The Hastor Foundation can boast of diligent, ambitious, and successful scholarship holders who achieve notable results in the field of education, science, sports, etc. The foundation consists of young people who contribute to its work, improving it with their knowledge and skills. It is precisely these values and commitment to volunteer engagement within the Hastor Foundation that give scholarship holders the title of Scholar of the Month from month to month. Read below about the scholarship holder who took the title this month!
Mersiha Dudić, currently a third-year student at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the Department of Geography, Tourism, and Environmental Protection, has been a scholarship holder of the Hastor Foundation for 9 years. She comes from the small settlement of Osmače. She finished primary school there and graduated from medical high school in Srebrenica. She states that throughout her schooling she always tried to be an excellent student in order to make her parents proud. After graduating from high school, she passed the state exam for a graduate nurse in parallel with attending classes at the university. When choosing the faculty, Mersiha decided to turn to her other passion, geography, due to her great love for health tourism and balneology, ie the science of spas.
My love for balneology was born when I first heard stories about the healing spa “Guber” and its miraculous powers. I had no idea that a few years after that, I would become one of the people who was cured by the “Guber” spa.
During her high school education, she participated in numerous humanitarian actions (such as the distribution of meals from the National Kitchen to elderly and exhausted citizens) which she carried out during her stay at the International Solidarity Forum “Emmaus”, ie the boarding accommodation complex in Potočari. She provided support to environmental sections, which were conducted in cooperation with the Hastor Foundation and other organizations from Srebrenica and around the world. She also participated in peace camps conducted as part of US government projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina with which she traveled to Croatia and met young people from the Balkans.
She enjoys running and yoga recreationally, and in her free time, she also draws, photographs natural landscapes, and writes stories. For the previous three years, she was a mentor to a volunteer group of elementary and high school students in Srebrenica with two other Hastor Foundation scholarship holders.
Through the workshops that I hold in my volunteer group, I try to transfer as much knowledge as possible to the students in the shortest possible time. Given that I know what it’s like to be in their place and how scared they are in trying to express their opinion, there’s nothing in my meetings that is labeled as the wrong answer. I try to involve students in the conversation as much as possible, turning every serious topic into interesting content, so I try to use as many different sources as possible when preparing literature for meetings and, according to the level of my knowledge, I try to explain them to students.
Mersiha seeks to substantiate each of the meetings with graphic attachments, videos, and photographs in association with the topic. She also notes that she does not force difficult terminology during the meeting, and if she does use it, she explains everything in the simplest words so that even the youngest scholarship holders can fully understand it.
The biggest success for me is when my students become mentors themselves and pass on everything we learn in meetings (about etiquette, water saving, first aid, etc.) to parents, friends, and everyone they know. One piece of information that particularly touched me, and which was passed on to me by the younger scholarship holders, is that, in addition to themselves, most of their parents listen to our online meetings. Therefore, I understand how important my role as a mentor is not only at our meeting but also beyond. That’s why I try not to disappoint all those who believe in me. I realize how far the voice of that former girl who was afraid to introduce herself reaches today.
Mersiha described her feelings and gratitude to the Foundation:
For me, the Hastor Foundation represents my voice and my courage as a student, but also as a mentor to a group of high school and elementary school students from Srebrenica. When I say my voice, I refer to that girl who was not allowed to express her opinion, fearing condemnation, and who today, thanks to the Foundation, social engagement, and volunteering, speaks freely, and teaches with her modest level of knowledge. When I say courage, I mean all the bold endeavors I have done thanks to the support of the Foundation. The foundation has done a lot, not only for me but also for my family. They made my education easier and achieved my primary goal – to make my parents proud. What I value most when it comes to the Hastor Foundation is not the material one, but the spiritual aspect of belonging to one big family that provides us with the greatest support.
Mersiha plans to enroll in a master’s degree in health tourism. We thank her from the bottom of our hearts for her dedicated work and want to express our pride for her being a part of our family. We congratulate her on her successes so far and wish her good luck in the future!
Prepared by: Nejla Komar
Translated by: Vedin Klovo and Semra Islamović
