twi4kidsblog

2012 Concerns

twi4kidsblog — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:19:33 +0000

Bobby has been busy attempting to finalize the names of Serbian and Kosovo team members coming to the Leadership Workshop in Macedonia. She must have the names in order to make hotel reservations. We are confident that the teams will be finalized this week. We are also concerned about what type of money we can use in Macedonia – We would like to use Euro. As you can see, still many loose ends to tie together. I hope and trust that the funds I have sent to Sarajevo have been receive by the Bank there. We need to have the old van repaired and ready for a very stringent summer travel schedule. Things are going well, but we need answers from our coordinators.

Team Meeting with Ed

twi4kidsblog — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:12:22 +0000

2012 – Coordination Details

twi4kidsblog — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:41:07 +0000

Bobby is working hard to get the reservations for the Leadership Workshop in Macedonia confirmed. She has to select the hotel and try to get the rooms selected from the available rooms in hotels in the small town in Macedonia. We must give names to the hotel to make the reservations and this is difficult without confirmed names from the Serbian and Kosovar teams. The hotel choices all look real good and we should have our reply ready to be sent to our Macedonian Coordinator today (I hope). Next step will be to decide on the workshop topics. The initial topics look real good and should be well received in the Balkans.

2012 TWI for the Children – Camp Preparation

twi4kidsblog — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:41:24 +0000

We have messages out to Borko in Paracin and to Ramush in Kosovo on names of team members for the Leadership workshop in Macedonia. We need to get the team names to our Macedonian Coordinator so that reservations can be made as soon as possible. The funding wire has been sent to Sarajevo and hopefully will be received next week. The old van needs lots of work and this takes money. Once we get our teams for Macedonia, we should be in great shape for the summer.

2012 TWI Leadership Workshops in the Balkans

twi4kidsblog — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:56:14 +0000

The TWI for the Children Leadership Team met in Philadelphia to discuss the itinerary and the activities to take place during the July Leadership and Camps for Children camps in Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro. The Team consists of Bobby, Lisbeth, Pat, Audra, Ed and Drew. We now have our veteran driver and team member Dzanan on board and our overall coordinator, Azra is already hard at work. Funds have been sent to Azra and Dzanan and hopefully, the van will be ready for this summer.

We still need to fill the Serbian contingent for the Macedonian Leadership Workshop and to finalize the Kosovar contingent at this workshop. This should be done the month. We are very excited about this year’s program and cannot wait to get started.

2012 Itinerary Finalized

twi4kidsblog — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:46:53 +0000

TWI has completed the final draft of its 2012 Itinerary for its work in the Balkans. We still need to complete the composition of our team; coordinate the itinerary with our coordinators in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Then we need to purchase our air tickets to the Balkans. As you can see, we have a great start, but still lots more to do before leaving for the Balkans in July. I am having a problem with the web site and must talk with web support to have it published.

Working on 2012 Itinerary

twi4kidsblog — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:28:12 +0000

TWI for the Children has established a draft itinerary for this summer’s activities. Before we can publish this itinerary, we must determine who will be part of our team and finalize the dates of our Training Workshops. Then we can work with our coordinators to obtain workshops and logistics. We know that the Bosnians’ will not be able to participate in our Training Workshop programs, but we hope to be able to conduct camps in Sarajevo and Mostar. Our funding is a critical factor and we hope to receive donations to allow us to accomplish our programs. Another critical factor is the increased cost of airfare to Europe. We are keeping our fingers crossed that everything will come together soon.

2011 TWI for the Children Summer Program

twi4kidsblog — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:09:21 +0000

During July 2011, TWI conducted a very successful program of Camps for Kids and Leadership Workshops. Camps for Kids were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo Orphanage, Roma Community, Zenica Orphanage Picnic, Disabled Children Picnic and Mostar Orphanage); Kosovo (Two villages); and, Montenegro (Bijela Orphanage). A total of 600 children in these schools and orphanages received a day of fun, games, stories, crafts, and dance along with snacks and drinks. Each child went home with an individual photo in a frame as well as a TWI backpack for their school supplies. Leadership Workshops were held for University age students in Paracin, Serbia; Sveti Novi, Macedonia; Kosovo; and in Montenegro. A total of 300 students attended the seven workshops. The workshops were taught by two American businessmen on the subject of organizational and personal leadership. The students received lecture as well as working group activities during the more than four hours of instruction. A Certificates of Instruction was provided each student. The team traveled for 18 days to five countries (Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro). This was the fourteenth year that TWI for the Children has conducted camps for children and Training Workshops in the Balkans. Our thanks go to our coordinators in each of the countries for their help in arranging all of the locations for the camps and workshops as well as the many administrative details that must take place for our team. We also thank our driver and interpreter who took such good care of our transportation and luggage and helped in every camp activity. This will be our final Blog for 2011 and thank you for following our activities.

The GREAT TWI Team

21 July 2011: Picnic camp for Disabled in Sarajevo

twi4kidsblog — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:56:13 +0000

Team took 35 persons to a great picnic in the beautiful park near Sarajevo. Stories were told and food was funded by the New Jersey Camps donation. Weather was beautiful and fun was had by all. Dzanan brought several families by van and families brought the others in their cars. Bobby’s story of the Bull and the Cowboy was a super hit and as the horses and carriages coming through the park made the story more realistic. It was great to see the children and their families. Last year TWI had to stop funding the Learning Center for Severely Disabled Children and the Center had to close. This picnic was one of the few opportunities that the children and their families had to leave their apartments. Pictures show the picnic.

Story of Bull and Cowboy

Team ArrivingStory of Bull and CowboyGroup Picture

20 July 2011: Final camp in Mostar and Return to Sarajevo

twi4kidsblog — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:39:26 +0000

Team held its final camp for kids in Mostar Orphanage this morning. The majority of the children were on a funded trip to Italy to raft, but there were a number of small children and others that remained behind. Team left after lunch for Sarajevo and arrived in the late afternoon, tired but happy. They are preparing a small camp for the disabled children from the former Learning Center for Disabled Children to be hosted on the 21st. The team stopped at the beautiful lakeside restaurant on the road back to Sarajevo.

Team at lakeside restaurant

Lake on road to Mostar