Every month, Hastor Foundation college student scholarship holders set aside time to participate in activities within the local community, provide assistance to the elderly and those in need, organize environmental and humanitarian actions, etc. Last month, our scholarship holders Ajla Tabak, student of the Faculty of Economics, and Berina Golub, student of the Faculty of Philosophy, came up with and successfully implemented a project called “Book for All”.
The project was organized with the purpose of ensuring access to better quality literature for all citizens of Zenica, and the literature is available at the Youth Center in Zenica. The project was realized with the support of Mozaik Foundation, and our scholarship holder Nedžma Salkić also took part in its implementation, assisting in numerous activities.
The library is non-profit, but the contribution to the community of these scholarship holders is ever lasting. Two events were organized within the project: a lecture by prof. Naida Mujkić Osmanbegović on the topic of literature and the Poetry Night, which brought together young artists from Zenica and Sarajevo, who presented their works.
The idea for such a project arose due to the situation in which our scholarship holders found themselves. Namely, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were not able to go to the library to borrow books, so they exchanged with each other what they owned:
“In that way, we realized that some books are not available to readers in the City Library in Zenica, which is really trying to ensure quality books. That’s why we decided to make a library that will be accessible to everyone and will contain books that can’t be found in the City Library. Our library is free.”
There was nothing that could give away that this is the first project of this kind organized by Ajla and Berina, considering the success of the project itself. When it comes to plans for the future, they point out that they already have a new project in mind, in an expanded composition. Volunteering at Merhamet, a Muslim charity, they came up with the idea that the next project would be aimed at improving the quality of meals for people in need.
The Hastor Foundation has a great merit in them designing and implementing projects like this: “For us, the Foundation is a big family in which we met wonderful people with whom we hang out. Volunteering gave us the opportunity to learn many things, gave us the motivation to be a better version of ourselves. Also, volunteering complements us, makes us feel as useful members of the society. We are grateful to the Hastor Foundation for its support over the years.”
Maida Husnić
