You only get what you give!

Amina Selimovic is a student of the Faculty of Dental Medicine in Sarajevo and a volunteer in the Association for addiction prevention NARKO-NE located in Sarajevo. She has been part of the program for almost a year now, and in the continuation of this text, you can read about the association between her and her younger brother.

What did your first encounter with your younger brother look like?

We went for a walk to get to know each other a little better and to see where we could go that day. We were talking the whole time, there was no end to it (laughing). The boy astonished me with his words, his eloquence, behavior, and simply with his presence. He talked about and noticed things even I couldn’t, he actually noticed things about me I wasn’t aware of up until that point. We instantly agreed upon our next destination.

What do your meet-ups look like?

We always have suggestions and agreements about our meet-ups, we decide together where we are going to go and what are we going to do. We have visited the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, walked through the Sports and Recreation Center Safet Zajko, went to Bascarsija, and learned how to handle the ticket as we have ridden a tramway. We have ridden bicycles at Vrelo Bosne – to be more accurate the boy didn’t know how to ride one and expressed eagerness to learn so we have dedicated one day just to do so. Generally, my boy shows interest in culture, he loves buildings and is interested where they are situated in the city, therefore we have spent one day exploring the locations of the religious institutions, museums, theaters, and such. At one of our meetups, we went to eat, and the boy was struggling with a fork and knife that he stood up at one point to cut off a piece. That is when I have noticed that he wasn’t really good with cutlery so I had showed him how to use it and after a couple of tries he was eating proudly all by himself. We always learn something new at our meetups!

Have you noticed some changes in your younger brother?

At the very beginning, I noticed that the boy talks a lot, which is commendable of course, but he had a ‘problem’ listening to someone, i. e. his was lacking focus. There were also occurrences e. g. where he would just stop halfway when he was drawing. He just simply didn’t know how to listen and acquire that when you start something you have to go all the way through. However I have tried to explain that to him best way possible and we have worked on it, and the changes are quite visible now.

Can you single out one of your associations?

After the associations, I always ask the boy did he like it, to which he always replies:” It wasn’t good, it was great!”. As that sentence passes through my head it purely invokes even greater motivation in me to be even better, to try harder for us and in life generally. But the instance I could single out, and the one which shows just how wonderful my younger brother is, is when we visited National Museum. He was extremely excited and curiously asked about everything he saw, seeking information from the employees who gave it to him eagerly. At one moment he, all excited, turned around to one employee and said:” If I were your boss, I would have rewarded you because everything is just so beautiful and you are so kind!”. After that, we went for a walk in Vilsonovo. The salient excitement on his face was priceless, and I felt his gratitude which he tried to convey with words. The sentence which touched me greatly was when he said that he can’t even describe how happy he is, and how that was the happiest day in his life.

Why would you recommend the Older brother, older sister program to youth?

When we first met I was really amazed as I realized how much I actually needed this. I have learned more from him than he has from me, which is a realization that has stuck in my head to this day. Besides working on myself, socializing with the boy has made me appreciate more what I have. We find ourselves often in parks where there are other children, and they all bring stuff like balls, bicycles, toys, scooters which their parents buy for them. However, just the fact that I had brought him there and that we are socializing that day made him happy. He doesn’t notice that he lacks the ball, bicycle, or something else, but some other things make him different. He isn’t different because he lacks those stuff but because he has developed communicational skills and kindness which never stops to amaze me. Maybe that’s the thing which brought him there and by which he adopts with everyone. By taking part in this kind of program you simply start to appreciate everything and to be thankful, you see things that you can’t see through everyday eyes, and which I would notice myself if it weren’t for my younger brother. I can’t wait for the new cycle because I will by the maxim “You only get what you give!”

Elmira Ramadani, volunteer of the OBOS Foundation