By Jelena Pilipovic, YES 2015-2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina, hosted by AFS in Roseburg, OR

The topic of interfaith harmony is very dear to my heart and something I am passionate about. It incorporates philanthropic work, deep conversations, and inspiring people. On the other hand, it can be tricky and somewhat difficult to manage. Peacebuilding requires a lot of self-assessment, grounding, and working on personal beliefs, but it is essential to our goals to reach out and network across our communities, countries, and world.

When I came home from the U.S. last June at the end of my YES year, I experienced a need for such a project in my home city of Banja Luka, which is home to several ethnic and religious groups. I sensed a lack of connection and unity between its people and a definite need for more knowledge about the beauty of diverse demographics. I had a project in mind, but wasn’t quite sure where and how to start. The opportunity to get the support I needed emerged in November, with a call to apply for the YES program’s Interfaith Harmony Online Workshop (IHOW). This workshop gave me the inspiration and empowerment I needed to pursue my plans, further develop my project proposals and budget, and carry out my project.

Following IHOW, nine other YES alumni peacebuilders and I had the opportunity to meet for an in-person workshop in  Washington, D.C. I was lucky to be chosen for such an event, as I was able to meet and converse with like-minded people, share my experiences, hear others talk about theirs, and get some great advice.  After a day of traveling for the first time on my own, I arrived at Dulles International Airport, ready for the long-anticipated workshop to start. We started our first day with having breakfast together at the office of AMIDEAST. It was a thrill getting to know all the people, their own unique YES experience, but also their personalities and inspiration for peacemaking. Throughout the workshop, we had sessions on project management, but we were also given the chance to continue talking about interfaith harmony. These discussions came alive during our second day of work, when we had lunch with religious leaders and an excursion to an historic synagogue called Sixth & I. It was amazing, after all the talk we went through, to actually see interfaith harmony come to life in stories told by the female rabbi about the exquisite events being organized in this very building and the challenges that were overcome in the process.

Even though the schedule was tight, some very profound and important discussions took place. During our time in D.C., our small group completed many tasks. We owe a debt of gratitude to our amazing facilitating team from iEARN and AMIDEAST, who guided us through the process of writing our project proposals, learning how to pitch our project ideas to different types of people, planning our budget, and training us to become trainers and facilitators ourselves. I extremely enjoyed all of the fun and often challenging games and strategies we learned. I believe these triggered many valuable lessons and key moments of my experience in D.C. After two days of reviewing and upgrading our project ideas, the workshop concluded with presentations on the projects of each of the YES alumni. It was incredible to witness all of the participants’ ideas evolving and taking shape: all future YES stories to be told, and, in turn, provide inspiration to other leaders starting their own work; changing and crossing established borders of religion and ethnicity; creating a safe, harmonious space for all humans of this world.