Schoolchildren and teachers learned peace-building and cooperation skills at a winter camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where so-called “ethnic” tensions still run high after the war from 1992-95. The camp is the climax of a year-long peace-building project in 12 schools in World Vision’s community development program in Majevica, northeastern Bosnia.

Participating schools span the two divided mini-states or “entities” of the young nation: the Bosniak/Croat Federation and Republika Srpska.

World Vision hosted the camp from 15-17 November at Hajducke vode, a lodge in the mountains between Doboj and Banja Luka, some 200 km northwest of Sarajevo.

“I’ve made new friends from both entities. It’s the first time I’ve had the chance to attend something like this and learn teamwork. I had a wonderful time and I’ll tell my schoolmates all I learned,” said Maida Huseinović, 12, from the predominantly Muslim town of Gornji Rainci.

“The important thing is that teachers and children from both entities â€' both Serbs and Bosniaks â€' are together here,” says Mr. Jasmin Cajić, Zonal Manager at World Vision.

“They value the opportunity to get to know children from the other side,” he said of the 24 children who participated, all of whom are student council representatives.

“My teacher chose my friend and me for this winter camp because we’ve been active in the student council. I’ve learned how to negotiate, to take a step back if necessary when coming to an agreement, and that everyone must help everyone else. It’s been fun â€' we learned a lot through games, so I think I’ll teach the student council through games, too,” said 13-year-old Safet Memić from Vitinica.

The winter camp is the crown of World Vision’s one-year Peace Education project. “It is a chance to help the children learn and develop leadership skills,” said Education Coordinator Maja Djukić, who organized the Peace Education project with teachers and students.

“We looked at communication and tolerance, but best of all, the project provided the opportunity to work together and realize that the other person is really a human being.

“It may be hard for us to understand how the people from the Federation and the Republika Srpska are separated, but there are still strong feelings about the war. It was difficult for many of them to sit and work together at the same table, yet they found new friends on the other side,” she said.