„The Hastor Foundation plans to open the Center of education, rehabilitation, and social inclusion for youth with disabilities. The goal is to provide persons aged 14 or more with professional assistance, so as to contribute to the entire system which looks after the people with difficulties who live in the Canton of Sarajevo and elsewhere.“
Seid Fijuljanin, the head of The Hastor Foundation, explained that the organization which he leads has been primarily orientated towards making positive changes in regards to living its mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 14 years now.
„Even though the main focus of action for the Foundation untill now has been aimed at helping children and the youth in their schooling, through financial and mentoring support, for years now we have been identifying and getting involved in all spheres that bring the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina equal or better chances for their education and quality of life. Given that we are aware of the need for a systematic action regarding the question of the social inclusion of people with difficulties, we have decided to join our material and human resources with the professions related to the field, and also to collaborate with the institutions, organizations, and ministries with which we have an established partnership, with the aim of creating a unique model of services that will enable those people, during or after their formal education, to be engaged in different social inclusion programs.“
Selmir Hadžić, a defectologist with a long-term experience in his field of inquiry and the project coordinator, suggested that this would be a way to move forward when it comes to systemic support for young people in the domain of social inclusion.
„The primary goals of the Center are to strengthen the functional capability of its users who have a variety of difficulties, to prepare them to live independently in the community, as well as to train them so that they are able to find jobs in the future. The concept on which the Center is based focuses on daily plans and activities, which have, as an essential goal, not just rehabilitation services, but also preparing the users for living independently and working within the community“, Hadžić said.
The realization of the project will be divided into two stages
The project is supposed to be realized in two stages. The first stage includes the pilot project, and it will be realized at the beginning of November this year in a rented venue stationed in the area of the Municipality of Ilidža which meets the necessary condition requirements.
„Unfortunately, due to restrictive measures introduced because of the epidemic, there will be no more than 50 users in the venue at a time. Our goal is to set a firm foundation for the realization of a grand project, that is, to establish a center which contains all the necessary capacities to support this plan which would provide assistance for more than 300 users living in the Canton of Sarajevo, but, also, elsewhere“, Hadžić explained.
As he pointed out, this project is especially important because it encompasses programs of life independency in the local community, preparation for employment, additional rehabilitation services and it is intended to raise awareness of the society in regards to the needs and capabilities of people with difficulties.
A goal is, Hadžić added, to elevate the quality of life for people with difficulties and their families, as well as to help them overcome daily challenges.
„The greatest challenges in the life of a person with a difficulty emerge when they finish their formal education. Once that happens, that person is usually limited to the capacities that their family possess, while, more times than not, the resources that the Canton of Sarajevo has at its disposal are not enough for all the families, thus we are lacking a systemic type of care for this part of our population. Unfortunately, a huge mistake is made, and it refers to the fact that the comprehensive treatment of people with difficulties finishes once they bring their formal education to an end, when in reality, this part of our population is in need of such a treatment for more than, say, nine years. This is precisely the concept the Center was founded on“, Hadžić suggested.
It was pointed out that the focus would be on training, pre-qualification and other sorts of social skills on behalf of the users, but, atop of that, preventing institutionalization would be paid most attention to.
„This means that there has to be a way for every child, no matter what the scale of their difficulty is, to be engaged, so that the product of their work can be interesting, thus be applied to the market, regardless of what they do. On the other hand, if we speak about more capable users, then, in that case, we will work on their pre-qualification and direct employment. The Hastor Foundation is a well-organized community that possesses very good conditions for connecting with various industrial subjects, as well as different public and educational institutions. This is a remarkable and unique plan that aims for a grand project and goal. In this way do persons get stronger, while, at the same time, we stop them from being limited to social institutions only, where they would otherwise spend time without any apparent purpose. This project covers a vast domain in a sense that it would be desirable for all the interested institutions, organizations and ministries to join this process and contribute in their own way, given all the serious plans which are related to the project per se. Speaking of that, it is important to mention that the Ministry of education, science and youth in Sarajevo Canton has already recognized the importance of this project“, Hadžić added.
klix.ba/Fondacija Hastor
