The Commission to Preserve National Monuments continues the campaign "My Bosnia and Herzegovina – My Heritage" throughout this year. The campaign is intended for students of seven elementary schools in the Sarajevo Canton.

The campaign is being carried out as a part of the project for reconstruction of the building of Red Cross Society BiH in Sarajavo - Phaze III, financed from the Special U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation with the US Embassy in BIH. The funds allocated for the third phase of the reconstruction, including the education campaign, amount to $120,000.

The national monument "Historic buildings - the building of the Red Cross Society in Sarajevo" is specific for being the only facility of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had the function of a health and educational institution. Given the fact that there was a cinema in the building, it can be said that the building served for cultural purposes also. It was built in the thirties of the 20th century, when it housed the premises of the Red Cross Society BiH, and was devastated by shelling in 1992.

The Commission, in cooperation with the Red Cross Society BiH has been implementing the project for the reconstruction since 2014. After completion of the first phase of the project, which included cleaning, primary structural protection and repair of the building, a protective sheet was set on the facade, which was immediately covered in graffiti.

For this reason, in the third phase of the reconstruction of this national monument, the Commission proposed simultaneous implementation of the educational campaign on the theme "Heritage and Vandalism".

The aim of the campaign is to inform and teach children about the extent to which creativity goes, and to describe when it goes into vandalism and lawlessness. To meet this goal, an architect was hired – the street painting artist with lecturing experience, Mensur Demir, who will teach the children through lectures and try to explain the difference between vandalism and elements that constitutes street art. In addition to lectures on street art, lectures on national heritage and its protection will be organized too.

Implementation of the campaign has started in May, when lectures were held in elementary schools “Malta“, “Vladislav Skarić“, “Osman Nakaš“, “Hrasno“, and will continue during the month in elementary schools “Grbavica II“, “Meša Selimović“ and “Safvet-beg Bašagić“.

As a part of the campaign, after the completion of the lectures, a competition for the best childrens' works will be open, while the announcement of the competition winners, as well as the overall presentation of the results, will take place at the ceremony, which is planned for the end of the year.

Results of the project will be published at the Commission's web page www.kons.gov.ba, in order to raise awareness about the need to prevent damage to the cultural heritage