SARAJEVO – “Every child with difficulties has the right to inclusion without difficulties”, is a frequent sentence that we can hear at conferences and round tables organized with the aim of pointing out the problems faced by people with special needs and difficulties, but also to find ways to fix this situation.
And it’s improving, but still slowly. Even today, they encounter difficulties in everyday life. However, fortunately, today there are also associations, non-governmental organizations that are a refuge for these people.
One of them is the Association of Children and Persons with Special Needs and Civil Disabilities “Spektar” in Srebrenik, a town in the north-east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, formed 18 years ago. It works to improve the integration, inclusion and social position of children and people with difficulties and disabilities.
The Association was formed on the idea of Enes Džanić, the long-time president of the Association who passed away a few years ago.
His function was taken over by speech-language pathologist Sanela Sarajlić Hadžić, who also worked at the Association.
The association was founded because at that time there was no association in the territory of the municipality, and today the City of Srebrenik, that would represent disabled people in exercising their rights.
Most of the children are of school age. They come in small groups every day, from seven to eight children a day. Children come once or twice during the working week.
“Also, another reason for establishing the Association is to inform all institutions that deal with the issue of disabled people and people with difficulties about their existence, the problems they face and their needs. The association works to improve the integration, inclusion and social position of children and people with difficulties and disabilities,” said Sarajlić Hadžić.
There are four people working in the Association, namely a defectologist-speech therapist, an administrator, a driver and a housekeeper. They have 36 users.
“Most of the children are of school age. They come in small groups every day, from seven to eight children a day. During the working week, children come once or twice. The Association has its own van that we use to transport children from home to the Association and back. Also, we visit children who are in a more difficult condition and cannot come to our premises in the form of home visits”, explained Sarajlić Hadžić.
They work with children and people with Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, people with hearing impairment, visually impaired and blind, people with neuromuscular diseases and autism.
“The children and people who come to our Association are socialized, communicative, adapted to work in a group and are not aggressive,” said Sarajlić Hadžić.
She also pointed out the importance of this Association for a local community such as Srebrenik.
“The Spektar Association is the only Association of this type (day care center) in our municipality. It is a very important item in the lives of our users and their families”, said Sarajlić Hadžić, stating that in this way, children attend workshops as well as various therapies – educational, IT, creative, relaxing and work-occupational.
Their activities are varied and interesting.
“Some of them are games to encourage imagination, social learning, development of hygienic, cultural and work habits, exercises for coordination of movements, activities of practical work in everyday life and at home, activities from the culture of living and behavior, speech and language exercises, help in learning and performing work tasks with school-aged children, musical and physical culture. For older children and people with disabilities, we have organized work therapy in the form of decoupage workshops, which aims to develop a sense of work and acquire work habits and feelings of being socially useful. We exhibit and sell the end product of those workshops at various fairs and bazaars, both in our city and in the area of the entire canton,” said Sarajlić Hadžić.
In the last few years, the local community has recognized their work and they are often visited by citizens who are interested in their work, want to socialize and help them.
They do not have accurate data on the number of people with disabilities and special needs in the area of the City of Srebrenik.
“We know that there are a lot of children and people with disabilities, as well as users who are in a state of social need.
We are financed mostly from the foreign organization Von Hez zu Herz and partly from the budget of the City of Srebrenik. As with any non-governmental organization, including us, any financial assistance is welcome,” said Sarajlić Hadžić.
In the Association, there is a professional – a speech and language pathologist, who provides professional assistance through daily work with children.
“Professionals from our Health Center are always at our service – a psychologist, a speech therapist, a neuropsychiatrist and a family doctor, with whom we have signed a memorandum of cooperation,” added Sarajlić Hadžić.
Some estimates indicate that 6.5 percent of children between the ages of two and nine in Bosnia and Herzegovina have some kind of disability.
They are one of the most marginalized and excluded groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The quality of services in Bosnia and Herzegovina is generally not adequate for the needs of children with disabilities, especially in the areas of health and education.
Written by: Vesna Bešić
This story was written thanks to the generous support of the American people through the “Local Works” program of the United States Agency for International Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina (USAID). The content of the story is solely the responsibility of the author and the “Network for Building Peace”. The views expressed in the story do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
