Being a volunteer

Year 2014 was very challenging for many people living here in Bosnia and

Herzegovina. To be more precise in my hometown named Doboj, which suffered the

most damage caused by world-known floods that occurred here. With many people

left homeless and some of them who didn't even survive, few of lucky ones who went

without any loss, including me, did their best to help the community.

Help was desperately needed in every part of the town, but I chose to

volunteer in hospital, in my neighborhood and on the faculty where I’ve been

studying for three years. Most of the

days during the volunteering period I

spent in hospital helping the ill and the

hurt. I worked a lot, but I could never

run out of energy, knowing that I am

doing good and helping those that

desperately needed help. I was

spending the whole days volunteering

for the hospital, from sunrise to sunset.

Hospital made us meals every day and

gave us packets with food and water, at

the end of day, for our families. Hospital gave us uniform and the letter of thanks

The help was coming not only from the neighboring states but from the whole

world especially America and West Europe. Hospital was amongst institutions which

were most trusted to but also needed most of the help so that was another job I

applied for. Packages with food, water, clothes and medicine were coming every hour

and waited to be delivered to the endangered ones. Few volunteers, including me

circled around the town and delivered those packages while giving people advice how

to take care of themselves during those hard days. We had to be there for them and

give them support they desperately needed.

Everything happened few days before leaving Bosnia and heading to America

where I spent four months working and gaining the most useful and most beautiful

experience in my life. While I was in the USA life in Doboj had to continue and people

had to keep living their lives no matter how hard it was. Nevertheless, when I came

home, my hometown was in a completely different condition in comparison to when I

left it. The place where I was born and raised was reborn and I felt enormously

proud that I was part of that growth and recovery and I still am today.

My plans about volunteering in US

When I was on the Block Island during the Work and Travel program, most of

my spare time I spent in First Baptist Church, which offered us free dinner every

Tuesday and gave us an opportunity of spending some quality free time in its rooms.

That gave me an idea of volunteering next year in First Baptist Church where I could

help organizing that kind of events for other people who would like to spend their

free time like I did mine last year. Those events will help international students to

meet new friends, exchange experiences and learn about each other cultures. In that

way I could also share with others my previous volunteering experience and enrich

my life with meeting some different people and creating new friendships.