Birmingham: Bosnia UK Network organised a retirement party for a teacher who dedicated 30 years of her life to supplementary education for Bosnian children. Retirement is always a special event in a person’s life. This is where a chapter filled with years of work, gaining both work and life experience ends, and a new one begins. And when we retire someone who dedicated 30 years of her life working in Bosnian supplementary school, then it’s a really big event.
We gathered in the Eveson Hall at the new Bosnian House in Birmingham to send Azra Basic to her well-deserved retirement, for several decades she has been passing on her knowledge to children whose families originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina found their refuge in Great Britain due to the war in their homeland. For years, she educated generations and generations in their mother tongue, kept our language from being forgotten, and taught them Bosnian traditions and culture.
She watched how children grow into people and valuable members of our community, successfully integrating into English society, but never forgetting their roots. Azra was accompanied by her husband Bahria who is teacher himself and who also dedicated many years of his life to the children and their education. BiH UK Network and BiH supplementary school in Birmingham made this farewell to retirement magnificent.
The impressions are beautiful and every detail was taken care of. There were many beautiful moments and it’s hard to single out what was the most beautiful. One of the most impressive moments was the entry of the Basic couple into a crowded hall decorated with the colours of the Bosnian flag. A long round of applause followed, and after that letters from the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina were read, wishing Azra a happy retirement.
This was followed by speeches of gratitude for Azra’s years of work in education. A presentation on Azra’s life and work was also made for this occasion. It was a kind of time machine, made up of both old and new photographs. The students and teachers of the BiH supplementary school in Birmingham prepared a lot of songs for this special day. This was followed by a joint performance of the sevdalinka “On the other side of Pliva”. At the end of the festive program, Azra sang her song “My life” and her beautiful voice filled the whole hall.
The program ended with the awarding of appropriate gifts, flowers, pictures, cakes, etc. This was followed by socializing with traditional Bosnian food, prepared by the hardworking hosts and hostesses. We would like to once again congratulate Azra on her retirement and wish her future to be filled with health and happiness. Supplementary education is one of many services the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK network organise to provide practical and psychological support to over ten thousand Bosnian genocide survivors.
The organisation recently moved into their new centre, former Sparkhill police station. Now, the Bosnia House provide support not only to fellow Bosnians but to people from across the world, including Syria and Ukraine, as they build their lives in Birmingham.
