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A Smile of Inspiration

Written by Andrea Jarak

YES Alumna 2011/2012 from Bosnia and Herzegovina</p>

On Sunday, February 3rd 2013, four volunteers from the Red Cross in Sarajevo and I made a long-planned visit to a small town in northern Bosnia-Herzegovina called Maglaj. A few weeks ago, people at the Red Cross headquarters in Sarajevo organized a number of humanitarian fundraisers where money was collected for a 28-year old young man named Mirza who needed surgery.

According to the doctors, Mirza is suffering renal failure and problems with his pancreas and needs to undergo a kidney and pancreas transplant. For this expensive surgery Mirza’s family needed to make a downpayment to the hospital prior to the translplant, and they needed help raising the funds.  

After hearing about Mirza’s story, people all over Bosnia-Herzegovina began helping out by donating money and goods in order to raise funds for his surgery. My fellow volunteers at the Red Cross decided to assist as well. We collected some money, and decided to personally deliver it to Mirza, as we had a great desire to meet this wonderful man whose story truly inspired us all.

On February 5th, Mirza kindly welcomed all five of us into his home. When I first saw him, I was awestruck by his huge smile and his joyful demeanor. It was hard to believe that a person, as ill as he is, still found reasons to smile. Meeting Mirza gave me strength and motivated me to take every opportunity that life has to offer, because you never know what might happen tomorrow. One of the things that Mizra said which truly inspired me was: “C’mon guys, I don’t like when people feel bad for me. I feel great and I look great, he winked. I am happy and thankful that I’m still alive and being alive is my strength to carry on. Why spend another day without giving a smile and a nice word to someone? Sometimes people don’t understand the fortune they have just by being healthy. So, I guess, I would like to live as if it was my last day on this planet.”

This was our first time visiting Mirza, but will certainly not be the last. I and the other volunteers plan to continue to collect money for Mirza, and hope for his quick recovery.


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