of our projects have been small,  some fairly substantial, but each of the projects have contributed to the welfare of  Children in the Balkans.   What follows are descriptions of the projects TWI for the Children has completed.  

Completed Projects (as of 2009)

> Media Center for Dzemal Bijedic University Mostar

 > Humanitarian Support

> Hrasno - Neighborhood Reconstruction Project  

> Support to Children with Disabilities:

> TWI Workshops for Bosnian Physicians

 > Ministerial Visit to the Veterans Administration in Washington, DC  
> Musical Exchange Tour  
 
 > Media Library at the University in Mostar

> Support for Refugees

> Support to Orphanages

> Dealing with Post-Conflict Trauma - a Resource Workbook

> Educational Studies with Orphans in the Balkans  

> Balkan Students Study in the United States
> Vocational Sewing Project

> University Teacher in Mostar University.

Media Center for Dzemal Bijedic University Mostar

The  TWI for the Children project in support of Dzemal Bijedic University in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina  was completed in 2001. This project provided a television and VCR equipment to the Media Center of this University in Mostar and books for the library. Review the journal of events where the equipment was presented to the Dzemal Bijedic University in 2000.

 

Humanitarian Support

TWI  provided equipment and supplies to orphanages throughout the Balkans.   TWI also provided personal care items   to orphanages and small gifts as part of the Camp2Kids project.    

Since 2001, TWI for the Children has conducted several humanitarian activities that impacted the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Hrasno - Neighborhood Reconstruction Project

  Project Request

The needs of the Hrasno neighborhood in Central Sarajevo were brought to our attention.  This neighborhood had been devastated by the shelling of Sarajevo.  In 1995 the city councils of Amsterdam and Sarajevo agreed to take on the emergency restoration work of this neighborhood in consultation with the residents.     Work is on-going with the residents clearing the rubble, repairing the sewerage system, planting new trees and creating play  areas for the children.  This reconstruction goes some way towards restoring people’s confidence in the future. Shops are now opening and as the facade of the apartments are painted in bright colors, the residents are putting flowers and other additions which show a new pride in their homes.

   

This proposed project was reviewed and when considered in relation to other needed projects was considered too involved and expensive for the limited funds available to TWI for the Children.

 

 

Support to Children with Disabilities:

In  2001 TWI for the Children provided eye glasses for a young girl and  prophylactic shoes for another child.  We also provided funding for mothers of disabled children to obtain child care support while they attended training on developing a small business.

 

 

 


TWI Workshops for Bosnian Physicians:

   
 In 1998 and 1999, TWI  sponsored two instructional workshops in Sarajevo and Mostar, BiH of a noted surgeon from the National Rehabilitative Hospital to work with disabled persons suffering from spinal injuries. As an adjunct to this activity, TWI hosted a most successful visit of ministers from the Bosnian Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Disabled Veterans to  the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Read the report on Spinal Cord Injury Treatment in Bosnia.

 

Ministerial Visit to the Veterans Administration in Washington, DC  

In 2000, TWI hosted a visit of three representatives from the BiH Ministry of Health and Veterans Affairs.

 

Musical Exchange Tour  

In March 1999, TWI for the Children took an American singer to Sarajevo to participate in the Sarajevo Winter Festival.  While there, the participants also performed in Zenica and at the Pavarotti Center in Mostar.   Read more about this Musical Exchange project in Sarajevo.

 

 

Media Library at the University in Mostar

During November 2000, 175 American textbooks were donated to the Bosnian University in Mostar to begin an English addition for the Library.    The Corporation also began a pilot project at this University using videotapes and taped educational courses. TWI for the Children provided the University with a television and VCR for use in the Media Center.  The objective of this pilot project is to provide classes in English using taped courses and to expand these courses to schools in the local community.  Read more about the dedication ceremony at the Library.

 

 

Support for Refugees: 


During 2001, TWI for the Children provided 48 boxes of clothing, school supplies and medical equipment to organizations schools and clinics in Sarajevo.  This shipment of supplies was facilitated by use of military space-available air transport from Andrews AFB to Sarajevo.

