Every month older scholarship recipients of the Hastor Foundation have a very responsible and special task, perhaps the most special one, and that is volunteering with their younger counterparts. This task is not easy because our volunteers prepare meetings every month that are interesting and useful for the students, helping them prepare for what the future holds. In this month’s column, “Little Stories of Great Volunteers,” we bring you the inspiring story of the volunteer group from Bugojno.
Amila Gvozden, Enida Ugarak, and Esmir Karašin volunteer with high school and elementary school students from Bugojno. This month, our three dedicated mentors will introduce us to their world of volunteering and show us how they motivate and encourage younger scholarship recipients to do good deeds. Amila points out that it’s not easy to make volunteering interesting for all younger scholarship recipients; however, since its inception, the Hastor Foundation has promoted volunteer engagement and helping others and strives to teach every scholarship recipient these values.
To present the activities of this group in the best light, we’ll start the story with a few words from Nihad Mekić, our scholarship recipient and a member of the volunteer group from Bugojno:
Volunteering has been a great experience for me; I connect with other people while having fun at the same time. During one of our volunteering sessions, we discussed the topic of physical activity and how it affects our self-confidence.
Nihad also mentions that, at the end of the meeting, they did exercises and held a brief discussion about the importance of physical activity for both mental and physical health, which further showed him that even seemingly ordinary topics can be turned into something fun. Field volunteering in mentor groups is a special and challenging activity where students have the opportunity to gain new experiences, help their community, and perhaps even start something similar themselves tomorrow.
This month, our mentor group from Bugojno decided to clean schoolyards and parks in the local community before the start of the new school year. As the mentors point out, this raises awareness among younger scholarship recipients and teaches them to become people who will protect their environment tomorrow because, as Leo Tolstoy said: “One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.”
We cleaned the yard around the school, and the mentors briefly told us about recycling and its importance. I found it interesting because I learned some new things that are very important for us as young people. I look forward to every future meeting with our mentors, said Adela Kero, a scholarship recipient from the volunteer group in Bugojno.
The volunteering session was coming to an end, and thanks to the hardworking students, the waste was quickly disappearing. Soon, the schoolyard regained its original appearance, and the smiles on the students’ faces were bigger than ever. In addition to these activities, this team also mentioned that they use the end of each meeting to watch the Hastor Foundation podcast and then discuss the topic with the students. Amila, one of the dedicated mentors, shared a few words:
Our efforts and commitment, both in education and in life, will not go unnoticed. One of the ways we can be rewarded for our efforts is through the financial support we receive from the Hastor Foundation. Put in the effort and join the large group of young volunteers that the Hastor Foundation brings together year after year!
The importance of volunteering has been highlighted from the beginning of this article, as our great volunteers have shown how volunteering hours can be maximized with laughter, fun, and learning. The message from our volunteer group in Bugojno is to take every opportunity to volunteer because each opportunity brings new experiences and makes the world a better place to live.
