Students of the First Gymnasium in Zenica, Ajna Dizdarevic and Muhamed Dizdarevic, have worked hard in recent months on the “Corona-counter” project to offer, in one place, all information related to coronavirus and statistics on the number of infected in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Balkans and the world.
“Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, almost all aspects of our lives have changed. In mid-March, when COVID- 19 appeared in Zenica in particular, it was a huge shook for all of us. Schools were closed, new strict measures were taken and everything seemed to be moving abruptly,” Ajna and Muhamed said in the beginning of the exclusive interview with Sarajevo Times.
Given those circumstances, they have decided to make something beneficial and useful for everyone.
As per the fact that websites are covering the number of people infected by the Coronavirus, but separated by the entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they have decided to unite the statistics and information by creating a unique website that would cover everything one needs to know when it comes to this pandemic.
“This way, through “Korona Brojac”, we urge you to be responsible, adhere to the measures, protect yourself and others and thereby stay safe!,” these young people highlight.
“Just like with any other project in life, hard work and persistence are crucial. In the beginning, after the idea was born, we had to make the website that was less functional than it is now. It covered only information about our country and had only a few answers in the frequently asked questions section. As time was passing, we worked on our project, even more, updating it all the time until it looked the way we wanted it to be. It crashed a few times, but we made it work in no time,“ they stated adding that at the end of the day, when they see the numbers of people visiting “koronabrojac.com” they realize that their mission is complete and can be considered a big success for the little project they started.
Speaking about their plans in the future, Ajna and Muhamed say that their goal is to take as much possible from the 4-year experience at high school, but not just within the school itself.
“Both of us are very active in the NGO sector and try to attend as many seminars, summer schools, activities, etc. as we can, hoping that those would expand our views and knowledge as well. With this in mind, we currently are organizing a few events, creating community help websites with the hope that it will help to people surrounding us. What will and might happen
then, we don’t know for certain, but we can promise you that we will keep working on new projects,” these young people told Sarajevo Times.
“A certain project we would really like to highlight is probably our biggest one yet. It is the TEDxMasarikvoa conference in Zenica, currently schedules for October this year. The all-encompassing theme of the event is “A New Age”,” Ajna and Muhamed said.
It’s one the first bigger TED events in the country and it will feature prominent speakers from all over the Balkans. Having the event endorsed by the United Nations through the International Organization for Migrations only makes it that more significant.
“We really hope that the talks featured in it will inspire not just the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but young people from all over the Balkans and further,” Ajna and Muhamed concluded.
