Name of the organization:
P.I.International Center for children and Youth New Sarajevo

Address: Kemala Kapetanovića 17, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

TEL-FAX: +387 33 641 895

E-mail: mczdions@bih.net.ba

Leader of the project: Dajana Resić, journalist (Degree in journalism)

Name of project: Pilot-project   "Little Journalists"

Project duration: Workshops   January 2004 – June 2004

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION:

Public Institution “International Center for Children and Youth New Sarajevo” was formed on May 14^th, 2001 by a resolution of the Municipal Council New Sarajevo. The main objective of this institution is to congregate young people and cultivate their potentials. Through the spirit of unity and eliminating prejudice, the Center is working and focusing on cultural progress. We are open for all age groups and welcome members from all ethnic groups. 

Public Institution “International Center for Children and Youth New Sarajevo” encompasses a variety of cultural and academic disciplines: Children's Choir, Music workshops, Guitar School, Folklore, Art, Dance, environmental education, anti-drug and alcohol addiction education and humanitarian work ethic. 

Since its formation the Center has received a range of recognition for its successful initiatives. From art exhibitions, to literary gatherings, to cleaning actions, to collecting aid for poor citizens -- members of the Center were twice honorary guests of the international festival in Italy for their achievements and left great impressions on their hosts. All the activities of the Center were outstandingly noted in all media. Last year, over seven hours of television programming, six hours of radio program and over eighty newspapers articles were dedicated to the Center’s activities and programming.

Today our Center is a place where creative and cultural expression flourish, and Sarajevo’s children and youth have a space in which they can build on their interests to create new projects.

REASONS FOR THE PROJECT:

Referring to the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN in 1989 and ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina, and particularly to the Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 28 and 29, that are relating to freedom of expression, the right to receive and impart information and ideas of all kind, the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the freedom of association, the right to education and fundamental human rights, the Center staff believes that there is a lack of education for BiH children and youth in the spirit of free thinking, creativity and critical consciousness.

The proposed project will explore media concepts with these criteria in mind: How did media influence prevention or even the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina? How is it possible to change existing state institutions to “use” media towards peaceful transition and democratization? How is BiH’s bid to eventually join the EU treated in today’s media?

There exists an obvious need to allow youth to obtain equal information and to analyze the information given them, to know how it is created, exchanged and how it influences their country. In today’s world of mind-numbing mass media, future leaders must have the opportunity to participate in criticizing contemporary political happenings or even to create different alternatives. The Little Journalists workshops intend to create a space in which children and youth can learn to differentiate between what is and what isn’t objective information, where to how it is formed, and how to obtain legitimate information pertaining to their academic interests. The Center operates under the belief that children and youth have the right to media education, to free themselves of prejudices and to learn their civil and human rights. Cultivating the use of language as an expression of cultural, traditional and individual identity aims to establish new trends in Bosnia and Herzegovina, beginning at the source of public knowledge: the media.

SHORT TERM GOALS:

Project "Little Journalists” has a goal to educate children and youth about beginning and development of journalism, worldwide and in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to help them to learn the techniques of journalism. First, what is media? Second, what kinds of media exist? And third, how is such media used and for what purposes?

Through practical instruction, children and youth will be able to visit various media institutions throughout the country, to learn about their activities, to make contacts with prominent personalities in BiH journalism as well as to create their own personal views about how media and propaganda influence the civil consciousness. This Center project has as its objective the development of a sense of cooperation among children across different nationalities, genders and ethnic backgrounds and to teach young people ready to promote basic values of a democratic society through objective-critical expression.

Communication skills, correct language style-shaping and correct usage and presentation in media are short term workshop goals that pave the way for participants’ future roles as citizen leaders in media. Other basic objectives include educating children and youth in public speaking, media presentation and freeing oneself to determine individual censure of information.

