About the Association

This relatively young Association located in Sarajevo was established in 2019, and was founded by a group of tourist guides, aged 24 to 30, and currently employs eight people. Although they have only existed for two years, with their love, humane mission and dedicated work, they managed to win the hearts of many children, but also their parents, deserve the attention of local media, local communities and companies, and achieve cooperation with our diaspora.

Realizing the shortcomings of the domestic education system, this group of young enthusiasts decided, in a unique way, to enable the youngest citizens to get acquainted with their city, its sights, its history, tradition and culture through the perspective of a guide. Through these activities, in addition to adopting new information, children also improve their social skills and make new friendships.

So far, about 4,000 euphoric children have participated in the activities of the Association. "'Little ambassadors' have long represented a family that, as time goes on, gets bigger and bigger.

What do these activities look like in practice?

Free tours of Sarajevo are available to children from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also from the region. However, in the activities so far, the local children have been joined by their peers living in Austria and Switzerland, who visited Bosnia and Herzegovina during the summer holidays.

"Undoubtedly, we are especially sensitive to our diaspora because we think that through such projects the next generation of Bosnians and Herzegovinians can stay with their homeland, the country of their origin and will be with it in the future," added Mr. Haris Hadžibaščaušević, representative of the Association.

During the visit, the children learn new information about, among others, the Latin Bridge, the Emperor's Mosque, the City Hall and the Inat House, Bravadžiluk and Kazandžiluk, Sebilj, Gazi Husrev-beg's endowment, the Jewish Quarter, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, the Cathedral and many other symbols of Sarajevo.

But these educational activities are certainly a good reminder to parents of forgotten material. "It often happens that parents of children join us, and that we participate together in this two-hour tour, then talking about how they enjoyed, and even learned something new about some important buildings with which they are in direct contact ...", Mr. Hadžibaščaušević points out.

Educational camps

Another in a series of notable projects of this Association are certainly educational camps that last five days, and include eight-hour trips to Sarajevo, around Sarajevo and beyond. However, every day the children face new curiosities and challenges, so on the first day they get to know Sarajevo, visit four places of worship, the streets of old crafts, try ćevapi and other Bosnian specialties, then visit Trebević on the second day and enjoy the new experience - a cable car ride. The third day is reserved for getting to know the beauties of Herzegovina, the fourth day they visit the Sarajevo Zoo "Pionirska dolina", and on the fifth day they enjoy in sports and recreation in the Sarajevo Recreation Center "Safet Zajko".

Illustrated brochures for children

This is a triple edition of illustrated guides for children. The first guide "Sarajevo for children" consists of about twenty stories that tell about the founders of Sarajevo, the beginnings of the city, its buildings, all through stories adapted to children. The second illustrated brochure is called "Ilidža for children" from which it is evident that, in fact, Ilidža is a real treasure trove of the history of the Sarajevo field.

The third edition was presented symbolically on the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was called "Let's get to know Bosnia and Herzegovina". This interactive and multimedia guide enables children to get acquainted with basic information about BiH. The book consists of two parts - the first part was written by the authors Haris Hadžibaščaušević and Emir Isović and refers to the general characteristics of our country, while the second part consists of children's literary and artistic works from cities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the topic "My place is the most beautiful, and here's why! " The children sent their works as part of a prize game, which was prepared by the members of the Association during the collective isolation. Then, the 26 best works were selected and included in the guide for the award.

Thanks to the QR codes included in the book, scanning opens a link that leads you to video material on the topic of culture and tradition of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The videos can be found on the YouTube channel "Mali ambasadori Sarajeva", where you can find many other educational and entertainment content of the Association.

The book is available in all better equipped bookstores at a price of 15,00 BAM. However, understanding the not so enviable financial situation of the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for children of lower financial status, the price of the book is 10,00 BAM. One of the wishes, and certainly the intention of the members of the Association, is to acquaint the Bosnian emigrants with the mentioned book.

Cooperation with the diaspora

Despite the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, "Mali ambasadori" managed to make contacts with our diaspora, which considers their activities extremely positive. "Representatives of the diaspora are delighted with our activities. They believe that it is extremely useful to preserve the tradition, but also to pass it on to younger generations. It is especially important that children living outside Bosnia and Herzegovina get acquainted with BiH tradition and culture, concludes Mr. Hadžibaščaušević.

Exchange of children, organization of visits to BiH and abroad, education through participation in summer and winter camps organized during the holidays, writing and sending children's letters are just some of the activities that members of the Association hope will be realized between the diaspora and the homeland.

You can find out more about all of the above on the Facebook and Instagram profiles of the "Mali ambasadori Sarajeva", as well as on their official You Tube channel. You can also contact this team by e-mail mali.ambasadori.mktg [at] gmail.com, or by phone: + 38766 / 800-590.

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