In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lejla Hasandedic, URI Youth Ambassador, collaborated with Nahla’s Youth Club “Tignum” and URI members to design a project to bring together a young population divided by a violent past and differences.
The project’s name, “Bosnia Pot,” derives from a famous traditional Bosnian dish consisting of a mixture of different types of vegetables, meats and spices. All the distinct ingredients, when put together, make a delicious meal. Comparable to the traditional Bosnian dish, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s young population consists of different faiths and cultures, but through the “Bosnia Pot” project something positive can come out of the youths’ union.
Through the support of Matthew Youde, Youth Leadership Program Coordinator, Vjekoslav Saje, founder of URI CC Balkan as Soul Bridge, and Vedrana Damjanovic, another Youth Ambassador from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lejla was able to organize two interreligious workshops.
The first workshop took place on April 27, 2013 in Sarajevo, where more than 30 youths from different religious backgrounds (Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish) came together to participate in bridge building activities such as Interfaith Café. Interfaith Café provided the youth group with the opportunity to meet one another and discuss different topics pertaining to stereotypes and prejudices in hopes of overcoming them.
The second workshop was scheduled around the United Nations’ World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, and was organized to promote the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and UNESCO’s global campaign Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion, URI’s newest global initiative Talking Back to Hate, and GNRC’s Learning to Live Together. Accordingly, on May 26, 2013 young individuals gathered together to participate in various activities such as: making movies, preparing and presenting presentations, conducting research on religions and discrimination, and partaking in a project on world Ethos, in an effort to celebrate and embrace one another’s diversity. In addition, this young group took part in a variety of humanitarian deeds, which included: visiting organizations that are worked with special needs children and supporting other campaigns such as Religions of Peace’s Restoring Dignitycampaign.
Through its workshops, the “Bosnia Pot” project is creating a melting pot, where young people of different cultures and faiths can coexist through mutual respect and understanding.