LONG TERM GOALS:           

The long-term goal of the project is to establish the Center’s own, so called, “Little Media Agency”. This agency will allow the participants of the Little Journalists workshop to continue their education by starting their own newspapers in which they will inform others about their activities and express their opinions, as well as react to other media presentations. Their “little newspapers” will become a part of “big” print collection created by children and youth following the activities of activities relevant to youth living in Sarajevo and the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Little Journalists workshop and the Little Media Agency will strengthen cultural bonds among children, develop their self-confidence and educate them towards a future profession in responsible media. The Center will provide them the space, qualified educators and the support to achieve all their creative ideas.

TARGET GROUP:

The project’s target group is children and youth wishing to participate in academic workshops and enjoying an interactive way of education with their peers.

The project will involve three separate groups : “little”, “middle” and “big”.

-         “little” group (I – V grade of primary school)          

-         “middle” group (V – VII grade of primary school)

-         “big” group (secondary school and students)

Each group will have approximately 10 participants and the classes will be held twice a week for 1.5 hours each. Terms will be set upon agreed time.

WORKSHOP PLAN:

·                    Short theory of Journalism (practical approach)

·                    Journalism styling

·                    Technical approaches

·                    Writing Practice

·                    Propaganda

·                    Contemporary communication systems

·                    Communication science

·                    Communication science in mass media  

Workshop plans will be adjusted according to participants’ different needs and areas of interest – flexibility is important to us.

HUMAN RESOURCES:

1. Dajana Resić- Degree in journalism, Project coordinator

Project coordinator “Little journalists” and lecturer.

In the Center Dajana is responsible for media promotion and participation in all Center activities, including various other workshops, correspondence and media campaigns.

Education: Degree in journalism, University of Political Science, Sarajevo

Dajana was an employee in Sarajevo daily newspapers, such as “Vecernji list”, “Oslobođenje” and weekly magazine “Dani”.

2.  Danijela Dugandzic- Project Manager

Involved in writing, creating and translating projects. Prepares financial and narrative reports. In the Center, Danijela is responsible for correspondence with international and local organizations and individuals. She also participates in many other projects, the Center’s various activities and as a project manager and advisor.

Education: Danijela studied International and European Criminal Law, Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy at the Law Faculty in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Also completed Women Studies in Sarajevo and was a trainer for «Gender Perspective, Gender Equality and Equal Rights». Participated in V-Day, New York (Stop rape contest), 2001.

3.     Vanja Nogo – Academic graphic artist - art manager

Project assistant – “Little Journalists”

Vanja is a coordinator of project “Little Artists”. In the Center, she is involved in designing promo material and all actions related to artistic expression and project design. Vanja also participates in all Center activities.

Education: Academic graphic artist. Masters Student in Scenography.

CENTER CAPACITIES:

Our partners and tenants in the Center:  

• HEALTH NET/The Netherlands
• SAVE THE CHILDREN/Norway
• OBRAZOVANJE GRADI BIH/Bosnia and Herzegovina
• ARC International/USA
• PRINCEZ KROFNE /Bosnia and Herzegovina
• The Noel Baker Center for Business and Management studies

The Center offers a space and main office equipment for project activities, as well as the support of all employees/volunteers of the Center.

EXPECTED RESULTS:

In a project period of 6 months, we expect to involve around 50 participants in this project through various workshops. It is possible that the number of participants will increase since our earlier projects have shown increasing demand from the children for this type of programming. Participants that pass this educational program we expect to continue to follow the activities of the Center, reporting after every quarter in the form of newspaper articles. We also expect professional media to cover the work of our workshops and we will arrange for participants to work together with professional journalists who regularly cover these activities in order to gain some practical experience. One of the hoped for results is the recommendation and support that the Center can give to those participants who pass the program and the affirmation of their own newspapers and outside media attention. We hope this advantage may someday encourage them to pursue a degree in journalism or follow some future interest in working with media.

Project makers: Dajana Resic and Danijela Dugandzic
Translation: Danijela Dugandzic

B U D G E T