This year, the Ramadan activities of Foundation Second also include special weekends in the Small Family Home in Ledići, designed as a time of togetherness, learning and rest for children growing up in the alternative care system.
After the first Ramadan weekend, which was organized for older girls, this time the youngest ones stayed in Ledići — girls between five and seven years old. They spent the weekend together with Foundation Second Director Belma Mujezinović and volunteer Nedžma Selimović.
For children who have experienced the loss of parents, abandonment, or who grow up far from a family home, experiences like this carry special value. The Small Family Home in Ledići offers them the opportunity to spend time in an environment that resembles family life — with shared meals, care for the living space and a sense of belonging.
During their stay, the girls participated in everyday activities: helping with cleaning the house, preparing meals and tidying up. The time was also filled with learning, as through play and conversation they practiced reading and writing, encouraged and supported by the adults around them.
One small but particularly emotional moment marked the weekend. One of the girls had her first baby tooth becoming loose, and she asked the Director of the Foundation Second to help remove it. With a little courage and encouragement — the tooth came out. It was her first lost tooth, but also the first tooth ever removed in the Small Family Home in Ledići, a moment that brought a lot of laughter, excitement and pride among the girls.
The greatest joy came from simple moments children remember the longest: sleeping together on mattresses on the floor, playing with the cats and the dog, and visiting the mosque in Dejčići during Ramadan evenings.
The girls spent a sunny Sunday walking through the village and visiting the Ledići Waterfall, a hidden gem located at around 1,000 meters above sea level. The path to the waterfall was a small adventure through which they overcame some of their own fears — of animals, of steep forest paths, and even of the dark when the electricity briefly went out in the house one evening.
They fed the cats and the dog, learned how to care for animals and slowly overcame their fears through touch, curiosity and laughter.
Since Monday was a non-working day due to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Independence Day, their stay in Ledići was extended — much to the delight of the girls who did not want the weekend to end.
This stay is part of the broader Ramadan program of Foundation Second. After the weekends organized for the older and the younger groups of girls, two more Ramadan weekends are planned in Ledići so that as many children from the alternative care system as possible can spend part of this special month in nature, in an environment that feels like home — with the care, safety and sense of togetherness that every child deserves.
