Totally blind but he kept his spirits up and never gave up on his life goals. Nihad Mujakovic was separated from his family at the age of 7 to attend a school for visually impaired persons in Sarajevo. Today, he runs his own radio, something he always wanted.

“I was separated from my family for eleven years and I wasn't scared of anything. One gets mature in eleven years, gets to know that there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome, of course with the help of the ones that are always with you,” said Mujakovic.

He could not get a proper education in his home town, the northern town of Tesanj, and his family had a hard time dealing with the fact Nihad was blind.

“From an early age, I realised I had to do something for myself, of course, with advice from the Social Welfare Centre. There was a school for blind and visually impaired children in Sarajevo, which students start at the age of 7 and which has its own dormitory,” recalled Mujakovic.

His education, which had started in 1983, was interrupted in 1992, when the war broke out in Bosnia. In 1997, he resumed his education and has become a telephone operator.

Mujkanovic was offered the first job at Radio Tesanj. In 1998 he returned to the home town and launched his own show, for persons with disabilities.

“Mrs Emina Ajanovic, then general manager of Radio Tesanj recognised that, as a person with a disability, I can do some work concerning radio programme,” he said.

Today, years later, he is an employee of the Tesanj Municipality. His colleagues give him strong support.

He is socially active and wants to help others, especially those carrying the same burden that he does.

Tesanj Association for Blind Person, headed by Nihad, organises international ‘goalball’ tours every year for 16 years in the row. The event gathers competitors from Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and many other countries.

“Goalball is a game for blind persons played with a ball with embedded bells on a goal width of nine metres. Three persons compose a team in the field and everyone is in charge of three metres around,” said Nihad explaining the rules.

Besides his duty in the Tesanj Municipality and association, he also runs his own radio called Radio NIM.

“I wanted to have something my own in life. Of course, profit or money don't matter, that's something that makes one happy. For someone it is a book or chess, for me it is radio,” he added.