Neverland Jajce 2013

Sunday was the culmination of many months of work for Rowan. Preparations for the Neverland street art day in Jajce had seen here crocheting long into the night for weeks, as our spare bedroom became an Aladdin's cave of inspired creations. There had been workshops in the local cultural centre, giving young people the chance to create, and craft parties for the twenty and thirty-somethings.

What all this hard work needed was a good day to show it to the world - or at least the local community. It got it: a day, if anything, too good. Last year's event was interrupted by heavy thunder storms, this year the sun beat down unrelentingly and it was hot. Decorating the town started at 7am, the art intended for people to take was put out about midday. By the time the day finished with an outdoor acoustic concert almost everything was taken.

Waiting for summer, ready for winter!

Despite the pretty picture you see here we, like much of Europe, is waiting for summer to really start. This was two weeks ago, at a Novi Most team retreat in Gradac, on the Croatian coast. It was warm enough to swim, so we did as we don't get so many chances to get to the coast now we live in Jajce.

Back at home we have begun preparation for winter - yes, already! Five metres of chopped wood arrived yesterday. It's now neatly stacked in the area our our front door. When summer does arrive it'll dry it all out nicely so it's ready to burn. The church building where we run our Novi Most courses has new double glazing which should both keep out the cold and hold the heat for longer. We can look forward to warmer teaching this winter. But, having said all that, we want to enjoy a long, hot summer first!

Make The Most

By now friends and followers of this blog who like the Novi Most Facebook page will be well aware that the organisation is making the most of the opportunity afforded by social media to get the word out. This is important. We who are involved in the work know it's needed, and appreciated, work that's making a difference. However we also know that if we don't explain that whats and the whys of it the details can be hard to second guess from the other side of Europe, less so from even father afield.

That's the idea behind the series of short videos Novi Most is releasing: concise presentations of the issues affecting young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and what Novi Most is doing in response. Having worked on putting these, and the accompanying photos, together it's good to seem them being shared and commented on online. Social media provides a great opportunity to share a story at the click of a button. We want to make the most of this opportunity. But we are also only too aware the struggles of young people growing up in Bosnia and Herzegovina will not solved at the click of a button. That's why making the most of our opportunity to help these young people is important. We owe a big thanks to all of you whose support makes this possible.

Quiet...

Things have been a little quiet on our blog for the past couple of weeks. That's usually a sign things are not quiet in our offline existence - and this has certainly been no exception to that rule. April has, thus far, consisted of scaling the steep learning curve of handling a DSLR for the first time, racking up the road miles around Bosnia and Herzegovina and hours of editing video footage.

Tomorrow Novi Most, the UK-based charity we volunteer for, will begin releasing the first of the new photos and videos I have been working on. Whether you're a fan of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or good old-fashioned websites you'll be able to get a fresh insight into the important work Novi Most is engaged in.  My hope is these new videos, images and editorial help increase people's understanding of the issues young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina grow up facing.

Until tomorrow, here's a teaser...