 

 

Support to Orphanages:

In 2003, A member of our Camp2Kids Project team provided funding for a large Television set, VCR and DVD player for the orphanage "Home" in Zenica.  

 

 

"Dealing with Post-Conflict Trauma - a Resource Workbook" 

 

 

This one-year project was undertaken with the help of the United States Institute of Peace under grant number SG-200-01. This workbook contained handouts from workshops presented at "Coping with Trauma Training Workshops" in BiH during the period 1998 - 2002. Additionally, this workbook contained an analysis of war-trauma surveys administered to women, adolescents and children during 2002 to examine the affect of the 1991 - 1995 war in BiH on these three groups. Handouts from past "Coping with Trauma Training Workshops" would prove useful to teachers, social workers and caregivers working with people suffering from emotional difficulties and learning disorders or who may have physical disabilities that lead to emotional stress. The analysis of the affect of the 1991 - 1995 war in Bosnia on women, adolescents and children provided an analytic look at the impact of the war on these survivors. Surveys were made with more than 300 respondents in BiH and the results were summarized and used to compare the state of post-war trauma among these groups and to evaluate the impact of the civil war on the lives of these respondents. This analysis was to be useful to researchers and others interested in the after-affects of war on the survivors. However, evaluation by USIP determined that the workbook should not be disseminated. 

 

 

 

 

 

International Studies 

 

Educational Studies for Orphans in the Balkans.  (Completed 2008)

 

From 2002 - 2008, TWI for the Children sent volunteers to   orphanages in the Balkans.  The volunteers live at the  orphanages. Volunteers  taught English and other subjects while working with the children. Volunteers were expected to stay at the orphanage for a minimum of one month.  Learn about our Educational Projects  at Orphanages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Montenegro in the following reports:

TWI required that all volunteers were prepared for their time in the Balkans. Learn about preparations for volunteers working with the orphanages in the Balkans. 

Balkan Students Study in the United States

 

During 2002, Boris Dereta was a student in Phoenix AZ. Boris has now completed his study and graduated with an Associate in Arts Degree in Visual Communications. Boris is now married and is in business in Arizona.

 
 In 2000, TWI hosted a student from Sarajevo during his final year in high school in Lewisburg, PA.  Keko is now a student at the University of Sarajevo. 

 


  TWI has also hosted students from Sarajevo University to work as interns at the National Rehabilitative Hospital in Washington, D.C.  Jasmina has completed her studies in Sarajevo and became a doctor in 2004.

 


Short Term Student Visits to the United States: 

TWI for the Children  brings students to the United States and provides accommodations for short periods of study at universities and businesses that will help them in their studies and vocations in Bosnia.   Currently, there are no students studying in the USA. Read a report of our success in bringing students to the United States from 1999- 2000.

 

 

Vocational Sewing Project:



 In 2002, the Vocational Sewing Project for teens having to leave their orphanages graduated its initial class of students. These students  learned basic sewing skills and lessons necessary to obtain jobs. The project provided scholarships to help the students while attending the course. The students  advanced to the point that they were able to assist the director in preparing her fashion shows and to prepare small items for sale. Two of the students  found new work. Also in 2002, our students worked to produce fashion items for sale in Sarajevo. Fashion items produced in March 2003 took first prize in the 2003 Sarajevo show.  

The Sewing Project was organized for 'at risk' teens in  orphanages who  have to leave the "home" and live as an adult. The problem is that the older teens missed years of school because the schools didn't function during the war so this project was designed to teach them job skills through sewing projects; keep them from becoming children of the street; and help them find a proper job.

The project was closed in June 2003 and TWI  attempted to integrate this project with the "Learning Center" Project.  Due to lack of funds, TWI  had to stop support of this project.

 

University Instructors to Bosnia: 

TWI for the Children provided Professors and instructors to the University Dzemal Bijedic in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina on short term assignments. Our instructors taught courses of need to the Dzemal Bijedic University.  

 

 


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Updated: 07/05/2010