Women’s Association "Ustikolina"Tešanj · est. 2009

Programs & community initiatives

Small groups, long relationships, measurable outcomes

Everything below runs continuously through the year from our premises in Tešanj and in village halls across the municipality. Participation is free for women; materials are provided; travel is reimbursed for participants coming from outside the town.

Older woman teaching crochet lacework to a younger woman

Pillar one

Vocational training & economic empowerment

The core of our work. Twelve-week practical cycles taught by master craftswomen and trade professionals, capped at fourteen participants so that everyone gets hands-on correction rather than a demonstration from the back of a room.

  • Hand embroidery, cross-stitch and ćilim weaving — traditional patterns of central Bosnia, taught to sellable standard
  • Knitwear and wool processing — from raw fleece to finished socks, shawls and children’s garments
  • Tailoring and alterations — machine skills, pattern cutting and pricing for local repair work
  • Culinary heritage and food processing — preserves, ajvar, dried fruit, pita and sweets, with HACCP-aware hygiene training for market sale
  • Micro-entrepreneurship module — registering as a self-employed craftswoman, simple bookkeeping, pricing, customer relations and municipal market permits
  • Digital sales module — photographing products, writing listings, handling online orders and parcel dispatch

Outcome tracked: percentage of graduates earning independent income six and eighteen months after completion. Current eighteen-month figure: 61%.

A nurse leading a women's health seminar in a community hall

Pillar two

Women’s health & wellness awareness

In villages twenty kilometres from the nearest clinic, an untreated symptom becomes an emergency. We bring the information — and often the clinician — to the community, in plain language and without judgement.

  • Breast and cervical screening awareness, with organised group transport to screening appointments
  • Reproductive and maternal health sessions for younger women, including antenatal rights and entitlements
  • Menopause, osteoporosis and cardiovascular health for women over fifty
  • Diabetes and nutrition workshops run jointly with the local family medicine team
  • Mental well-being sessions addressing anxiety, grief, wartime trauma and caregiver exhaustion
  • First aid certification offered twice yearly, free for members

Delivered with volunteer physicians, nurses and pharmacists from Tešanj and Doboj Jug. No product promotion of any kind is permitted at our seminars.

Women selling handmade goods at a local market stall

Pillar three

Community social support & counselling access

Many women arrive for a sewing course and stay because they finally have somewhere to speak freely. We treat that as programme work, not as a side effect.

  • Confidential one-to-one listening sessions with trained volunteers, Wednesdays 10:00–15:00
  • Licensed psychologist available twice monthly by appointment, free of charge
  • Practical case-work: pension and disability paperwork, child benefit claims, health card renewals
  • Referral pathways to free legal aid, the centre for social work, and the SOS helpline for women survivors of violence
  • Emergency material assistance: firewood, school supplies, food parcels and medicine costs for households in acute crisis
  • Peer support circles for single mothers and for women caring for elderly relatives

All contact is confidential. Records are kept under lock and are never shared without the woman’s written consent, except where the law requires reporting to protect a child.

Girls and older women preparing traditional pastry together

Pillar four

Youth & intergenerational cultural heritage

Craft knowledge dies in one generation if nobody is paid to pass it on. Our heritage programme pairs women over sixty with girls and young women, and pays both.

  • Saturday heritage school for girls aged 13–19 during the school year
  • Documentation project: photographing and recording regional stitch patterns, motifs and recipes into a public archive
  • Annual heritage exhibition and craft fair in Tešanj each spring
  • School partnerships bringing craftswomen into classrooms for practical workshops
  • Oral history recordings with founding members and elder craftswomen
  • Youth market stall where participants sell their own work and keep the proceeds

Elder mentors receive an honorarium for every teaching hour — recognition that their knowledge is professional expertise.

Programme rhythm

January – March
Winter training cycle; tax and registration clinics for craftswomen; indoor heritage school.
April – June
Spring artisan market; health screening campaign; graduation of the winter cycle.
July – August
Food processing and preserving intensive; youth summer heritage workshops.
September – November
Autumn training cycle; ajvar and winter preserve production; annual assembly preparation.
December
Holiday craft fair; emergency winter assistance distribution; annual reporting.
Ask about the next cycle