Zumreta Galijašević from Tešanj will soon defend her master's thesis at the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo. Her success is all the greater because she is the only student who came to exams and lectures with a "white cane", fighting not only against the material, but also against life's adversities and prejudices.

In an interview with "Avaz", Zumreta says that she has been suffering from diabetes since the age of three, which caused her vision problems. She went completely blind two and a half years ago. Before that, she graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo and was employed in banks in Sarajevo and Tešnje. 

World of darkness 
But when she became completely blind, she was fired with the explanation that they did not have a position where a person with such a handicap would work. But that didn't sway her. 
- I didn't ask myself why it happened to me. I asked how I would organize my life to make it as high quality as possible. I took the fact that I was blind as a new challenge that I had to answer to the best of my ability. I decided not to start from the beginning, but to move forward - says Zumreta, whose smile does not leave her face as we talk. 
Through will power and with the help of her parents and friends, she quickly overcame the difficulties in moving, navigating in space, as well as other barriers that both nature and people put in front of people with special needs. The first is a blind person who walked in Tešnje with a "white stick" and, he says, at first everyone looked at him with amazement. 

Learned by listening 
- Some told me to throw away the cane, because it shows that I am blind and that I am marked with it in some way. In the beginning, people were surprised, but today they no longer see that stick, they see me - Zumreta proudly points out. 
Every day she walks five kilometers by herself, and greets her friends with coffee that she makes herself. However, she is most proud of the fact that she passed all the exams for her master's degree by studying from books that only the sighted can read. 
- My mom and my friend Almina would read the material to me, and I would record it on a dictaphone and later listen to it and learn that way - explains Zumreta. 
She has a great desire for people with disabilities to receive better treatment in society and for them to be taken into account more. 
– We all have special needs, it's just that some people see them and some don't. The point is that everyone deserves an equal chance at life and happiness – concludes Zumreta. 

Invitation to Radončić and Bašić to come to the promotion
Zumreta intends to get her doctorate at the Faculty of Economics, and before that she would like to have one more wish come true.
- I know that Adnan Bašić, a member of the BiH Parliament, is blind like me. I am proud that a blind person has shown the nation what he can offer. There are few people who appreciate blind people as quality and capable people, and that is why I would like Fahrudin Radončić, the president of the Alliance for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who recognized this, as well as Bašić, to be my guests when I defend my master's thesis - says Zumreta.

Taken from: www.avaz.ba