Brand New Parents’ House in Bosnia Herzegovina

15/06/2016

Lejla Kameric

Ass. ‘A Heart for Children with Cancer’, Bosnia Herzegovina

nThe first house in Bosnia and Herzegovina which will welcome both children with cancer and their parents officially opened its doors last 26 April in Sarajevo. This ‘parents' house’ will provide continuous accommodation for young patients (and their families) who are treated in the Paediatric Clinic of Sarajevo, and it will be managed by the national association ‘A heart for children with cancer’. This association started this project a long time ago, and presented for the first time the preliminary plan of the Parents' House  and its related fundraising campaign in 2011, during the celebrations of International Childhood Cancer Day (15 February). After many administrative obstacles, the Association managed to start the construction of the building in March 2014. Today, we are very proud to announce the Parents' House has been finally built, thanks to a lot of efforts,  work but mostly love. oThe Parents' House is the crossing of the opposites: compact yet disperse, white yet colourful, small yet grandiose, it became an iconic city building. The design of the building allows the ten apartments, which are distributed on three levels, to have a public space for gathering, cooking, and eating on the ground floor, and a space for fitness, conferences, workshops and other activities in the basement. This five-level building is built entirely from the donations that parents and architects have collected with the desire to turn this idea into reality. The University Clinic of Sarajevo provided the land for the building, architects and engineers worked pro bono, as well as ten other professionals who have been invited to assist in finalising the interior design of the apartments. It is also very important not to forget the many volunteers and people of good will who donated their time to assist, as it is also thanks to them if the Parents’ House is as beautiful as it is today.