Selma Alicic, the only engineer in the organization of the Special Olympics "Paralel" / Selma Aličić, jedini inženjer u organizaciji Specijalne olimpijade "Paralel"
Hi guys! My name is Selma Aličić and I am a student of Electrical Engineering, major in Telecommunications. Now, you probably expect that I will talk about a project that is related to my profession but let me tell you that you are wrong. You will read an article about a project named “Friendly competition of Special Olympic - PARALLEL ” which was held from 23th to 26th April in Tuzla in which I was a part of the organization board. The overall objective of this project was to enable the children and youth with intellectual disabilities to develop through sport activities; to make it possible for them to have active participation in training and competitions; to do an equalization of opportunities. This will directly influence the improvement of the quality of life and development of children and young people with intellectual disabilities.
Now, when you know what this project is about, you probably realize how big a challenge it was for me. I was the first and only student from my Faculty that took part in it and this was my first time to get a chance to spend time with children with intellectual disabilities.
Everything started last year in September, when my friend, who is one of the coordinators of this project, invited me to join. The activities have started a lot before the Olympics, which is why I think that this is a really big project that requires dedication, will and hard work. Activities included workshops, training, visits with children, marking some of the important dates, birthdays, etc. During those activities, I had a chance to meet and spend time with children with disabilities. After the first event when I came home I felt very emotional. I felt guilty for even considering not taking part in this project because of the gratitude we got from children for just spending a few hours with them. This is when I decided to give my best for this project.
The organization of the Olympics went without any problems. As I already said, I was the only person from my faculty and the only engineering student. I tried to transfer some of the knowledge I had and believed that would be useful to this project to other coordinators. It was surprisingly easy to cooperate with others. I believe the reason for that was that all of us had the same intention: to create a more inclusive world. This project gave me so much experience in working outside of my comfort zone.
Now, let's get back to the competition that was the crown of the project. The competition took part in 4 different sports: basketball, table tennis, football and athletics. The first day of the Olympics we had a competition in basketball. After everything was done, the competitors had a festive walk through the city center and a party in the city square. People in the city were amazed and went outside of the coffee shops to look at our competitors. This was a really special moment for everyone. Next day we had a competition in table tennis at the Faculty of Physical Education and football at city stadium “Tušanj”. Now, I have to commend all of the volunteers of Friendly Competition of Special Olympics “PARALLEL” for doing extraordinary work during this project. Students are the ones that organized, planned, set and implemented everything. The third day we had a competition in athletics and “healthy program” for our competitors. “Healthy program” was very important because a lot of competitors have never been a part of it. The last day we had a closing ceremony and parent forum where we talked about the Olympics.
The moments I spent with children are priceless. I cannot explain the feeling you get when a child gives you a hug, which is the strongest one I got in 23 years of my life. The sincere smile and a nice word cannot be bought. This is a project that keeps going on, we are not finished with the Olympics, it is just a crown of each year's work. I sincerely recommend to every person to join this project and to feel the happiness of children with disabilities by including them in our regular activities!
Selma Aličić, jedini inženjer u organizaciji Specijalne olimpijade "Paralel"
Zdravo! Zovem se Selma Aličić i student sam elektrotehnike na smjeru za telekomunikacije. Verovatno očekujete da ću sada govoriti o projektu koji se odnosi na moju struku, ali dozvolite mi da vam kažem da griješite. Imat ćete priliku pročitati članak o projektu pod nazivom „Prijateljsko takmičenje Specijalne olimpijade -PARALLEL” koji je održan od 23. do 26. aprila u Tuzli, a u kojem sam bila član Organizacijskog odbora. Opšti cilj ovog projekta bio je da se djeci i mladima s intelektualnim teškoćama omogući razvoj kroz sportske aktivnosti; omogućiti im da aktivno učestvuju na treninzima i takmičenjima; izjednačavanje mogućnosti. Ovo će direktno uticati na poboljšanje kvaliteta života i razvoja djece i mladih sa intelektualnim invaliditetom.
Sada kada znate o čemu se radi u ovom projektu, verovatno shvatate koliko velik izazov je to bio za mene. Bila sam prvi i jedini student sa mog fakulteta koji je u njemu učestvovao i ovo je bio ujedno moj prvi put da provodim vrijeme s djecom s intelektualnim poteškoćama.
Sve je počelo prošle godine u septembru, kada me moj prijatelj, koji je jedan od koordinatora ovog projekta, pozvao da se pridružim. Aktivnosti su počele mnogo prije Olimpijskih igara, zbog čega mislim da je ovo zaista veliki projekt koji zahtijeva predanost, volju i naporan rad. Aktivnosti su uključivale radionice, treninge, posjete sa djecom, obilježavanje nekih od važnih datuma, rođendane, itd. Tokom tih aktivnosti, imao sam priliku upoznati se i provesti vrijeme s djecom sa smetnjama u razvoju. Nakon što sam došla kući sa prvog događaja, osjećala sam se vrlo emotivno. Osjećala sam se krivom što sam čak i razmišljala o tome da ne sudjelujem u ovom projektu zbog zahvalnosti koju smo dobili od ove djece što smo proveli nekoliko sati s njima. Tada sam odlučila dati sve od sebe za ovaj projekat
Organizacija Olimpijade je prošla bez ikakvih problema. Kao što sam već rekla, bila sam jedina osoba sa svog fakulteta i jedina studentica inženjerstva. Pokušala sam da prenesem nešto od znanja koje sam imala i za koje sam vjerovala da bi moglo biti korisno za ovaj projekat drugim koordinatorima. Bilo je iznenađujuće lako sarađivati s drugima. Vjerujem da je razlog tome to što smo svi mi imali istu namjeru: stvoriti inkluzivniji svijet. Ovaj projekat mi je donio mnogo značajnog iskustva u radu izvan moje oblasti.
Sada, vratimo se natječaju koji je bio kruna projekta. Takmičenje se odvijalo u 4 različita sporta: košarka, stolni tenis, fudbal i atletika. Prvi dan Olimpijade imali smo takmičenje u košarci. Nakon svega, takmičari su učestvovali u svečanoj šetnji kroz centar grada i žurci na gradskom trgu. Ljudi u gradu su bili zadivljeni i rado ih posmatrali. Ovo je bio zaista poseban trenutak za sve. Sutradan smo imali natjecanje u stonom tenisu na Fakultetu za tjelesni i zdravstveni odgoj, a na gradskom stadionu “Tušanj” održano je takmičenje u fudbalu. Najzad, moram da pohvalim sve volontere koji su dali doprinos organzaciji ovog takmičenja za izvanredan rad tokom ovog projekta. Studenti su oni koji su sve organizovali, planirali, postavili i implementirali. Također, treći dan smo imali takmičenje u atletici I tzv. “zdravi program” za naše konkurente. „Zdravi program“ je bio veoma važan jer mnogi takmičari nikada nisu bili dio toga. Poslednji dan smo imali i roditeljski forum na kojem smo razgovarali o Olimpijadi.
Trenuci koje sam provela sa djecom su neprocjenjivi. Ne mogu da objasnim osjećaj koji dobijete kada vam dijete trči u zagrljaj, to je najjači zagrljaj koji sam dobila u svoje 23 godine života. Iskren osmijeh i lijepa riječ ne mogu se kupiti. Ovo je projekat koji se nastavlja, nismo završili sa Olimpijskim igrama, to je samo kruna našeg rada na godišnjem niovu. Iskreno preporučujem svakoj osobi da se uključi u ovaj projekat i da osjeti sreću djece sa poteškoćama u razvoju nakon što bivaju uključieni u naše redovne aktivnosti!
