About 20 kilometers from Olovo, the village of Petrovići, tucked away in nature and surrounded by forest, is home to hospitable people. Until recently, there was only one other village in Bosnia and Herzegovina that only the locals and citizens of Olovo knew about. However, he is now being talked about a lot thanks to seven-year-old boy Mahir Behlulović.
This smiling, cheerful and very communicative boy is the only student of the district school in that village. As he says with a smile, it’s his school.
The village and the school can be reached by the road leading to Han Pijesk. The narrow but not so bad road stretches through beautiful landscapes, through forests and canyons. On the way to the village, the Anadolu Agency team did not meet any cars, and maybe it’s a good thing, because we don’t know how we would pass each other for most of the way. It is quiet and without noise. When entering the village, we did not meet anyone.
The local mosque rises above the village. After some time we reached the school. A small but nicely decorated building, and at the door a smiling and cheerful boy running around his mother Azema, teacher Samir Kopić and his wife Amira, who also works at the school.
Those are his best friends. He spends the most wonderful time with them, as well as with religious teacher Eldin. Mahir takes us through his school, shows where he has physical education, where he learns writing, reading and numbers with his Samir. The photos in the school hallway mostly show Mahir. Only his works are exhibited there. This smart little boy shows us his classroom. There he also made urchins, improvised from potatoes. He happily shows us two toys that he received from his relatives from abroad. The story of the Christmas tree and the decorations he made himself. He says that there are no real ones because they are expensive. This humble boy tells all this with great pride, because he did it all by himself with his friends at school.
The story of teacher Samir and student Mahir is not just a story about school, it is a story about love, support and life challenges that they overcome together.
“I have been working as a teacher for 30 years. Now the situation is that after I taught in classes with many children, I have only one student. I came to this district school last year. Mahir was in the first grade. The school was closed for a year. Mahir opened the school and unfortunately, he will close it because there are no students who would enroll in this school. It’s a shame because the school is in good condition,” explained Kopić.
The district school in Petrovići was renovated in 2009, and classes were attended by a maximum of 12 students.
“The first year there were 12 students, the second ten. So the number decreased as people left the village. That’s why the school was closed for a year,” says Kopić.
Mahir will attend classes at this school until the fifth grade, and after that he will go to school in Olovo.
“I don’t worry about him. Many say on social media that Mahir is not socialized, that it will be difficult for him to be accepted by other children. However, I, as his teacher, claim that he is now ready to go to Olovo. He is not afraid of anyone, he has he’s nervous,” points out Kopić.
The teacher admits that he was a little nervous when he decided to work only with Mahira.
“Mahir surprised me. He is a very communicative child. We carry out the curriculum that is set before us, maybe on a larger scale because he is alone. Mahir would never say he is going home from school. He is never bored, we can stay here and all day long. He is a golden child who absorbs like a sponge. This is a boy whom everyone loves,” said Kopić.
Everything is interesting to Mahi, he likes many different things.
“When he came to school, he showed great interest in physical education. However, over time, he changed physical education to mathematics, as well as all other subjects. He is very curious. He often asks me about some foreign countries, snakes, butterflies…”, Kopic said.
After the earthquake that hit Turkiye last February, Mahir came to school with the desire to do something for the people who experienced the tragedy.
“He came to school in the morning and with tears in his eyes he told me that there was an earthquake in some far away country. I said it was Turkey. After that he asked me if we could do something for the children and people in Turkey. We decided to let’s make a drawing of support”, recalls Kopić.
That’s what they did, he drew a drawing that they sent to several addresses, and the original copy is in the hallway of the school. The flags of Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Syria are drawn on it. He drew a heart and wrote in it: “My little heart is with you. First grader Mahir from Petrovići school loves you.”
This boy is sitting in a pew and reciting his story. In a comical and interesting way, he participated in the event in Olovo, where he delighted everyone present with the way he told his story.
“I’m Mahir from Petrovića village, the school I go to is my whole school. I’m the only student in that school and I’m the champion in everything I study. If you think I don’t have any friends, then I need to explain some things to you. Teacher Samir spends time with me , who is also my best friend. My friend Amira makes sure that there is warmth and peace at school. We start the day with tea and a story, we discuss topics that concern us”, is one part of what delighted those present at the event.
With a smile on his face, Mahir says that he is having a good time at school.
“I study a lot with my teacher – mathematics and Bosnian. We sometimes learn from my surroundings where we can live. I’m not bored being alone, I like going to school. My best friend in this school is my teacher Samir. My favorite subject is mathematics because I can count to a hundred,” said the boy.
Mahir’s mother Azema talks with great love about their village, even though there are fewer and fewer young people in it.
“It’s nice to live here. There are more elderly people in the village now, the young people have left. There are no children either, only Mahir remains in this school. There are three or four children in the village who go to school in Olovo and that’s it,” said Azema.
She is grateful to everyone who made it possible for this school to work and for Mahir to attend it.
“I am grateful to everyone for making it possible for my child to be successful, to be happy and to love coming to school,” said Azema.
This modest boy does not have many wishes, Mahir just lives a real childhood with his dog and cat, who welcome him in the yard when he returns from school. Sometimes, her friend Šejla from the city comes for the weekend, with whom she plays. The rest of the time he mostly looks to fill in his own way, without being bored.
