Meaningful Visit to Bosnia by Our Association
05-06-2024
Deniz Feneri Association Reaches Out to Bosnia: A Journey of Compassion and Aid From Istanbul Headquarters to Bosnian Communities: Delivering Aid and Hope
Our association officials first visited Doboj to meet with Hamzalija Okanovic, President of the International Solidarity Forum, and the Board of Directors, followed by an iftar together. Our team, upon arriving in Bosnia, had the opportunity to visit various places. These included visiting a reception center in Duje, Doboj, which houses and treats 475 elderly and needy people, visiting Deniz Feneri orphans in their homes in the Srebrenik region, distributing Ramadan food packages and holiday gifts, distributing stationery and tablets to Deniz Feneri orphans in the Brčko District, organizing an iftar program at the mosque with 100 orphans and their families in Srebrenik Cehaje, and distributing Ramadan food packages and holiday allowances to families. They also visited the Hadice Mehmedovic nursing home in Srebrenica to meet with the “Mothers of Srebrenica,” presented them with Ramadan gifts, visited the Srebrenica Martyrs’ Cemetery, and visited the student dormitory of the International Solidarity Forum in Srebrenica, where they had a conversation with the students and organized iftar events with the people of Srebrenica at the dormitory.
Our association's aid relationship with Bosnia dates back many years. Since its establishment, the Deniz Feneri Association has strived to spread the light of goodness wherever needed, reaching thousands of people in Bosnia and finding a place in their prayers.
Among the representatives who traveled to Bosnia were Deniz Feneri Association General Secretary Ali Karayılan, Board Member Mehmet Fındıkkaya, Donor Relations Manager Hayrettin Akbaba, Donor Relations Officer Hale Koç, Orphan Unit Officer Kübra Aygın Erkoyuncu, donors, and volunteers.
Deniz Feneri Association General Secretary Ali Karayılan shared the process and his feelings about the visit to Bosnia as follows:
"As the Deniz Feneri Goodness Team, we carried out very fruitful activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina this Ramadan. Emmaus, the Bosnia International Solidarity Forum we have worked with for years, is very well-organized and meticulous in its work. This significant organization, which we had the opportunity to get to know in detail during our trip, has further strengthened our hopes for goodness. We would like to thank the president, management, and employees of the organization for this opportunity.
We joined our Bosnia team in organizing a truckload of aid materials and the Ramadan 2024 donations sent by Deniz Feneri from Turkey before Ramadan.
From the moment our partner organization welcomed us at the airport to the moment they saw us off, each of us felt the sincerity of the brotherhood between the two peoples remarkably. We first visited the Duje Reception Center, which houses 475 elderly, sick, and needy individuals. It is an exemplary place. The administrators and employees take special care of each person. It is praiseworthy. They have very nice workshops and activities.
As a team, we visited our Bosnian orphans and their families in their village homes, whom we have supported for about ten years. We brought gifts. These one-on-one visits pleased both them and us very much. We saw that the organization we work with takes a close interest in the orphans. In the Brčko region, near the Croatian border, we met with other orphans in front of a mosque. We gave them the tablets and stationery materials we had sent from Turkey before Ramadan. The scene was magnificent. Our children were very happy. Their mothers prayed constantly. That evening, we had an orphan iftar at another mosque in the Srebrenic region. The attendance was quite high. After iftar, we distributed holiday allowances and food packages to all of them. We received the smiling greetings and prayers of our orphans and their families for Turkey and Deniz Feneri on your behalf.
Srebrenica... Ah... Srebrenica... The city of genocide and pain.
Another working area of the Bosnia International Solidarity Forum is in Srebrenica. After a challenging three-hour road journey, we arrived there. Despite nearly thirty years having passed, the terrible traces of the war still remain along the road as a reminder. Burned and destroyed houses. Bullet-riddled walls. Extinguished lives. Dispersed homes.
The organization’s administrators welcomed us warmly there. They have opened a very nice student dormitory. Every detail has been thought of. They gave our team a professional orientation tour. They provide free services to 68 students brought from the mountain villages of Srebrenica.
That evening, they hosted all of us there. The mosque is also very beautiful. Our visit to the nursing home where the Mothers of Srebrenica stay deeply moved us. We met with our mothers who lost their husbands and children in the 1995 genocide. We presented their gifts. We read the Quran. We had conversations. We prayed. We received their prayers. Our volunteer family therapist in our team applied reflex therapy to an elderly mother's hand problem. You should have heard the prayers of our elderly mother whose pain and swelling were relieved. We bid farewell to them with great sadness. That evening, we had iftar with the people of Srebrenica at the student dormitory. We conveyed greetings and prayers from Turkey. We received their prayers.
The Srebrenica cemetery... This visit affected all of us greatly. Eight thousand Muslims in five days...
We performed our afternoon prayers in congregation at the martyrdom prayer ground in the clean soil of Bosnia, as an act of prostration. We prayed. We recited Fatiha. During this comprehensive visit, we all once again witnessed how diligently and regularly our partner organization works and how carefully the aid we send to Bosnia is delivered to its intended places.
We thank everyone who sent aid, delivered it, and the Deniz Feneri Goodness Team who willingly participated in these long visits despite fasting for days.
May goodness continue as long as the world turns..."
