30 June 2021 | Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina [ADRA BiH, tedNEWS]
From 20-27 June 2021, twenty young people from around Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) joined together to spend a week in Tuzla as part of the project ‘Invasion of Love’ sharing the messages of love and performing different acts of kindness.
In the past, this part of the Balkan Peninsula has experienced many types of invasions that divided people and communities, and ADRA volunteers decided for a different type of invasion where they wanted to demonstrate how showing love and acts of kindness can bring people together and speak louder of what kind future young people want for their country.
The group arrived in Tuzla on Sunday, 20 June to tour around the city and make the preparations for the following five days of activities. They started by visiting the Accident and Emergency Unit, the Fire Department, the Communal Services and the local police station bringing along boxes filled with different types of goodies to express their gratitude for the dedicated service these people give to the citizens. As per their custom, the volunteers also delivered six packages of humanitarian aid to 6 socially endangered families. That first day also saw them cleaning windshields in a big carpark leaving a message: ‘We saw that your windshield was a bit dirty, so we decided to wash it and expand your view.’
Among other things, the young people offered cold soft drinks to passers-by in different locations and gave away flowers to ladies working in different areas from bakeries to banks. Collecting more than 50 bags of litter in the town’s picnic area brought surprised smiles to the passers-by.
On the health front, a Health Bazaar was set up in the largest shopping centre offering free message, blood pressure, oxygen level, blood sugar level and weight testing, as well as two survey tests to find out the biological age of people’s bodies and evaluate their lifestyle.
One morning was solely dedicated to motivating Tuzla citizens to give up smoking by giving them an apple in exchange for a cigarette, whereas in the afternoon they invited people to bring their cars for a free carwash at the Adventist church carpark. One of those who came for a carwash was a local librarian who had heard in the media about the various activities ADRA volunteers were doing that she asked if she could take a picture with them to post on their library Facebook page.
“On the last day, we created a big ‘Invasion of love’ flag with which we walked through the city and finally, hung it on one of the town’s overpasses and during that time we were greeted by the sirens of hundreds of cars,” explains Božidar Mihajlović, ADRA BiH Country director.
“After five days of serving the needs of the people and showing God’s love, we have not stoped receiving messages of support from Tuzla citizens as well as enquiries of how they could join our organisation,” concludes Mihajlović.
‘Invasions of love’ are annual camps which aim to bring down walls among people and communities and help establish not only tolerance but true unity among people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To learn more about the projects of ADRA BiH, visit their website or their Facebook page where you can also see more photos from this year’s ‘Invasion of love’.
[See also: Invasion of love reconciles divided community]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Deana Stojković, associate editor
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