We Do Adventure

This was the parting shot of how we kick-started 2013: a final powder run up on a mountain above Jajce, bathed in the golden light of a glorious sunset. As introductions to a new year go I can't remember one that has been as exciting and satisfying, so exhausting and downright painful. No pain, no gain is a well worn cliche but, this time at least, it was well worth playing through the former to see the later. I'm not a gambling guy in the Vegas sense but there was a reasonable dose of risk taking involved in organising what we've been up to for the last week. We had to have the equipment in place; there had to be snow on the right mountains; we had to have found people who'd rise to the challenge; we had to hope our snowboarding friend would work well in translation; not to mention trying to convince onlookers that what we were planning was legitimate youth work and not an excuse for play time. As I sit here, nursing my aches, on the other side of this adventure I ...

Novi Most International, the organisation we volunteer for in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has a challenge it gives its team members. It's called "How Dare We?" To a team that has committed to help work for a better future for young people growing up in this country the challenge is how dare we dream dreams for them we are not dreaming for ourselves. Over the past two years our work in Jajce has allowed us to introduce dozens of young people to experiences they've never had before. It's exciting to make a first trip to the cinema possible, or the first visit to a nearby city, or a first ride up an escalator. But "How Dare We" makes me ask what new experiences I've had recently. I like it. It stops you from standing still. The person who has stopped exploring will likely soon stop encouraging others to do so. So we explore. This January I was in the same boat as the young people we took to a winter camp on Jahorina, one of the Olympic mountains outsi...