Creative workshops entitled "Cultures that connect on colorful pebbles" were held in two centers in southern Serbia (Asylum Center Vranje and Reception Center Bujanovac), bringing together refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan in a process of empowerment, acquaintance and cultural exchange through art.

The first workshop was held on August 20, 2025 at the Asylum Center in Vranje, where Ukrainian children and adults had the opportunity to represent symbols of their culture, family memories and personal emotions through painting pebbles. In a safe space for expression, the colors and shapes on the stones became a way to share what often cannot be said in words - memories, sadness, but also hope.

The second workshop, a day later - on August 21, 2025, was held at the Reception Center in Bujanovac with young people from Afghanistan. They also used pebbles as a canvas for expressing their identity and thinking about the future through creative work. The exchange of experiences and interpretation of motifs at the end of the workshop encouraged conversation and stories about their journey to Serbia.

Both workshops were led by Nazife Gumustekin, an EU AID volunteer from Turkey, engaged through the “Humanitarian Volunteering for Solidarity Activities” program, implemented by the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO) with the support of the European Solidarity Corps (EU Aid Volunteers).

“This was a valuable experience for me – especially because I was able to communicate with some participants in Turkish, which opened the door to honest conversations about their feelings and stories that they conveyed through art,” said Nazife.

In parallel with the creative workshops, in cooperation with the International Aid Network (IAN) and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia (KIRS), individual psychotherapy sessions were also conducted for the beneficiaries of both centers. The aim of these sessions was to provide psychological support to people who have survived traumatic experiences, and to strengthen their resilience in challenging refugee conditions.

This activity is part of a wider program that EHO is implementing with the support of UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), with the aim of improving social inclusion, intercultural understanding and strengthening psychosocial support for users of asylum and reception centers in Serbia.