At the end of October, Citizens’ Initiative Mostar, with the help of PRO-Future’s small grants programs, successfully completed their project “Better Together”. The project brought together women from Mostar, Široki Brijeg and Nevesinje, to promote bonding as an important aspect of peacebuilding.
“We wanted to help connect women from these communities that are so similar yet so separate. I’m happy to see that some rigid stances changed, some ideas about others re-evaluated – that’s the main idea in our project, I think”, said Hikmeta Rizvanović from the Citizens’ Initiative Mostar.
The project began in September and included workshops on reconciliation and diversity, mental health and the importance of raising awareness of breast cancer and the importance of prevention.
“All these women will go back to their communities and share this experience with others. These meetings that we have, like the one today, are like a pebble you throw in the water – the pebble sinks and leaves ever-expanding ripples. This makes me very happy”, said Hikmeta.
The participants visited Mostar’s historical sites and talked about cultural heritage as a reconciliation factor.
“PRO-Future projects are great because they let you meet new people and experience something new”, said Aleksandra Kravić from the Association “Hercegovka” from Nevesinje.
Aleksandra met Antoniju Banožić from Široki Brije, who, like her friends, was a bit skeptical about this visit. But now she’s already planning another visit to Nevesinje and her new friends.
“When we were on our way to Nevesinje, I was wondering what the visit would look like. After the first half-hour, I asked them: “So, what do you think?” and they all said: “We’ll definitely do this again!” The women were happy to spend time together, talk and make new friends. It made us see that we all have the same problems and goals in our different communities, and in those respects, we’re no different from each other”, said Antonija.
The projects “Better Together” was funded by USAID through the PRO-Future peacebuilding project implemented by CRS with partners in 75 local communities.
Leave a comment