On the 22nd of March, the Mozaik Foundation held a gala event at the Hotel Europe, in Sarajevo, at which select individuals and companies were awarded for their contribution to the development of the society, at the same time acknowledging all those who consciously do good or dobro, in Bosnian language. This year’s DOBRO for Philanthropy award ceremony was organized as a part of the Sign up For Impact project and in cooperation with SIGN network, while the European Union and Balkan Trust for Democracy provided financial backing. 

The 2019 DOBRO for Philanthropy was awarded in three main categories: for corporative philanthropy, corporative volunteering and individual philanthropy.

In the 35+ age category for the individual philanthropy award, our teacher Ramo, nominated due to numerous citizens’ votes, ultimately won.

There are many reasons why this award found its way to teacher Ramo, and his many years of active work, mainly through the sphere of education, certainly earned him the recognition of being one of the greatest philanthropists of our society.  

For thirteen years already this man has been our Foundation’s volunteer, making up its very core. He had helped set the first stone of this Foundation and gave it life and purpose, and today, thirteen years later, teacher Ramo is still actively involved in our activities, tirelessly crossing many miles in search of new scholarship holders.

On one occasion, teacher Ramo had told the scholarship holders that “everything one gives away will surely find one once more”. They listened to him then, like they always do, with curiosity and eagerness, letting each word, never carelessly uttered, sink in. Everything that teacher Ramo says reflects his teaching experience of many years, but at the same time the richness of a common man who wishes and does good unto others.

Every lecture or speech he gives fits the auditorium listening to him, and each word is carefully chosen, making it impossible to stay indifferent after either hearing or speaking to him.

It is unnecessary to go into details regarding everything that this man had done for the Foundation, but it bears mentioning that it is through his character and life’s work that many scholarship holders see the Foundation. Maybe it would suffice to say that a large number of our scholarship holders became a part of the Hastor Foundation thanks to the efforts of teacher Ramo, but maybe we should simply look at the world through his eyes, at least for a moment, and find out why he has dedicated his life to doing good:

“As a teacher, I strove to teach children on their path to becoming grown people, and as a volunteer of the Hastor Foundation, I decided to take on the task of showing youths how to become people in the true sense of that word. Some of these lessons are: that they do not hate those who are different from them, and that they, eventually, learn to love them instead; that they, to the best of their abilities, help all those in need of help; that they acquire new knowledge, gain education and become academic citizens. These are the reasons why I have traveled and still travel hundreds of miles a day to be present at the meetings of the Foundation’s scholarship holders – I want to show them the right path and steer them towards becoming people in the truest sense.”

The public sees teacher Ramo as a person who brings light and joy in each household he visits, and there have been many households over the years. He is the sort of person who speaks modestly of his deeds, but his deeds speak for themselves, And even if they didn’t, many of those who have witnessed these good deeds are always ready to talk of the person behind them. He changed the lives of thousands of youths who in turn, prompted by their teacher’s example, better their community and help people. Among the Hastor Foundation’s scholarship holders, he is regarded as a role model and an inspiration, the embodiment of good and philanthropy.

Teacher Ramo sees this award as additional opportunity to promote volunteering and doing good in general, and wishes that as many people as possible know that there are still those who dedicate a majority of their time to make others smile.

Džulisa Otuzbir