We have been working with the youth in Zenica, Bosnia for a few years now.  Our center has been an open house for care, study, and to receive food- when we are able. As the number of children we wish to serve continues to grow we are praying that we will be able to found the city’s daycare and 

transitional center.  Every city in Bosnia is required to have a place where children can go to get off of the streets, most specifically the poor and runaway children and our prayer is to provide such a place.

Purpose

In opening this daycare and transitional center we hope to provide for the children of, and surrounding, 

Zenica a place to receive school help, food, shelter, a hot meal, bathing, and social training.  The house will be one unit divided for the day care and transitional centers respectively.

Daycare

We operate for 8 hours each day, in which children will be welcome to come.They will be provided food, clothing, bathing, tutoring, and healthy social activities.

20 to 30 children attend the Day Care Center each day, the ages range from 5 to 15 years old. All of the children come from dysfunctional families in the town of Zenica and the surrounding area. Each day they are provided with breakfast, lunch and teaching. The most important requirement for the children to be able to attend the day centre is to be registered in the school. After breakfast and lunch they each have to pay attention to their own personal hygiene and begin their homework or school duties. We organise some recreation activities before and after school and after their homework is completed (Right now we are having some guitar and piano classes). We provide school support and supplies and often we visit the schools and families, alike, to see if there are better ways to support both the needs of the family and child. The families are also provided with some groceries and products from the Grace Valley Farm.At the centre, the children have the facility to and take showers, acquire clean clothes, have hair cuts and have help with their homework. In both summer and winter we organise activities for them, for example, youth camps.There is 1 Social Worker present to cater for all of the children’s needs, who is Catholic. There are 5 Bosnian workers, who work as carers and teachers, some of these workers are Muslim. There are two sessions each day, morning from 9 am - 12 midday and afternoon from 1 pm - 4 pm. Some of the children’s mothers and some local women help out at the centre, but more trained assistance is needed.