Children and parents in "Borići" imagine a better and brighter future
"My wish is to play football in Germany one day, my favorite club is Bayern", says Willy from Burundi
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She ran across the yard carrying her Minnie Mouse under her arm, said bye-bye and hugged her friend and headed to the Child-Friendly Space (CFS) where she likes to hang out, learn, have fun and draw. Hermosa* is four years old and has been in the Temporary Reception Center (TRC) "Borići" in Bihać with her parents and younger brother for a little less than a month.
"I like it here, but I would like to go to Spain. I like to play, draw, I like to write and learn from my teachers", she tells us in the local language that she learned in Serbia where she went to kindergarten, and in addition to her native Spanish, she also speaks excellent English, which she uses to communicate with other children at the Center.
Children of preschool and school age stay in the CFS every day, where they can play, socialize and learn, and schoolchildren also get help with their homework. With Hermosa in the CFS at the time of our visit, there are a girl and a boy from Iraq who have just arrived and are just getting used to their new environment.
Together with the facilitators, Emina, Lorena, and Dajana from the organization "World Vision", which together with UNICEF and the local organization LAN manages the CFS, they make things out of plasticine, and Hermosa gives them the hearts she just made.
"This is my heart, and this is his”.
In the nearby Mother and Baby Corner, run by the local organization "Fenix" with the support of UNICEF, we meet Hermosa's parents Alejandra* and Javier*, who are there with one-year-old Raul*. The journey to "Borići" led them from Cuba, via Serbia, where they stayed for about six months, and TRC "Ušivak" near Sarajevo, where they also spent some time.
They say that they are satisfied with the conditions they have here, but that their wish is to move on and look for better conditions for their children. In Cuba, Javier was engaged in construction-related work, while Alejandra says that she studied journalism for five years, but that she had not yet had the opportunity to work in her profession. She says she hopes to get that opportunity in one of the European countries:
"Just like everyone, we want a safe place and a better future for our children. We would like to go to Spain, we want to work and provide the children with everything they need for their childhood".
Children from TRC "Borići" are also provided with a daily trip to school accompanied by cultural mediators, where after going through preparatory classes, they are sent to regular classes in accordance with their age, knowledge and skills. At "Harmani 1" Primary School, we are in one of the preparatory classes, where teacher Emina and teacher Dino from the organization "Save The Children" work with a small group of boys.
"Children come with different levels of knowledge, some went to school during the journey, some are just learning to write, so it depends on several factors which class they will be assigned to. They come to preparatory classes twice a day - in the morning and in the afternoon, they study more in the morning, while in the afternoon they have sports activities with local children, and support in doing their homework," teacher Dina explains.
The class is lively, Sami* comes from Iraq and says he would like to go to Slovenia or Germany, Luis is from Cuba, spent some time in Serbia, also communicates a little in the local language and is looking forward to going to regular classes, and that day Rian*, a new student from India, also arrived.
In addition to everything they learn at school, a special focus is placed on languages, so as part of preparatory classes for refugee and migrant children, the "Akelius" foreign language learning program based on digital technology is implemented, which engages children in user-friendly, interactive lessons via computers and tablets. The program was extended to students of this and four other schools in Bihać, and about 1,000 children have already passed through "Akelius".
In one of the English classes, there are fourth-grade students from "Harmani 1" Primary School who are learning English with teachers Aida and Lejla. After they have covered some of the terms in English through cards with feelings that they pasted on the blackboard, the teachers give them tablets, they put on headphones and continue working on the application.
"It's fun and I like it when we learn like this, you can easily learn a lot," Lamija tells us, and we ask Kan what he likes the most:
"I like everything, I would like to learn like this in all classes!”
At the same time, English is taught in "Borići" also using the "Akelius" program in the Corner for Unaccompanied Minors, where a group of boys from Burundi, Syria, and Afghanistan are in class with teacher Edina. After they went through the basics of introduction, Elie* from Burundi plays the hit song of a popular band from his country "We Love Muzik" to the group from his mobile phone, and shows them the dance steps from the music video for the song "Away".
"I've been on the road for about a month, it's nice here, everyone is working hard around us and we always have something to do, we're never bored," Elie tells us, adding that he hopes he'll be able to get to Belgium, where he sees his future.
In addition to direct work in the aforementioned activities, UNICEF also coordinates the work of the Child Protection Working Group in TRC "Borići", closely cooperating with other actors who provide various content for refugee and migrant children: sports activities, IT courses, movie nights...
When he is not in the designated zone for unaccompanied children, Willy* from Burundi likes to attend sports activities on the football field organized by "Caritas" from Banja Luka.
"In Burundi, I played and trained football in the football academy, and I like to come here to play and keep in shape. I mostly follow German clubs and my wish is to play in Germany one day, my favorite club is Bayern", he tells us, and continues to practice shots on goal with coach Edin from "Caritas":
"I come twice a week, and besides football we also have other sports - badminton, volleyball... We work a lot on fitness, explosiveness, movement coordination, and everyone is happy to participate. Today, only Willy came to us, usually there are ten of them, they are probably on some other activities", Edin tells us.
UNICEF, in cooperation with World Vision and with the support of the EU, provides 24-hour protection and support for children and families in TRC "Borići", and 226 children used some of the services in August alone, of which 135 were unaccompanied by their parents. With the approval of the Center for Social Work in Bihać, a team of four guardians for unaccompanied children is provided, which operates in the TRC and, if necessary, in the field in the territory of the City of Bihać.
* Names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals
