Students fight for a better quality of life for blind and visually impaired people - Braille all over Serbia!
"Since the blind and visually impaired in Serbia are often misunderstood and neglected, I thought about what we could do to help them and make their lives better, as they should be." - recalls Sava Ocokoljić, an alumnus of the Future Leaders Exchange program (hereinafter FLEX). FLEX is a student exchange program funded by the United States Department of State and implemented by the American Council on International Education in Serbia.
Sava is originally from Kragujevac and is currently studying at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade. This was not his first encounter with a U.S. government exchange program - he was part of the ACCESS micro scholarship program in 2017. During his participation in that program, two alumni gave a presentation on FLEX. "Eight months later, I was on my way to Farmington, Michigan to meet my host family." - says Sava.
One of the most important things for him in the U.S. was the opportunity to get better acquainted with the concept of volunteering. He was extremely interested in auditorium technology and became the head volunteer for lighting and sound during all school performances, musicals, and concerts. "My favorite experience while volunteering in the school auditorium is when a local elementary school for children with special needs held a concert there." - Sava recalls.
The idea for the project "Braille all over Serbia" was born in 2018, shortly after Sava's return to Serbia when he became City Representative for Kragujevac. At a seminar for City Representatives, organized by the American Council, the then Alumni Coordinator presented various projects from the numerous FLEX alumni communities, including one related to Braille. The vital and frequent need of a person is to be social, which is very problematic for blind and partially sighted people in Serbia. In the absence of funds, help, and aids in the facilities and situations of everyday life of blind and partially sighted people, Sava decided to launch an initiative to print menus in Braille for local restaurants. "I thought that we could improve the daily life of visually impaired people by enabling them to be independent in performing a seemingly simple activity - ordering food and drinks in restaurants," states Sava.
Together with 18 FLEX alumni, Sava secured funding for this project through a Global Youth Service Day grant that encourages young people to improve and help their local communities. The project was carried out in 2019 in eight different cities and 18 different restaurants in Serbia in partnership with local offices of the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Serbia. In addition to the translation and printing of menus, experts from the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Serbia and alumni held educational workshops on Braille in high schools. The menus were printed at the main office of the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Belgrade and later distributed to Bečej, Kragujevac, Mladenovac, Niš, Novi Sad, Užice, and Velika Plana. The project had an immediate impact on the community and was covered on local television and radio stations, and internet portals.
After the project, many other cafe owners contacted the alumni and wanted to make this type of menu themselves. One exceptionally touching story happened in Belgrade, wherein one of the cafes, a visually impaired woman cried tears of joy because she could not believe that this had been done in her community!