“Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.” – Helen Keller
This quote of the famous American writer and activist Helen Keller announced the beginning of the presentation that marked this month’s meeting of the scholarship holders of the Hastor Foundation, held on Saturday, 12th of August 2017. The presentation titled “Noise from the Perspective of the Hearing Impaired People – My Fight for Inclusion” was prepared and delivered by our scholarship holder, Alma Mujanovic.
After the opening words and remarks of teacher Ramo and CEO Seid Fijuljanin, Alma excitedly started her lecture about the aforementioned topic. She was born in Montenegro, but moved to Sarajevo when she was ten years old so that she could attend a school for the children with hearing impairment. Today she is in her third year of studies at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Sarajevo, Department of Radiologic Technology.
From the very start, Alma’s cheerful demeanor made it clear that her hearing problems never separated her from people, nor dampened her good spirits. Throughout her presentation, she did not merely resort to scientific facts, she included her personal anecdotes, as well as her humorous and witty comments in order to discuss the problems of the hearing impaired people and relay her personal fight. In addition, she clarified on the issue largely unknown to us and gave some advice on how to communicate and approach the people whose hearing is impaired.
Her hearing impairment did not prevent Alma from being an active member of the society, nor from communicating and spending time with her friends, as well as being an excellent student and a scholarship holder that all of us can be proud of. All of this is a result of constant practice and enormous effort she needs to put in so as to be included as much as possible. Thanks to numerous seminars and conferences she attended all around the world, she possesses excellent presentation and communication skills, but also vast knowledge that she successfully shared with those who were present.
Alma’s fight, spirit and accomplishments in life can remind us of this famous quote by Beethoven, who had uttered it to one prince:
“What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven.”
Messages Alma conveyed to the scholarship holders of the Hastor Foundation are motivational and full of optimism and faith in the young people whom she sees as the ones who will bring a better future and be the saviors of our country. Without any exaggeration, her presentation put the wind in the sails of all our scholarship holders and inspired them to reach for the stars that shine only for them.
Mirza Okic
