Five girls, four volunteers, and another weekend at our Small Family Home in Ledići. It was our final stay together during the summer holidays – and one of those weekends when saying it is time to go home is especially hard.

This time, we brought five girls to Ledići from the KJU Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo – from the Reception and Nursery Department and two Small Family Homes, Sokolović Kolonija and Marijin Dvor.

Foundation Second Director Belma Mujezinović was joined by four volunteers: Qur'an teacher Anisa Jusić, Nedžma and Senada, students of the Qur'an school at the Bistri Izvor Association, and Nermina Crnić, a housemother from the Home.

Reunited with their Nedžma and Senada

Having Nedžma and Senada with them meant a great deal to the girls.

Throughout the previous school year, the two of them, together with the Director of Foundation Second, accompanied and supported the girls during their regular weekend classes at the Bistri Izvor Association.

So their time together in Ledići was not a first meeting, but a continuation of a relationship that had already grown over time.

In a different setting, away from school desks and their usual routine, the girls had an opportunity to show what they had remembered during the year, revise what they had learned, and receive additional encouragement to continue learning and progressing.

And then we put the books aside and returned to what Ledići so often means to children – freedom, nature, and life's simple little joys.

Tomatoes from the neighbour, apples from the orchard and courgettes for the Home

The days were full from morning until evening.

The girls spent time with our cats again, feeding them and playing with them. They walked through the village, helped in the kitchen, practised reading and writing, and spent hours playing in the garden.

At the time, the tomatoes in our garden had not yet ripened, so we went to a neighbour to buy some. But there were already plenty of other vegetables, giving the girls another opportunity to see how something growing in the garden eventually finds its way onto our table.

They also picked apples from our orchard. They carefully took some of the apples, along with several courgettes from the garden, back with them to share with their friends at the Home.

And that is one of the things we want children to learn in Ledići – that it is wonderful to pick something for yourself, but even more beautiful to remember those who could not be with us that weekend.

Sometimes even a pile of soil can become a playground

At the time, our new Barakah Corner had not yet been completely finished.

The builders had left behind soil that needed to be levelled, and it did not take long for the girls to turn even that into fun. They helped level the ground around the new corner before returning to their games.

Until late in the evening, they jumped onto the bean bags that we received, together with other items for this space, thanks to Barakah Charity.

The new barbecue had not yet been built, so we used the old one. We went to the mosque together for prayer, walked through the village, and one of the biggest sources of excitement was a large local dog whom the girls fed, petted and played with without fear.

We did not need a special programme for every hour of the day.

Sometimes it is simply running freely around the garden, picking apples, helping prepare lunch, spending time with animals, or going to the mosque together that children remember the longest.

"When are we coming back?"

As the end of the weekend approached, we kept hearing the same question more and more often:

When are we coming back to Ledići?

Some of the girls even cried on the way back. They were already counting the days until their next visit and trying to work out how long they would have to wait before they could be here again.

Perhaps this is where we see most clearly what the Small Family Home in Ledići has become.

We wanted to create a place where children without parental care could step away from institutional everyday life, spend time in nature and, at least for a little while, experience the simple routines of family life.

To prepare food together. To go into the garden to pick vegetables. To pick apples. To feed the cats and the dog. To learn, work, pray, play and laugh. To sit together in the garden at the end of the day, tired and happy, without anyone watching the clock.

This time, five girls did not want the weekend to end.

And for us, that may be the most beautiful confirmation that Ledići has become much more to them than simply a place they occasionally visit.

It has become a place they look forward to returning to.

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For the third consecutive year, activities at the Small Family Home Ledići have been supported by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy through co-financing of the ongoing costs of children's stays and activities. This support enables us to make Ledići a place of connection, friendship, learning and rest throughout the year for children without parental care and other vulnerable groups of children.