Croatia Social Project 2017 – Momentum Leadership

As part of year 1 of the programme, some Momentum participants went to Croatia to carry out a 10 day social project in Majur.

The preparation of programme kicked off in April with a work session on what to expect in the project and the reasons why we volunteer. There were two other preparation days after that.

On July 14 in the afternoon, we met at the airport. Our journey began. Once landed in Croatia, we stayed the night in a hostel before travelling to Majur the next morning. We were welcomed by a group of teenagers of the area who had prepared a barbecue for us. It set the tone for the rest of the project: warm welcomes wherever we went.

Our day began at 7.30am with breakfast. We had to start early because the temperatures sored by midday. By 8am we were working in our different areas: cleaning community homes or painting fences and doors. Teenagers of the locality joined us every day which was a great help. The Mayor of Majur came to explain to us the situation of the area: occupied by Serbian forces during the Bosnian war, it has suffered greatly (many families have loved ones that died during the war). The war is still quite present in the area: abandoned houses, facades with bullet holes and a sharp decrease in the population of the area. We came to bring them hope.

In an email sent to us after our trip there, one of the men who organised alot of our work in the community wrote:

Puno ste nam pomogli u urđenju našeg mjesta svojim ustrajnim radom, bojanjem ograda, crkvenih interijera, djećijih igrališta, pomaganjem strijim i nemoćnim ososbama. Donirali ste nam prozore, stropne svjetiljke i slike…i primjerom pokazali kako se pomaže, to je velika milost za nas.

Which he translated as: You have helped us greatly to savor our place with its enduring work, coloring the fences, church interiors, children’s playgrounds, helping the elderly and helplessness. You donated us windows, ceiling lamps and paintings …And by demonstrating how it helps, it is a great grace for us.

We worked hard. From 8am to 1pm every day, we worked on transforming the place. It was very satisfying. We also had time to really enjoy ourselves: every afternoon we swam in a local river close by which borders with Bosnia. And also had a chance to travel to the capital Zagreb.

Our contribution is little in comparison to what we received there. It was a great project and we hope to return next year. We had a work session with the Mayor, where we mapped out this plan of doing a English summer camp for the young people in the area next year. Hopefully year by year, we will be able to make a genuine contribution to this community who has suffered so much.