Bosnia Tikkun Olam Summer Program
Volunteer in Sarajevo this summer!
ABOUT THE TRIP
The Bosnia Tikkun Olam Summer Program will provide university students with the opportunity to volunteer their time to benefit the local Jewish community in Sarajevo, engage in citizen-diplomacy and cross-cultural exchange, and receive training on the uses of digital media to promote human rights and reconciliation. The trip will also enrich students’ knowledge of the Jewish community in Bosnia Herzegovina, its history and contributions, and the history of the region and of Sarajevo. The Bosnia Tikkun Olam Summer Program will consist of four primary components: local volunteer service, experiential learning opportunities, multi-media training, and student-to-student interaction.
Students will engage in local volunteer service in Sarajevo, working over the course of five days to clean up, repair, and restore Sarajevo’s Jewish cemetery, the second largest cemetery in Europe. The Jewish cemetery in Sarajevo sustained considerable damage during the siege of Sarajevo and today suffers from neglect due to a lack of funds and lack of manpower necessary to maintain it. During the service component of the trip, participating students will be placed in the homes of members of the local Jewish community who have extended their hospitality to the volunteers.
The importance of experiential learning opportunities is paramount. The learning portion of the trip will include visits to historical landmarks and memorial sites, meeting with survivors and rescuers who experienced the violence in Bosnia Herzegovina, community activists and non-governmental organizations working in Bosnia Herzegovina, and witness firsthand the judicial processes of the Court of Bosnia Herzegovina. Students will also tour Mostar, Sarajevo, and Srebrenica in order to learn firsthand about the war and violence that took place in the 1990s and the Holocaust history of the region.
The training portion of this trip will include an education initiative focusing on multi-media training and represented through a photography and blogging project assigned to the participants of the trip. This initiative will also promote social change, youth activism, and global awareness through the use of digital media.
The guides for this trip are Sara E. Brown, a doctoral student from Clark University who has experience leading graduate trips in Israel,the United States, and Central Africa, and Leora Kahn, founder and director of PROOF: Media for Social Justice.
As the primary beneficiaries of the service portion of this trip, all activities will be planned, coordinated and run with the permission of and in conjunction the Jewish community in Sarajevo.
Trip will take place June 25, 2012 – July 6, 2012.
Cost of the Bosnia Tikkun Olam Summer Program: $1,700 (does not include cost of travel to Sarajevo)
Applications are due by April 15, 2012. Trip must be paid for in full and non-refundable by May 1, 2012.
There are ten available slots for the Bosnia Tikkun Olam Summer Program. Applicants will be received and confirmed on a first come, first serve, basis.
For more info, please click here or email bosniatrip2012@gmail.com.
Application Materials:
- Bosnia Herzegovina Service and Learning Trip Application
- Bosnia Herzegovina Service and Learning Trip Check List
- Bosnia Herzegovina Service and Learning Trip Medical Form
- Terms and Conditions
To pay the $250 deposit, follow the link below to Paypal.
