A little less than three years ago, Chicago hosted the conference “Belgrade & Chicago – Sister Cities”, which focused on cooperation between the two cities, though the central theme of the event—held at the global headquarters of Rotary International in Evanston—were humanitarian and philanthropic initiatives for which the organization is well known.
A large number of people from the Serbian community gathered at the event to support the Rotarians’ initiative, and the special guests of the conference were the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, and the Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, Vera Nikolić Dimić.
At the end of the conference, organizers from Rotary International announced that they had collected donations to implement a humanitarian project in Serbia, and only the final selection among several proposed ideas remained.
This was in many ways a historic event, as Rotary became the first American organization to send organized assistance to Serbia.
In recent days, after careful preparation, the humanitarian project has finally been carried out. Thanks to the coordinated work of Milenijalci za Srbiju, the Rotaract Club Stara Pazova, and Rotary One from Chicago, significant aid was delivered to the Community of Deaf Persons in Serbia.
Nearly $50,000 was raised and directed toward improving the quality of life and strengthening communication between sign-language interpreters and deaf-mute individuals.
Sign-language interpreters from across Serbia—of whom there are fewer than 30 in total, an extremely insufficient number—will have the opportunity to attend specialized training sessions alongside an interpreter from Albania. Over the course of five workshops, each lasting three days, they will engage in intensive work to enhance their ability to communicate with people who have hearing and speech impairments.
Sign-language interpreters represent the most important bridge between deaf individuals and the outside world, making it crucial that they are highly trained and possess a rich vocabulary to meet the needs of deaf-mute persons. Every new term they learn—whether related to legal, medical, or other technical fields—significantly improves communication and enriches the content they can convey.
Additionally, as part of this project, the company Wersirius hired a woman with a hearing impairment, and further assistance for the deaf community is planned, including the establishment of close and long-term cooperation.
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Source: Antonije Kovačević Foto: Privatna arhiva