The Older Brother, Older Sister (OBOS) mentoring program is celebrating its 20th anniversary of existence, unity, and humanity this year. The first in a series of planned activities was a joint outing for children and volunteers, held on May 25th at the Mojmilo Forest Park.

Each pair, consisting of a child and a volunteer, planted a rose as a symbol of their companionship, friendship, and time spent together, creating memories for a lifetime. The rose will serve as a reminder of the group activity and the development of their relationship. This can also be linked to the 20-year celebration of the SBSS program and the effort, work, and time invested by everyone involved in making it what it is today.

NARKO-NE celebrates 20 years of the SBSS program in collaboration with the Older Brother, Older Sister Foundation, and was joined on this outing by friends from the Heart for Loved Ones Association, the Golden Hands Women’s Association of Ilijaš, and the Healthy Aging Center Hrasnica. This activity connected different generations that grew up in various times and conditions. Everyone enjoyed the planting process and the creation of new life, sharing their life experiences, some very rich and others modest but still very interesting.

It is particularly important to highlight that the children found the activity very fun, but they were also responsible and dedicated to the task:

Although the children were hesitant before the planting and wondered how it would all turn out, their facial expressions during the activity showed that they enjoyed it. There was a lot of fun, smiles, and joy. For most, it was their first experience with planting, so they listened carefully and followed the steps required to plant the rose, as well as the subsequent steps. But what they enjoyed the most was the time spent together and the opportunity to create new memories.– Jovana Perović, Assistant in the OBOS Program

In addition to planting roses, the Eco Challenge gave everyone the opportunity to learn about the park’s plant life and understand the importance of a clean environment and nature conservation. The children also discovered other interesting plants and created creative photographs and colorful herbariums as souvenirs of their visit to nature.

Volunteer Naida Kiso highlighted that the children made the most of their time after lunch during free activities:

I believe everyone enjoyed the creative workshops after lunch, which were very interesting, and we had the chance to actively participate in creating an ‘artwork’ with flowers and leaves in groups. Regarding the planting itself, they learned a lot about the procedure/order of planting and the tools used in the planting process. Most importantly, no child was left alone; they all worked and socialized together.

At the end of this beautiful gathering, it is important to say that all the children and volunteers were happy and satisfied, leaving with a wonderful experience, which has been one of the goals of the program for twenty years. Therefore, we can say that happiness is priceless and is the key to the long-standing work of OBOS.

Ajsela Kučinar