SOS Social Centre "Hermann Gmeiner"

SOS – Social Centre “Hermann Gmeiner” (HGSC) was founded in the year 2000 and is a part of SOS Children's Villages International. Trauma in children, grieving and loss, children aggressiveness, juvenile delinquency, ethic polarisation, child neglect, non-motivating school environment etc. were challenging issues for us, but at the same time we saw our chance to help the community which doesn’t have capacity to address these issues. We are committed to offering a safe and comfortable environment for educative, creative, preventative and social development for children between the ages 3-19. The work in the centre is based on modern, European pedagogical models where experts of different profiles work with children and youth (pedagogues, psychologists, social workers, etc). Above all, SOS-HGSC has a range of long-term goals in the community, which we have been trying to sustain. Those are:  Additional support and opportunity for children and youth to meet their psychological needs.  Conflict resolution facility (common activities of the children and youth from all religious groups, promoting cooperation).  Help in overcoming prejudices, regarding inclusion of children with special needs into our regular activities, prejudices regarding religious and national history.  Preventative work with children and youth related to trauma, alcohol and drug abuse, conflicts, education, therapy through workshops and other activities. As regular activities of SOS HGSC we organize creative workshops for those who prefer art: photo workshops, pottery or art classes, drama classes, silk painting, choir, orchestra and guitar classes. There are also various dance classes including modern ballet and break-dance. We also organize educative activities for youth including foreign language courses (English and German) and computer studies with photo section. Math instructions are perfect for children who are having difficulty with the math-learning plan or for children who need additional assistance outside of their school classes. Kindergarten in our Centre is opened for children age 3-6. Open space offers different activities for children: library, reading corner, internet corner, sport tournaments (basketball, football, volley ball, chess), Info-point with substance abuse prevention counselling, but also offers possibilities for constructive free time through different social and enjoyable games. Cultural and sport events in Sarajevo are something that our children and youth visit often with professionals from the Open Space so they can be aware of all the new events: films, theatres and show exhibits. Also, many projects for youth from local high schools about peer education, health prevention and youth sexuality is conducted in cooperation with local authorities. The Open Space in the Centre is open six days per week (Monday through Saturday) so that children, although with school responsibilities, can take part in all the activities, that upgrade every minute, because of different interests and needs of the children and youth. In 2004 we started with another project in the SOS HGSC, the “Super-bus”, which is strictly based on children’s rights to play (article 31 in UN CRC) regardless the gender, age, race or religious diversity. It is actually “SOS HGSC on wheels”, designed for children who are not able to visit our centre either because of distance, illness or other reasons. So the bus is visiting children in hospitals, schools, parks or rural areas across the Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the whole year-bringing the game, fun and smiles in children's life. In last four years SOS Children's Village Bosnia and Herzegovina has been implementing the Family Strengthening Project, with the primary goal of decreasing the number of children separated from their biological families. In cooperation with The Centre for Social Welfare as a crucial implementing partner, we work with families that are recognized as at-risk families according to the Family Law. The issues within the families are complex, but all revolve around violating children's rights and unfulfilling children's needs. Wanting to help those families, regardless of the fact that family is currently in a crisis situation or the family is not functioning well, we started the project in Sarajevo, Goražde and Mostar. In Sarajevo, the FSP Office is located in our Centre.Researching needs of our beneficiaries, we understand increased need for assistance to youth age 18-30. We instantly undertake necessary steps to improve better service to these beneficiaries. After applying of the Expression of interest we have been accredited as a hosting, sending and coordinating organisation within “Youth in Action” Programme. Since now, we have sent six volunteers-three to Slovenia, one to France, Austria and one to Luxembourg. Also we were hosting two volunteers (one from The Netherlands and one from Finland) for a period of six months. Every month approximately 1500 children and youth visit our Centre.