For some people 20th of August was just another ordinary day but for us, 9 volunteers
who had the opportunity to be a part of Bear Art 3 Work-camp, that day was the beginning ofnew experiences, adventures and friendships.

Our work was a lot different from the work of other volunteers because it was focused
on art connected with bears. We came as “artists” so everyone had different ideas about what we should do, but we managed to make a compromise surprisingly easy. Instead of one big project we decided to do a few smaller ones depending on each person’s interest and we helped each other out.

For example, we made a few signs that were not yet there and a wooden book about
Kuterevo village and bears in the refuge. Photo-place was a real success because people were intrigued by colorful bears even when the project was not even finished yet! And prints of bear paws on the road turned out to be really helpful; both for tourists, who didn’t know where to go and for volunteers working at info-station, because their work became a lot easier with saying “just follow the bear steps” to visitors.

But we weren’t just drawing and painting, we also had a chance to feed the bears,
explore the village and for example meet a lady who makes special traditional shoes typical for Kuterevo, we also had a little tour through the village and learn a lot of information about nature in that part of Croatia. We also learned stories of bears and some of them are really touching. We tried to spend as much time as we could admiring and observing these magnificent animals and we were having fun guessing which bear is which.

For one day we also went to camping place Kopija where we proudly became
Kuterevo volunteers and had a little party for ourselves, baking potatoes, exchanging funny
stories, making fun of our accents and there were a lot of failed attempts of singing but
even the youngest among our group was enjoying himself.

We also quickly adapted to the simple living conditions and realized that you really
don’t need much to be happy – we probably did break a few records in taking the quickest
showers ever because of the cold water and every day was full of surprises, especially when it came to cooking. Gordon Ramsay probably wouldn’t be impressed, but hey, we are artists, not cooks 😉

And then came that day of goodbye’s, handshakes, hugs and even some tears. We
were all a little sad because it was already over and it seems that time really flies when you are enjoying yourself. So, we were people of different ages coming from different parts of the world, we had different backgrounds, spoke different languages (thank you Google translate), and had different personalities, but nevertheless, we all came with the same purpose to volunteer and at the end we left Kuterevo as friends with beautiful memories.

Bear Art team

Enregistrer

From 24th of July to 8th of August, 13 students from Askham Bryan College and Newton Rigg College, UK, came to volunteer in Kuterevo Bear Refuge thanks to the Moving Feet Opening Minds project.

For these students in animal management, it was a beautiful opportunity to discover the project, learn about bears and other wild animals in Croatia, experience simple way of life and enjoy volunteering with many other international volunteers.

For our organisation, it was a great help since we always need new motivated people to give a hand in our daily tasks!

Together with Maja, one of our EVS volunteers from Serbia, and Dora, from Croatia, students gave a lot of energy working for the needs of the bear refuge. Among many tasks, they helped with renovating the enclosure for the youngest bears, prepared enrichments for them, built a new bench for visitors… Carrying rocks and heavy rotten trunks was not always easy, but altogether and with good mood and good will, everything was done!

But volunteering in Kuterevo Bear Refuge is not only about hard physical work. During their stay, English students discovered Kuterevo traditional lifestyle, visited local families, learnt how to bake bread… They also met with Teta Dragica, our dear grandma maestor in making „Coklje“ (handmade Kuterevo shoes) and always willing to share life lessons with volunteers.

As part of the educational activities of this project, Professor Vedran Slijepcevic, from the University of game-keeping and environmental protection, was invited to give a lecture about signs of animal presence in the wild. Students and other volunteers learnt how to recognize footprints, feces, signs of feeding… of ungulates, small carnivores and large carnivores.

And after the theoritical part, spending time in our forest camp Kopija was perfect to enjoy natural wild animals’ habitat and to reconnect with nature!