On the final weekend of the summer break, Foundation Second organized a three-day stay in Ledići for a group of boys aged eight to 12 from KJU Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo and the Sokolović Kolonija Small Family Home.
This time, something completely new was waiting for them – their first camping experience in the yard of the Small Family Home in Ledići.
For most of the boys, this was their first encounter with tents, sleeping bags, headlamps and other camping equipment. And the camp was not waiting for them already set up. With the help of Foundation Second Director Belma Mujezinović, the boys learned how to pitch the tents themselves, organize the equipment and prepare their sleeping spaces.
Their initial uncertainty quickly turned into excitement. They enjoyed their little “homes” under the open sky so much that, even on the second night, they did not want to trade their tents for beds inside the house.
Awake at 2 a.m. for the stars
Nermina Crnić, a caregiver from the Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo, joined the stay together with her two sons. One of them is passionate about astronomy and brought two telescopes to Ledići especially for the occasion.
This gave the camp another special dimension – observing the night sky and discovering the world of astronomy.
And the boys took the mission very seriously.
They even woke up at around 2 a.m. to observe the stars and the Moon. Far from the city lights, the night sky above Ledići offered them a completely different experience. The telescopes passed from one boy to another, and sleep seemed far less important than everything waiting to be discovered in the sky.
Despite the lack of sleep, they were already up and ready by around 7 a.m., prepared for another day of adventures.
When darkness fell again in the evening, the exploration continued on the ground. Equipped with headlamps and flashlights, the boys explored the village and, together with the Director of Foundation Second, even went on a nighttime climb up a nearby hill.
The darkness, the mountain and the beams of their flashlights transformed an ordinary evening walk into an experience they will remember for a long time.
Three teams, three names and three emblems
During their stay, the boys divided themselves into three teams. Each team was given the task of choosing its own name and designing its own emblem. They then put their ideas onto paper, drawing, coloring and deciding together how their team would be represented.
It was another opportunity to practice cooperation, creativity and teamwork through play.
And even the final weekend of summer break did not mean a complete break from schoolwork. We also used some of our time to practice mathematics, making the return to the classroom after the holidays just a little easier.
An adventure to the waterfall
A summer stay in Ledići would not be complete without exploring the nature surrounding the village.
One adventure took the boys to a local waterfall, where they swam and cooled off. A local dog joined them along the way and became part of their little expedition.
As Ledići showed us once again, sometimes adventure companions appear when you least expect them.
The cats, however, remained the stars of the stay
As exciting as the telescopes, tents and nighttime adventures were, the cats of Ledići once again proved that it is very difficult to take away their title as the main stars of the children’s stays.
The boys played with them as soon as they opened their eyes in the morning, cuddled them and looked for them around the yard. Some of the cats even earned a special place at the campsite – a few of the boys let them sleep with them inside their tents.
That meant mornings at the camp began very early: by around seven o’clock, the boys were already coming out of their tents, and spending time with the cats was among their first activities of the day.
These spontaneous moments are one of the reasons animals have such a special place in the activities Foundation Second organizes in Ledići. Through play, affection and caring for them, children naturally develop compassion, gentleness and a sense of responsibility towards animals.
Camping is not just about having fun
The days in Ledići were not filled only with games and adventures. The boys also took part in everyday tasks around the house and yard.
They picked vegetables from the garden, prepared meals and cooked together, set and cleared the table after meals, and helped tidy the house. They helped prepare and chop firewood for the barbecue, cleaned the yard, and even gave part of the fence behind the new Barakah Corner a fresh coat of paint.
During their stay, they also went together to pray at the mosque in Dejčići, making these shared visits another part of their three-day experience in Ledići.
The idea behind stays like this is not for children to simply be guests for whom everything has already been prepared. Through small, age-appropriate tasks, we want them to learn responsibility, independence, teamwork and how to care for the space they share.
“We want Ledići to be a place where children can experience things they may never have had the opportunity to experience before – sleeping in a tent for the first time, pitching it with their own hands, walking through the mountains at night with a headlamp, or waking up in the middle of the night to look at the stars and the Moon through a telescope. I was especially happy to see how excited they were – already up at seven in the morning and starting their day by playing with the cats. But it is equally important to us that they learn that every beautiful experience also involves effort, responsibility and working together. That is why we pitch tents together, clean, paint, prepare firewood and take care of our surroundings. Their enthusiasm showed us that this certainly will not be the last camping adventure in Ledići,” said Belma Mujezinović, Director of Foundation Second.
A camp made possible by an entire community
We could not have organized our first camping experience without the many people who responded to our call and lent us their own camping equipment for three days.
They lent us tents, sleeping bags, mattresses, headlamps, flashlights and everything else the boys needed to spend their first nights at camp safely and comfortably.
We sincerely thank everyone who lent us a piece of their equipment and became part of the boys’ first camping adventure. There were so many of you, and every tent, sleeping bag, flashlight and mattress helped us turn an idea into a real experience for the children.
We extend special thanks to Hedija Association, which donated four tents and inflatable camping beds to Foundation Second. This equipment will remain available for future camps, allowing many more children to experience their first nights under the stars in Ledići.
To return to Ledići, they will have to earn some A’s
At the end of the three-day stay, the boys had just one important question:
When are we coming back?
They received their answer very quickly.
They will have to put in a little effort to earn their next adventure in Ledići.
Another camp, new climbs, tents, cats and time together are already waiting for them – but now it is time for school. The agreement is simple: good grades – especially those A’s – will bring them one step closer to another visit to Ledići.
Because Ledići is not just a place to rest.
It is a place where children explore, work, learn, care for animals, take responsibility, push their own boundaries and create memories.
And after this weekend, we know one more thing – Ledići has welcomed its first little campers.
Foundation Second carries out activities and stays for children at the Small Family Home in Ledići with the support of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and Foundation Second’s donors. Thanks to their support, we are able to provide children with new experiences, time in nature, opportunities to learn through everyday activities, and memories that last far longer than a single weekend.
Thank you to everyone who helps us create opportunities like these for children. ❤️