Rise through Knowledge

The three workshops in the “Rise through Knowledge” program brought together more than 30 female elementary school teachers. The first workshop was intended to empower women and assist school staff in dealing with stress and difficult life situations. There was a very pleasant vibe in the air. 

Ela Ljubić, the workshop facilitator, developed games and exercises that the participants enjoyed the most in addition to the theoretical portion. Eldina Hodžić and Edisa Demić taught the other two workshops, which covered the same subjects. The goal of every course was to empower these women—who deal with stress on a regular basis. 

This goal was to bring together 50 women aged 20 to 65 from different social areas and lifestyles to exchange experiences and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for everyday life and the lives of the children they work with.

Talking about these topics is of great importance in Bosnian-Herzegovinian society, because these topics are marked as taboo. Women do not find understanding or support, both from family members and the environment when they need to talk about their mental health. Through the implementation of this project, women had the opportunity to obtain the necessary knowledge that is essential for maintaining mental and physical health, the legal knowledge that is necessary for them to have, which is not easily available in our system, and to ask all the questions that they need to ask and to they get answers to the same. With the knowledge they got through education, they will be able to apply knowledge in their work with young children, recognize problems that children are dealing with, and help them.

Project activities were realized in cooperation with the Association for Education and Development Dignitet and main activities were organized from June to July 2023. The project duration was 5 days in total, 3 workshops, and a two-day seminar in Blagaj.
Besides many others, some of the strengths of the project were: the natural environment, gathering women from different societies areas, exchanging knowledge and experience, raising women’s support, raising awareness about mental health and its importance, providing women with knowledge and skills needed in everyday life and skills and knowledge that is necessary to recognize problems that children they are working with are dealing in family or society environment.