W&M Bosnia Project

The fourteen-year old Bosnia Project is both the oldest international service trip at the College and the project that provides the longest in-country field service experience.  It is an effective and enduring example of internationalization at W&M.  

The Bosnia Project is a long collaboration between students from different majors across the College and non-governmental organizations in Bosnia. Its mission is to bring together W&M and Bosnian students to foster cross-cultural understanding and leadership, as well as to empower Bosnian youth.  In 1998, then Borgenicht scholar-in-residence, Yugoslav scholar Mihailo Crnobrnja helped initiate a partnership between a Bosnian non-governmental organization doing therapeutic work with children who experienced emotional trauma during the 1992-95 war; this NGO’s offshoot in Sarajevo—Creativus--is our current partner.  Together with Creativus-selected University students in Education, we teach English and video production skills to 70 Bosnian children and teenagers a year, over four weeks. 

The Bosnia Project distinguishes itself by its long-term commitment to its mission and its willingness to innovate by embracing technology.  W&M students and their University of Sarajevo co-teachers work with Bosnian children to write, produce, and act in short videos featuring strictly English dialogue.  Through these projects, the Bosnian students’ written and oral English language skills grow significantly, as well as their teamwork and cross-cultural communication skills.  At the same time, our students and their co-teachers collaboratively write lessons and teach children. By providing fun, free learning opportunities, they hope to improve their students’ ability to communicate—both in English and Bosnian—in a society that is still economically depressed, ethnically segregated, and polarized by the legacy of violent conflict. The W&M students’ co-teaching with Bosnian university education students allows Sarajevo university students in education to expand their rare opportunities for classroom practice.  Furthermore, the Bosnia Project opens the eyes and hearts of the W&M students to Bosnians and their community. 

The 2013 W&M Bosnia Project participants bring a diverse set of experiences and talents to the team. We represent two different countries, four different states and a wide variety of majors ranging from Classics to Community Studies to Education. However, we share a passion for community service and education and a genuine interest in learning more about the wonderful place that we will live in this summer. Your support will help us pay for airfare, living expenses, and contributions to our partner NGO Creativus including expenses for summer camp facilities. Please help us contribute to teaching and learning about cross-culture communication in Bosnia this summer!

To see past W&M Bosnia Project videos, please check us out on Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/wmbih