FOB Briefs
Vol. 10, No. 1, December, 2003

FOB’s Community Service Program Empowers Local Organizations

Volunteers from IPAK, an organization dedicated to youth programs, earn equipment for a community center by helping restore a city park.

Friends of Bosnia’s Community Service Program strengthens the fabric of the communities in which it works, as those who are helped by FOB offer help in turn to others in need. Our program is based upon the belief that straight charity is harmful to a person’s spirit and self-respect and often causes a debilitating sense of dependency as well as resentment. Instead of charity, FOB’s Community Service Program offers beneficiaries the opportunity to generate a healthy sense of accomplishment, self-respect, and self-reliance, as recipients “earn” assistance by being of service to their own community.

There are many examples: The Tuzla Association for the Hearing Impaired (TAHI) needed equipment for its community center, which FOB provided. In turn, TAHI provided volunteers to restore the city’s parks. Nermin Mujicinovic received free classes in Java and PHP computer programming through FOB’s information technology (IT) training program. Meanwhile, he helped FOB purchase and repair a used car for a community rehabilitation center that helps troubled youth recover from drug addiction. And ASSD, a student organization, received computer equipment for their IT center, while ASSD provided volunteers for planting over 200 trees throughout Tuzla.
Following are some of the stories of community organizations participating in FOB’s Community Service Program.

Tuzla Association for the Hearing Impaired (TAHI)

The Tuzla Association for the Hearing Impaired organizes cultural, educational, and sports activities for hearing-impaired members of the community. In addition, through its community center in central Tuzla, TAHI creates job opportunities for hearing-impaired individuals through its auto repair business, sewing business, and soon, through recent FOB assistance, an Internet café. Friends of Bosnia is assisting TAHI in several ways, including:

• Providing furniture and equipment for improving a café at the TAHI community center, which will create a meeting place for hearing-impaired people and their friends and families. The café will generate income for TAHI and provide an educational facility for teaching marketable skills in information technology.
• Providing computers for an Internet learning center at TAHI, which will be used for classes in basic computer skills, as well as courses in graphic design and computer programming. When not being used as a classroom, the learning center will function as part of an Internet café, thereby helping earn income for TAHI.
• Providing auto repair equipment for TAHI’s auto repair business and sewing machines for its garment business, both of which help create employment for members and earn income for the organization.
• Helping TAHI develop a transparent decision-making process and a financial plan as well as negotiate a viable settlement of the large rental debt TAHI is facing as a result of the war and ensuing financial difficulties.

IPAK

IPAK is an organization dedicated to helping youth. The name derives from a word that means something like “With that said, onward,” as in “Yes, a terrible thing happened; ipak we can work together today to create a better future.” Working together with IPAK to create a better future, FOB is helping the organization develop a community center in an underserved area outside of Tuzla, as well as working with IPAK in eastern Bosnia. FOB is:

• Providing computers for the Internet center, to be used as an educational and computer center for local residents of all ages. One joint FOB and IPAK project involves creating programs for senior citizens designed to introduce them to the Internet. This technology will allow older residents to stay in touch with their children and grandchildren throughout the world, who, as a result of the war, may have emigrated thousands of miles from their homeland.
• Providing a movie projector for the community center, which in turn creates a gathering place and entertainment for local residents, while enhancing sustainability by generating income for the community center.
• Working with IPAK in outreach programs to eastern Bosnia. Friends of Bosnia helped IPAK obtain support from SFOR and UNHCR for its activities in Krizevici near Zvornik. And IPAK is helping FOB develop the Community Service Program in Zvornik. In addition to arranging affordable transportation and media attention for Zvornik-based activities, IPAK was instrumental in helping FOB instantly develop strong
  relations with Zvornik’s mayor and local authorities, resulting in a very successful pilot project in Zvornik in the fall of 2003.

Association of Students in Student Dormitories (ASSD)

ASSD’s self-sustaining computer lab

Through FOB’s Community Service Program, ASSD has developed into one of the strongest student organizations at Tuzla University. With over 400 members and a leadership dedicated to the values of leadership by example, genuine transparency, and inclusion, ASSD advocates for improved student conditions while providing discounted computer services at their computer lab. FOB has:

• Helped ASSD develop transparent and inclusive decision-making processes.
• Provided eight computers, a multipurpose printer, a copier, and furnishings for a student center that provides discounted computer and office services to students. Services include Internet access, Microsoft Office, scanning, printing, and copying.
• Helped ASSD further develop its organization with such initiatives as greater membership involvement through petitions and advocacy programs, as well as helping negotiate a favorable contract with a local
  Internet service provider.

ASSD is now fully self-sustaining with five student staff members. The organization’s current income covers all monthly expenditures, with a surplus for a rainy-day fund. FOB is currently helping ASSD build relationships with OSCE, OHR, and UNHCR to further develop this model for cultivating student leadership and self-sustaining student services.

Fenix (Organization for people suffering from trauma)

FOB is helping Fenix develop a therapy-through-farming program, which will provide therapeutic group activities, create income for members, and help Fenix become self-sustaining. FOB is providing a trailer, rototillers, and farming equipment for a Fenix program through which members will farm and harvest private land. Fenix will then either give a percentage of the harvest to the landowners or provide assistance to farmers and in return
receive a percentage of the harvest. The harvest will be sold in local markets, with the proceeds going to Fenix members and the organization. The group farming activities will be incorporated into the group therapy program, so members can use the farming as a catalyst for healing. FOB is helping Fenix become a part of the SFOR Mentorship Program, which will provide trained US military psychologists to teach methods of healing from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Prijateljice—Tuzla

Prijateljice’s membership is 95 percent women–many of whom are survivors of the massacres in eastern Bosnia. Prijateljice creates jobs for members through laundry services, a vehicle-washing facility, and a rug-cleaning business.

In 2003, because of a lack of water from the municipal water supply, Prijateljice services were functioning at only 30 percent capacity. In November 2003, FOB dug a well and provided pumps and new cleaning equipment, bringing Prijateljice’s businesses up to 100 percent capacity with higher quality services.

Through FOB’s Community Service Program, Prijateljice has proven itself
a very healthy organization dedicated to its mission with a strong active membership. FOB is now helping Prijateljice develop markets through advocacy, consulting in advertising, and partnerships with local NGOs also participating in FOB’s Community Service Program.

USPPiV (Students for people with disabilities)

USPPiV is a group of student volunteers who assist people with disabilities. FOB is providing computers and networking equipment for a USPPiV video game center, which willproduce over $700 in surplus income for the organization each month. USPPiV will use the funds to buy equipment for disabled individuals, such as a voice-activated computer for a
visually impaired person or a wheelchair for the disabled. FOB is currently working with USPPiV to develop fundraising activities. In the fall of 2003, FOB and USPPiV successfully requested $500 from SFOR’s Chaplain’s Fund, which helped pay for a new hearing aid for a graduating senior at Tuzla University.