When Mirsada Hodžić gave birth to her mentally disabled daughter 31 years ago, she was lucky. She lived in good circumstances and describes herself as “relatively privileged”. But she soon realised: she and her daughter are on their own – they will not receive any help from the state. The mother wondered how poorer people would have to fare if they did not have the possibility to seek external support or help.
Together with other mothers of disabled children, she therefore founded the association „Radosti Druzenja„, which translates as “The Joy of Being Together”. Together with other volunteers, they built a meeting place for mentally disabled children and adults. A place where people are cared for, looked after and where children receive schooling. A small oasis for people who are otherwise often forgotten. Even today, she does not receive any support from the state. From time to time, she says, public funds have arrived for her association, but for some time now the place has been living entirely on donations.
STELP takes over fixed costs
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, people with disabilities are disadvantaged in almost all political and social structures. They hardly receive any support from the state, even though Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010. Not much has changed since then. STELP supports the facility financially and takes over the fixed costs of the house so that the project can continue to exist.
During their aid mission on the ground in Bosnia, STELP founder Serkan and his team also visited other projects that receive one-off support from us.
STELP also supports these projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina:
So schaute unser Team bei der Hilfsorganisation MERHAMET, die sozial benachteiligte Menschen mit Essen versorgt, vor Ort in Bihac vorbei. “Whether they are Christians, Muslims, Bosniaks or Serbs doesn’t matter at all,” explains Fikret Draganovic, the head of the association. He and his volunteers cook more than 250 meals a day for the poorest people in Bihac. They grow a lot of the food themselves. STELP contributed a range of food items that will keep people supplied for the next month.
We also support Blind Spots with a one-off payment In view of the massive armament of the European border guards, many refugees are involuntarily forced to stay in the Bosnian border region for an indefinite period of time. They find makeshift refuge there in tents or barracks. Among other things, Blind Sposts helps refugees with structural measures such as insulating their premises. The activists were recently attacked by fascists during their work and their tools were stolen. STELP replaces these and supports with a monetary donation.
A project close to the heart of our founder Serkan Eren is a small supermarket in Bihac, which we also support financially on a one-off basis. The owner of the shop, Asim, was himself a refugee during the Yugoslav war and had to leave his home country. Now he takes care of refugees in his small supermarket. He leaves them behind his counter to charge their mobile phones or provides them with much-needed food.
