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‘It is not easy to explain. When I was unemployed, I found it very hard and depressing to depend on other people’s help and rely exclusively on that. Now I work in the Institute on this new platesetter and in print preparation with my colleagues who have the same health problems as I do. Things have changed for me completely. I am still wheelchair- bound, but now I earn a living through my own work, I don’t have to drop my eyes in shame or ask people to do things for me. When I need something, I can pay for it myself as I have regular monthly salary.' (Tarik Ćeman, an employee with muscular dystrophy in a wheelchair)
‘I really can’t understand this kind of logic and those people. I don’t think that way at all. Even though I am one hundred per cent person with disability I never surrender nor I expect welfare assistance of any kind. I am determined to work as long as I can. I recently got married and got a baby girl three months ago.' (Mrs. Tatjana Kosak, a person with serious deformities is the leader of a family company)
‘I could hardly wait for this new machine to arrive, to learn how to operate it and to get permanent employment. It has changed my life completely, I’ve learned something new, and now I have my everyday duties like other people who are not wheelchair-bound. This is very valuable for me and for all of us,’ ( Zeljko Vidovic, a paraplegic who is confined to a wheelchair following an accident at work)
With the goal of establishing sustainable employment for disabled persons in the Balkan states, the JOINT (The American Jewish Joint distribution Committee otherwise known as JDC) together with La Benevolencija in Sarajevo, Bosnia and NOA in Osijek, Croatia , started “The Jfund”.
The Jfund has two special activities;
1. A non-interest-bearing, revolving loan fund created in particular for those NGO’s (non-governmental, non-profit organizations) and also regular businesses capable of borrowing this money and using it to develop sustainable jobs for the disabled and/or the disadvantaged.
2. A program of social entrepreneurship to loan goods or equipment to enable marginalized or disadvantaged individuals to become financially self sufficient in the Western Balkans.
The JFund currently operates today in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. The possibility of expanding to other countries is currently being explored.. Since May 2005 it has awarded loans to 32 projects with a capital investment of over 600,000 USD.
In launching this program of “loans for jobs” we have had the strong and constant support and encouragement of an unusual philanthropist whose name is becoming well-known in the Western Balkans, Dr. Alfred Bader of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. |
“The highest form of charity is to help sustain a person before he becomes impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by extending a suitable loan, or by helping him find employment or establish himself in business so as to make it unnecessary for him to become dependent on others.” (Maimonides or the Rambam - Ladder of Tzedaka)
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