is an association of like-minded individuals who want to show by concrete action their love for the Bosnian people. We conduct a month-long summer school on the English language for high school students and for village kids. Our high school courses feature three separate levels of English five days a week. We also run a workshop on Teenage Issues twice a week. This year (2006) we had over 80 students in the high school alone. In the past four summers we have taught over three hundred students, some of whom were repeaters. We also gave three summers of American Studies (2003-2005), taught by a high school teacher from Melrose, MA.
We have a separate team which does special work projects. In the past it has restored the 16th century Karadjoz –beg Mosque in Mostar (2003 and 2004), and we prepared a data base guide for university students in that city (2005). In both projects—the mosque and the data base—we combined forces with a local group of college students. When the Old Bridge in Mostar was reopened in July, 2005, we helped with the preparation of the grounds near the bridge.
Our current special project is the restoration of the library of the Franciscan Monastery of The Holy Spirit in Fojnica, thirty five miles northwest of Sarajevo. This facility, which is said to have 40,000 books plus 3000 Turkish documents, was severely disrupted during the war when it served as a shelter for hundreds of homeless people. Most of the books were left in a huge pile on the floor. Our job is to clean the books and catalog them, as well as to shelve them eventually. Some are incunabula, which means that they were printed before the year 1500. This is a very valuable collection and a vital part of the Bosnian cultural heritage.
In 2007 we plan to continue our summer school in Gracanica, as well as our work in the Franciscan monastery library at Fojnica. Volunteers are welcome. We select predominantly college students and recent graduates, but we always have room for a few retirees. No prior experience is necessary.