The Spark of Youth

I am also one of the super cool people celebrating International Youth Day today. Whenever someone asks me why I volunteer, I always tell them it's because volunteering is good for my health. Besides helping myself grow and learn new skills, it also relieves my daily stress and fills me with a sense of purpose and confidence, just like superheroes! All these superheroes are celebrating their day this month, the International Youth Day. It's a special day for me too, and I'll share why in the rest of this blog.

The Youth Bank is a project of the Tuzla Community Foundation that involves young people in the community in a special way and encourages them to make positive changes. You can think of the Youth Bank as a model for young people to get actively involved and create better conditions in our community. More than 100 young folks participate in the Youth Bank's work every year, and during their one-year term, they are trained to make decisions that support youth projects. Moreover, they are encouraged to be brave and face life's challenges head-on. Sadly, we live in a world where young people's skills and knowledge are sometimes undervalued, but the Youth Bank and Tuzla Community Foundation are changing that by making young people feel important and valued in their local communities.

Once the spark of hope, safety, friendship, and carefreeness is ignited here, it never fades away. It motivates every young person to achieve their dreams because they realize they have a unique gift. It encourages them to keep going even when faced with struggles, knowing that failure is just temporary. Once this flame is ignited, it only leads to positive outcomes and fairy-tale-like happy endings.

During this month, as we celebrate our youth, we also celebrate the challenges we've overcome during our one-year term. Every young person sees this day as a victory - a day that shows us how strong we can be and how much youth can add beauty to everything.

I want to thank the Youth Bank and Tuzla Community Foundation for believing in me and all the young people from the Tuzla Canton area. Today, on the 12th of August, we have a reason to celebrate our youth, our courage, our strengths, and our hopes for a better tomorrow.

Empowered, strong, brave, and young - we'll always remember this spark that awakened the beauty of youth within us. And we'll pass on its strength to future generations so they can witness the enduring story of youth forever!