"A Bittersweet Celebration as Beneficiaries Graduate from ReneWLS Program"
In October 2003, 803 Women for Women International beneficiaries completed their participation in the ReneWLS Program in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We were very happy to organize a graduation ceremony and celebration for these women from the Sarajevo, Sokolje, Breza, Kahve, Župca, Busovaca, Kacuni and Goražde centers.
The celebration was bittersweet for everyone; the women were excited and proud of everything they had learned over the previous 12 months, yet they were sad that the program had come to an end for them and that this was to be the last time they would all be together. Many had grown very close with the neighbors whom they had known very little about before Women for Women International had become part of their lives.
There were roughly 50 women for each graduation celebration, held at the center where their regular meetings had taken place. For this meeting, however, the women arrived dressed in their finest clothes. They had very few occasions in their lives to dress up, and for them, this was an occasion to do so. The walls of the room were covered in the woven and embroidered works that the women had made, creating a cozy atmosphere and giving tangible proof to the women’s capabilities. And the tables were covered with trays of the various foods that each woman had brought for the occasion.
During the first part of the gathering, Razija Bošnijak, ReneWLS program manager, handed out the eagerly awaited graduation certificates. As Razija said, the pride the women felt on this occasion was palpable; for many of them it was one of the most important moments of their lives. It was the first time that they, not their husbands or children, were the focus of something.They spoke emotionally of what they had learned in both the women’s rights training and skills training sessions, of the business and leadership skills they had attained. They also spoke of what the future held. For some women this meant applying for a microcredit loan through Women for Women International’s microcredit lending program to begin their own small businesses. Others had already begun small income-generating projects on their own, including selling their woven carpets and placemats in their communities. Other women were going to continue promoting women’s rights in their community and being involved in making changes through petitioning their local government. Some women in Sokolje had already been successful in having the local government build a new school for their children.
For each group, one woman had been elected by her fellow participants to give a speech. In speaking for all the women from the Kahve center, Azemina, said: “We are so grateful for this program, and to the organization Women for Women International, to the sponsors in the United States, handicraft designers and group leaders. We have learned a lot here, from how to improve small domestic activities to how to be better aware of our position in the family and in society. We have been so happy here, the meetings have given us encouragement to improve our lives, we have found friendship, and we have added color to our everyday lives. And we have learned that our role as women extends beyond our yards.”
In this final gathering for these women, it was very easy to recognize the changes that the women had undergone through the program. In the first meetings 12 months earlier, the women were mostly shy, closed and afraid to express their opinions. And now, because they were aware of their great value and of their rights, they were relaxed, open and eager to express their views.Mirsada from Busuvaca said: “Now I can see how much had been missing from my life. But it is never too late to make changes in your life – I learned that here. Now I know things that help me have greater self-esteem, and to expect much more from life.”Muruveta from Busovaca said: "This program opened the door to a better life for me. We now can see that as women, we are very important link in the chain of life. Our self-confidence was restored and we learned how to have the most important things: hope, courage and strength."The mayor of Busovaca, who attended the graduation celebration in that town, said: “I remember when I came to the first meeting for these women. They were very shy and afraid. Now I see very different women, who have become strong and self-confident.”The women who graduated from the program are encouraged to maintain the changes they have made to their lives. They are happy knowing that communication with the organization does not have to end with their completion of the program, that all Women for Women International’s activities will continue at their centers and that they can contact the organization at any time. Some beneficiaries in fact have told us that their self-esteem will keep growing if they contact us from time to time. The women also expressed hope that as many women in Bosnia-Herzegovina as possible will participate in this program because there are still many women who need to recover their courage and self-esteem.
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