The coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges in the recent period, yet health professionals all across Bosnia and Herzegovina have worked around the clock all this time in order to answer to those challenges. This is something that all the people living in the country should appreciate. In a situation like the coronavirus pandemic, any sort of help is welcome. Having this in mind, one of the Foundation`s scholarship holders decided to do just that – to provide assistance in this challenging period, in accordance with the values championed and taught by the Foundation itself. As a soon-to-be doctor, she decided to volunteer at healthcare centers and hospitals in Sarajevo, and, by doing so, provided assistance to both patients and medical staff.
Hajrija Pleh is a student at the Faculty of Medicine, which is a part of the University of Sarajevo. It is worth mentioning that she has an 8.90 GPA, as well as the fact that she has been a recipient of numerous awards and certificates. Among all the good things that the medical student has experienced during her college studies, she suggests that her favorite was the experience she gained while being engaged in an exchange program. To be more precise, Hajrija went to Greece via the exchange program with the aim of studying at the Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, which is a part of a Greek university hospital. There, the medical student acquired the fundamental skills in relation to the ophthalmological examination and diagnostics, as well as the skills necessary for the management of various kinds of ocular emergencies.
As for her medical volunteering activities in Sarajevo, Hajrija spent two months working as a medical volunteer at various healthcare centers in the city. Her volunteering at the said facilities encompassed activities such as: working at triage procedure checkpoints located in front of healthcare institutions – the task of which is to assess the patients` health condition before they enter the healthcare institution; working as a COVID dispatcher; as well as advising coronavirus-infected patients regarding their treatment. She was also helping doctors examine the patients.
Hajrija says that she sees the Hastor Foundation as a great friend who helps her on her way to success. This is what she said about the Foundation:
The Foundation has engraved a permanent mark in my life. I have been a member of the Foundation’s family ever since I started my high school education. In the times when I needed help the most, the Foundation was there to support me. I hope that I will be able to do the same thing for others in the future. I also hope that I will have an honor to be a part of the circle of people who will make this world a better place – the world where a benevolent smile, rather than a piece of paper, is seen as a true wealth. Being a member of the Foundation has given me a chance to learn a lot. The most useful things that I have learned are related to the ways in which one can become a better person; empathize with others; give one`s hand so that others can get up; as well as the way in which one can successfully get through tough times. I dream and I work. What do I work on, then? I work on my becoming a happy woman, an excellent ophthalmologist, a respected person, a good mother, wife, sister, and daughter. I work onenjoying all the life`s pleasures, as well as preparing myself to remain courageous and motivated when the bad times in life occur. I am walking towards the future which awaits feeling a plenty of hope and enthusiasm, while, at the same time, relying myself on and believing in God.
Furthermore, Hajrija points out the fact that one of her greatest successes was the realization of a project in collaboration with doctors from Greece.
The International Medical Students’ Congress (also known as SAMED) takes place in Sarajevo every year. Students across the world have a chance to apply to the Congress in order to present and talk about their projects. Given the fact that ophthalmology has always been part of Hajrija’s dreams, she had a wish to find a doctor from Bosnia and Herzegovina with whom she could work on a project. After the failed attempts to find a Bosnian doctor for collaboration, she decided to talk to the Greek doctors whom she had met while participating in the abovementioned exchange program. The doctors accepted the collaboration invitation, and then, helped her choose the topic. The topic chosen was both interesting and challenging – the topic in question was intended to shed light on an eye disease known as sarcoidosis. The doctors from Greece then sent Hajrija the necessary material for her to do research. After the research was completed, Hajrija presented her findings before professors at the Congress, after which she was proclaimed the best candidate in her group. Atop of that, the scholarship holder’s paper was also presented as the best one in an issue of the medical journal “Flumiensis”, published by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rijeka, Croatia.
I want to tell all the young people to dream big, to believe in their dreams, and to work more than anyone else in their surroundings so that they can make those dreams a reality. Besides that, they should never pay attention to the naysayers; young people should rather be completely devoted to their journey to success and never think of quitting – NEVER – even when the obstacles seem insurmountable. Why? It is because the winners never raise a white flag and never quit. What I need to say to young women is that they should build something for themselves, by themselves. All the young women’s focus should be directed towards their becoming an independent, capable, and determined woman who knows what her goals and objectives are. The woman they should strive to become should be a happy and satisfied member of the society. Besides that, instead of looking for happiness in the people they let enter their lives, young women should see those people as an addition to their overall happiness, rather than the source of it. I am saying this since the only thing necessary for success is what comes from within a person, which is the reason why a person needs to protect, respect, appreciate and love themselves and who they truly are – this is something which should be kept in mind at any moment in a person`s life.
Enlisting all Hajrija`s achievements would be a difficult and long task. She is yet another reason why one can say that the Foundation gathers successful people only. What Hajrija has shown us is that a change really starts from an individual. If people like Hajrija keep proving that the world is in good hands, then we won’t need to worry about its future.
Nedžma Latić
