After 10 long months, on January 15, Hastor Foundation scholarship students gathered for a monthly meeting, which was held via the online platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The director of the Foundation, Seid Fijuljanin, as always, welcomed the students with a smile, some of whom were attending this meeting for the first time, and talked to them about the history, ideology and goals of the Hastor Foundation. We remembered 2006, when the first volunteers of the Foundation set out on a journey of searching for students who, due to their poor socio-economic status, were marginalized in society and thus deprived of the possibility of quality schooling and education.
In an effort to take small but effective steps to lay a solid foundation for the progress of young generations, and thus consequently BiH society as a whole, 2207 scholarship holders from all parts of BiH have the support of the Hastor Foundation today. The fact that we have reached this impressive number from the initial 304 scholarship holders and the first year of signing the contracts, today really makes us proud. There was no drop in those numbers or stagnation; in each school year the number of scholarship holders at the Hastor Foundation grew progressively. However, what makes the Foundation specific is that all of them, by signing the contract, commit to benefit their community with pleasure, volunteering in it, so the director paid special attention to volunteerism and its importance. The director’s words encouraged the scholarship holders to think about how important monthly meetings with younger members of the Foundation are in forming their personalities. Mentors are their role models, but they (mentors) also benefit from it, because in addition to trying to change someone’s life for the better, volunteering also changes theirs.
We are aware that the situation that has befallen us has not eased the obligations of mentors and junior fellows. Moreover, they are faced with new challenges, but we believe and hope that we will all come out of this stronger, more experienced and one day when we go back to the “way it was”, we will be more aware and appreciate the true values in life, but also every moment in which we are given the opportunity to influence someone, whether through education, advice and some form of help, or even just a nice, friendly word.
Nejla Komar
