Small steps can make a big change, and we will try to be a part of positive changes throughout volunteering.
Altruism constitutes a source of inspiration that reminds us of the individual ability to implement positive changes in the world. With a monthly volunteer engagement, scholarship holders of the Hastor Foundation demonstrate their commitment to creating positive narratives in our country. Mentoring is a key aspect in the educational process and individual development of scholarship holders. Within the framework of the Hastor Foundation, a unique opportunity is offered to young people to demonstrate their inherent talents and qualities, whereby continuous work is singled out as an essential component in achieving the mission of the Hastor Foundation. This element is illustrated through an inspiring story about volunteer work in Živinice, told by Emina Nukić, a mentor whose selfless commitment to volunteering brings an invaluable contribution to the Hastor Foundation.
Emina has been a scholarship recipient of the Hastor Foundation for four years, she is a student of the second cycle of studies at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Department of Health Studies – nursing studies. Her volunteer group of high school students includes twelve students, and the school the students attend is the Živinice Mixed High School. According to Emina, it is not difficult to work with Hastor Foundation scholarship holders because they are young people who have a desire for progress and learning. In the context of volunteering, the integration of creative aspects, imaginative approaches and contribution to the community is always sought, which is a key segment of volunteer engagement. The volunteer group in Živinice consists of young individuals who spread their passion and work commitment within the local community, which results in general benefits for society as a whole.
The month of October is marked as Book Month. This period is dedicated to the culture of the written word and serves as an opportunity to promote reading culture and its positive impact on the intellectual and emotional development of society. The aim of the engagement is to encourage the development of awareness among individuals, emphasizing the importance of books as a source of knowledge and inspiration. Considering the above, Emina, with the help of the students with whom she volunteers, decided to take advantage of this months meetings, and contribute to the celebration of this important month.
When little hands come together, anything is possible… – mentor Emina is also guided by this, so like every previous month, she joined forces with her students, successfully attracting our attention. What Emina points out is that during the preparation of each meeting, she tries to listen to the fellows if they have any interesting proposals and, if possible, fulfil them. Celebrating Book Month was one of the proposals, as well as celebrating Pink October. Their volunteer meeting included activities such as making small pieces of paper with beautiful and useful quotes, then making pink ribbons from satin ribbon, and at the very end a distribution made by random passers-by. During the handing out of ribbons and quotes, they briefly talked with citizens about the importance of selfexamination, early diagnosis, but also about the beauty of reading. As the mentor says, she hopes that they managed to bring smiles with the various quotes, just as we hope that this inspiring story will achieve the same with our readers.
We asked Emina what role the Hastor Foundation plays in her life and how her experience as a mentor has been going so far, and the feedback we received was nothing but words of praise, both for the students and for the Foundation itself.
Small steps can make a big change, and we will try to be a part of positive changes throughout volunteering, said our Emina. In addition to the above, she points out that through each activity they try to deepen mutual acquaintance, because this is the only way to build an unbreakable network of camaraderie.
The very act of joining this family, as she says, was a major turning point in her life. She could not hide her excitement and impatience because she herself did not know what was waiting for her on this road. She did not know that from a calm and withdrawn girl, with the appropriate wind at her back called the Hastor Foundation, she would grow into a person full of desire to help others. She did not know that it was so easy to make friends, and today, thanks to active volunteering and commitment to the Foundation, she has friends all over our homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina. When answering the question, she also touched on financial assistance, which she says is an indispensable part whenever she mentions the role of the Hastor Foundation in her life. However, what is of the greatest importance to Emina is that she got a unique opportunity to build herself and her personality in a special way, to pass on knowledge to younger members, as well as to gain numerous experiences that will certainly be useful to her.
Finally, Emina says that she is proud of each of her students and each volunteer group with whom she worked, and we certainly have no doubts about that, and we firmly believe that this mentor will continue to walk the path of success.
Prepared by: Semina Sadiković i Aida Suljić
