School of Friendship

By:Jelena Jovanovic

Belgrade, July 24,(Serbia Today) - The 9th School of Friendship, a Summer Camp for children age 8– 18 was organized again this year by the Humanitarian Non-profit Organization «Naša Srbija» (Our Serbia) on Tara Mountain, from July 15th to August 6th.
The school gathers 400 children from Serbia and Republika Srpska. Children have settled in a beautiful hotel “Beli Bor” on Tara Mountain attending various educative and creative workshops: schools of ethnology and weaving, painting, sculpting, music, dance, acting, school of ecology, computers, sports, journalism ... Program of the School also includes various other activities - games, competitions, excursions, concerts, theater plays.
The School of Friendship came out of the idea of “Naša Serbia” to treat needs and problems of the children included in aid programs- children who had lost one or both parents during the past wars in Serbia and former Yugoslavia, children whose parents were kidnapped or missing and socially imperiled children.
For children from the most endangered Serbian enclaves in Kosovo and Metohia, participation in the School of Friendship on Tara Mountain is one of the rare opportunities to safely spend their time and move freely in friendly and beautiful surroundings.
This school offers children a wide choice of activities. Children gain new knowledge and experiences and the whole project is realized by the professional team of “Naša Srbija“, with the participation of many experts.
Sanja Savić, from the organization Naša Srbija announced several special programs which would be part of this year`s School of Friendship. One of them is the fourth multiethnic seminar Days of Friendship, which would be held from July 31st to August 6th.
The Seminar will have 160 participants: children of eight different nationalities from the whole Serbia: Slovakian, Hungarian, Ruthenian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Bosnian and Serbian. Themes of the seminar are tolerance and multicultural differences, and the main aim is promotion of the values of multiethnic and multicultural tolerance, as well as contribution to the new, modern and democratic society.
A Day of Friend-Country dedicated to Spain this year, will be marked on August, 5th. Spanish Embassy in Belgrade helps the realization of the School of Friendship and a special guest of the school will be the Spanish Ambassador Juan Inigo de Palatio Espana. Children will learn about history, tradition, culture and customs of Spain and present their knowledge about this country in a quiz-game.
The program of the School of Friendship 09 is also enriched by numerous concerts – guests of the music program will be Leontina, Željko Joksimović, Marko Kon and many other musicians.
The ‘Politika’ Book fair for children will be organized this year for the seventh time. The fair will be held on July, 25th, and Serbian publishing houses will present many new books and give them to the children as a gift. Publishing house ‘Politika' will also award children who showed the best results and achievements in the workshops.
General sponsor of this Summer School of Friendship is Intensa Bank.
School of Friendship on mountain Tara is, certainly, the best part of summer, for children who attend it. For them, this school also presents a step into a different, happier future.