The best indicators of success in the work of the Hastor Foundation are the successes of its scholarship holders. One of our scholarship holders, Emrah Tepić, exemplifies the virtues that all of our scholarship holders possess – entrepreneurship, commitment, willingness to work, and commitment to volunteer activities. In accordance with his dedication, he holds the title of the scholarship holder of the month of the Hastor Foundation.
Emrah’s story begins in Bihać, where he was born. Since he’s been blind from his birth, he constantly faced various forms of discrimination and prejudice. Despite that, he never lost his spirit and, as he says, he always tried to find happiness.
For the sake of schooling, in 2005 he came to Sarajevo with his family. He received his primary and secondary education at the Centre for the Blind and Visually Impaired Children and Youth. Despite certain health problems, he was an excellent student during his education at the Centre and always fulfilled his obligations regularly. He is currently a student at the Faculty of Political Science, Department of Political Studies, majoring in Government Management. Emrah says that, although it is the final year of the first cycle of studies, that will not stop him from pursuing further education in this field. He plans to continue his master’s studies at the same faculty. The Foundation provides a lot of support for him:
I see the Hastor Foundation as one big family and my second home. It played a big role in my life. Thanks to the Foundation, my self-confidence improved, and I got an optimistic outlook on life. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Hastor Foundation for making us winners, great and successful people. It is always there for us and accompanies us throughout our lives.
He has been a scholarship holder of the Foundation for five years. It was the basis for his volunteer engagement because it was through the Foundation that he became acquainted with volunteering. Thanks to the Foundation, Emrah became a member of other associations such as the Association of Blind of Canton Sarajevo, the initiative “Give us a Chance”, the association “Independent Step” and the Office of Student Support. But the story of him does not end here. He also became a member of a project called My Job, led by a Czech humanitarian and development organization called the People in Need.
The goal of this project, as Emrah states, is economic empowerment and employment of people with disabilities. Also, as part of this project, the campaign “I want to be part of society” was recently launched. This campaign aims to raise awareness among the general public of Bosnia and Herzegovina about the rights and equality of persons with disabilities.
On the motivation to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic, Emrah reveals:
Volunteering during the pandemic is quite a difficult challenge for me, considering that everything takes place online, and for me as a blind person, working in person means a lot. In my online work, a big problem for me is that don’t have any physical contact with people. To me as a blind person, the physical presence of a person means a lot. Before the pandemic, my mentor Irena Karamehmedović came to me and we were able to do volunteer tasks within the Foundation. Irena also helped me with my college assignments and the results were outstanding.
The Hastor Foundation is proud that its team is made up of young people like Emrah, who with optimism and great self-confidence are heading straight into the future, making big steps along the way.
Fatima Gazić
