Parents of children with disabilities who are educated at the Mjedenica Institution gathered in front of the Sarajevo Canton Government building. They are looking for more sensibility of those responsible for an institution that also worked during the war. Also, the support of all institutions of the system. The Cantonal Government promises that it will look for a long-term and systemic solution, but also that it will look for a solution for providing support for adults and inclusion in the labor market. Inclusion means that people with disabilities should actively participate in all spheres of life.
Parents of persons with psychophysical difficulties in development, for whom the workshop at Zavod Mjedenica, otherwise their second home, was closed earlier, gathered at the protests.
“I am the mother of a boy with Down syndrome who has been attending the workshop for 24 years. From 7 to half past three, our children are in the workshops, drawing, working with wood, color the glasses, their day is filled with the same eight working hours of my or your time at work”, says Sada Hasanović.
These people stay in Mjedenica every working day, participate in workshops, go to school, but what is most important – they socialize. The workshop within the Institute is a safe haven for them. It has been in existence since 1986 and worked even during the four-year siege of Sarajevo. Earlier this year, it was closed, and the Government of Sarajevo Canton, by decree, enabled the Institute to continue holding workshops for adult participants, but until the end of 2025. Parents are not satisfied with this solution, they are looking for a permanent systemic solution because they fear what will happen to their children when the deadline expires.
“I’m just interested in whether anyone thinks whether our children will recover and enroll in nuclear physics by 2025. Why are they harassing and torturing us, does anyone think that we don’t suffer enough like this. Our fight has been going on since March, yesterday we received an injection for pain, nothing has changed”, Alma Turković points out.
“They are such wonderful people, special education teachers are real experts who taught our children everything, including how to play folklore and eat and drink and wash themselves,” adds Elvina Imamović.
And the participants had a very hard time mentally dealing with the closing of the workshop. During the past period, they withdrew into themselves, some did not want to get out of bed, some stopped talking. Their parents, worried because the workshop has not been resolved by law, unanimously say: they are our children, even though some of them are more than 30 years old. We will go all the way for them. We don’t give away our Mjedenica!
“We are not interested in anything, not even who will pass the law, how they will pass it. That’s what they get paid for, that’s why they’re in positions, let them find a solution. We are going for a final and permanent solution, because this story will not end with these children of ours”, says Enisa Sabljica.
In the end, they sent a strong message, that no one knows what awaits them in life, and that it is extremely important to ensure that this story is not repeated for future generations. The Government of the Canton of Sarajevo has promised to work with other levels of government to improve social services for people with disabilities, including occupational therapy, Federalna writes.
