My motivation is a healthy and resilient community
My Mission
The joy of working with people and listening to their stories combined with my love for cooking led me to my profession as a nutritionist and dietitian. Nutrition Science was uncommon in my community and as one of the first nutritionists in my country, I had a hard job introducing it professionally and clearly. I wasn't aware that at the beginning of my career, I was doing a lot of pitching because I needed to explain to people why education about nutrition is important for every stage of life.
After seven years of working as a clinical nutritionist and dietitian at the University Clinical Hospital Mostar (B&H), the only hospital in my country that employs two clinical nutritionists, I can see how I used my entrepreneurial spirit to improve the public health system. Every step had its importance in this path.
Eight years ago, I founded the platform “Nutricioniziraj se” (meaning: learning about food and nourishing your body). I also co-founded a "Multidisciplinary Healthy Habits Center"- an NGO that connects nutrition and psychology. I have the same responsibility as a nutrition educator at my NGO as a dietitian at our Nutrition counseling center in the hospital. We are pioneers in something important and bigger than us and we are committed to helping all our community members make healthy lifestyle changes.
The Process
After my YTILI Fellowship in 2022, I introduced a trauma-nutrition approach to my community, which I learned about in a California-based nonprofit, Leah’s Pantry. They are the leading voice in trauma-informed nutrition security. I found the placement organization I got very meaningful. I arrived from a country that is after 30 years still affected by the war consequences dating from the 1990s. It caused the devastation of infrastructure, migrations, and the loss of many lives. Like many other families, my family also needed to move and build a new life in the new city I now call home.
Trauma has deeply impacted local communities in Balkan, not just because of the historical traumas from the war, but other issues as well, including stress, unemployment, lack of social mobility, and nationalism. A trauma-informed approach to health and wellness incorporates aspects like culture, family, community, joyful movement, and mindfulness which I find significant and useful.
Health science and dietetics is still a relatively emerging field in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, I believe that food is the universal language- everyone has to eat, and everyone in turn has a complicated, multidimensional relationship with food that can be further explored.
We have a long way to go, but every journey starts with the first step. And almost ten years ago, I started mine.
