“Franco Bettoli 2011 – Road to New Europe” Srebrenica Youth Camp

In Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovenia, wartime violence has left a deep scar on the community. Two Coalition members have come together to engage local youth and others from across Europe in building a more peaceful future for the region. In 2005, Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Centre and International Forum of Solidarity – Emmaus Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by World Solidarity Alliance – Franco Bettoli, launched a summer camp for youth to help rebuild Srebrenica.

The camp has been held every summer since then. More than 700 youth from across Europe have worked side by side to learn about the past, discuss their hopes for the future, and build physical infrastructure in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This July, 120 youths from France, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Great Britain, Serbia, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina are working together to start rebuilding what was lost. They’ll construct a house for a family who had theirs destroyed in the war, build a bridge to help local children more easily get to school, and distribute humanitarian goods to those in need.

When they aren’t on construction projects, campers will attend round tables and group discussions on the war, issues of human rights, social justice, peace, and democracy, hearing from historians, politicians, and memorial group representatives. Together, they will work to create models of sustainable and true reconciliation among nations and individuals.