Hana:
Adi Tursić is a secondary school student from Gradačac. He has been active in different NGOs for years. He is a student of the grammar school Mustafa Novalić and he is planning to study medicine.
Adi Tursić:
I am an active member of the community, that is something I can say about myself – 6 years at the Red Cross, 4 years at ASU BiH, 4 years at KULT. I participated in many projects with the school. These are mostly projects relating to the protection of human rights, Human Rights Watchers and things like that.
Do you think that one way in which young persons can improve their lives is to become active?
Absolutely. Because one will learn much more at the Association than at school, for example. And being a member of the Association is a different form of education. One gets new experiences and new skills. Meets similar persons from the whole country. I, for example, wherever I go, I will have a friend that I met during a camp and that I can call to have coffee and socialise with.
You have spent the longest period of your activism at the Red Cross. What are you doing there?
I am now part of the presidency in Tuzla Canton, and in our community, I am a deputy president. I am now dealing a lot with the organisation of activities and similar things, administrative issues. Most of what we do is actually related to the ”solidarity basket”; we gather food for socially disadvantaged persons, sell coupons, do trainings on first aid and fighting tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.
You participated in the recent NATO exercise with the Red Cross?
Yes, we administered first aid as part of a multi-purpose field unit together with other governmental organisations. It was a very interesting experience and I hope that it might be repeated again.
Is it generally a problem to find active young persons in Gradačac?
Well, I can tell you that it is not, because most persons here are interested in these things. The only issue is whether a certain secondary school student will get the permission of the parents, because they might be living quite far. An issue is the transport from certain local communities to the place of meeting in case of some secondary school students, because the parents are maybe not able to drive them there, so this is the most demotivating factor.
Everyone is currently talking about young people leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina. Do you see yourself here in the future or are you planning to leave?
That is my eternal dilemma. If I go as well, who will stay here? I prefer to stay in the country and try to change something.
