In Jablanica, parents turned a need into a place to belong

For children with developmental difficulties, the opening of the Centre means having a place to play, socialize, learn and develop alongside others, in an environment where they can feel accepted and supported. For their parents, it means knowing that their children have a safe and welcoming space where they can spend time, build relationships and grow at their own pace.

Edina Husrep, president of the “Budi mi prijatelj” Association and a mother of a child with developmental difficulties, drew the idea directly from her own experience. When she was asked, through the PRAGG – Proactive Citizens project, funded by the Government of Switzerland, what was missing in her local community, she did not have to think for long.

“The first thing that came to my mind was an Inclusive Centre. As a mother of a child with developmental difficulties, I know how much it means to have support and a place where your child can be accepted and develop,” Edina says.

The idea would later become the focus of the “Budi mi prijatelj” campaign, through which Association “Budi mi prijatelj” worked to turn that initial vision into a concrete initiative. The campaign brought the issue into the wider community and helped mobilize parents, citizens, institutions, organizations and businesses around the goal of creating a space for children and families.

Support that families often lack

The Inclusive Centre is not an educational institution, nor is it intended to replace existing healthcare, education or other professional services. Children will continue to use those services according to their individual needs. Instead, the Centre is designed to complement the existing system by giving children and families an additional place for development, socialization, inclusion and professional support. The Centre is planned to operate four hours a day, five days a week. A psychologist and an occupational therapist have already been engaged, while the Association is working to secure an educator-rehabilitator as well.

“The Centre will provide children with developmental difficulties with warmth, companionship, play and socialization. Here, we want children to develop in accordance with their capacities. We do not want to put any kind of pressure on them,” Edina emphasizes. For parents, however, meaningful support involves much more than professional work with children. 

“I was alone with my child all the time. I was not allowed to be sick. Unfortunately, when a child with developmental difficulties comes into a family, there are neither friends nor family around, everyone distances themselves. This centre will greatly help parents, but also the entire family,” Edina says.

Across Bosnia and Herzegovina, families can access different forms of support, including early growth and development services, day centres and services provided by healthcare and educational institutions, as well as civil society organizations. But access to these services varies between communities. Families can face shortages of specialized professionals, limited institutional capacity, financial pressures, as well as prejudice and discrimination. For parents, the challenge is therefore often not only finding a service, but finding one that is accessible, continuous and close enough to become part of everyday family life.

UNICEF estimates that around 6.5 percent of children in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the ages of 2 and 9 have some form of developmental difficulty. Behind that figure are thousands of children and families who, at different stages of childhood, may need professional support, understanding and opportunities to participate fully in community life.

That is why what is happening in Jablanica matters beyond the town itself.

“Children are rejected, and that hurts us too”

Sadina, the mother of sixteen-year-old Nedim, knows how long and uncertain that journey can be. Nedim experienced clinical death at birth and spent 16 days in a coma. His parents were then told that his future was extremely uncertain.

“We were told that he would never walk, that only his eyes would blink and his heart would work. Nedim did not have a home during the first year of his life; he spent his first year mostly in a car and in hospitals. He did not experience what it was like to be a baby, nor could I be a mother who would enjoy that baby smell of his,” his mother recalls.

Nedim, however, began walking at the age of one year and three months. With the help of speech therapists and through EDUS - EDUCATION FOR ALL, he also developed his speech, while his hearing improved. Today, he is independent, is completing secondary culinary school and is undertaking practical training.

But his mother's experience also shows that medical and developmental challenges are only part of the struggle families can face.

“Living with children with developmental difficulties is a difficult struggle. You are not accepted, children are rejected, and their rejection hurts them deeply, and it hurts us too,” Sadina says.

For her, inclusion therefore means much more than access to professional services. It means having friends. Being accepted. Being able to play in a park without being treated as different. And having a place where a child can simply belong.

“This centre is their second home. Here, every mother will accept any child. I succeeded in my own struggle, and now I want to help other mothers who may not know where to begin,” Sadina says.

When a community comes together

The idea of the Centre did not remain solely with the parents or the Association. Gradually, different parts of Jablanica became involved. Local authorities, non-governmental organizations and businesses contributed, while citizens found their own ways to help.

“All the non-governmental organizations, local authorities, the post office, firefighters, everyone came together. This really was something that had to be experienced,” says Dijana Kukolj, ambassador of the “Budi mi prijatelj” Association.

One of the initiatives was a bazaar that brought together children and adults of different ages. It also took place during Eid, when some children donated their Eid money to support the initiative: “Since it was Eid at the time, the children brought their Eid money. That was proof that humanity is still alive in Jablanica,” Dijana says.

Keeping the doors open

Opening the Centre is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of another challenge, making sure that the doors remain open. The Association now has to secure long-term financial sustainability, maintain professional staffing and gradually expand the Centre's capacity. Among the plans are a sensory and relaxation room for younger children, fencing around the space and the development of an outdoor playground, which would provide children with a safer place to play.

“In the coming period, we have a great deal of work ahead of us. We will visit both the private and public sectors. We can all contribute. Someone can help financially, someone through activities for children. It is not all about money,” Dijana says.

For Edina, however, the most important issue is continuity: “We need a final solution that will contribute to continuous operation. We do not want all of this to function for six months and then tell parents to take their children elsewhere. We want the Centre to continue operating and to develop.”

More than a local project

The Inclusive Centre in Jablanica is a concrete response to a local need. But its story also raises a broader question: what does meaningful inclusion look like when families return home after leaving a doctor's office, school or therapy session? For the parents behind the Centre, inclusion is not only about professional services. It is also about friendship, belonging, dignity and the possibility of participating in ordinary community life.

The “Budi mi prijatelj” campaign, supported within the PRAGG project, helped give the initiative greater visibility and connect it with potential supporters. But the Centre ultimately became possible because people in Jablanica chose to contribute in different ways, through professional work, institutional support, donations, volunteering or simply by showing up.

The Centre's opening on September 26 was therefore more than the opening of a new space. It was a reminder that inclusion can begin with something very local, a group of parents saying what their community is missing, and a community deciding to listen.