The first child to come to SOS Children's Village is now a role model for young people

Armin Stanković, now a 24-year-old young man, was the first child to arrive at SOS Children's Village Sarajevo in 1996. He grew up in the family of mother Fikreta, and although he now lives independently and will soon become a Master of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education in Sarajevo, he still receives both financial and emotional support from SOS Children's Villages BiH. He is one of the success stories from SOS Children's Village, as reported by the Patria agency.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Armin holds sports workshops for children and youth at the SOS Resource Center in Sarajevo. These workshops are attended by children from the community who go to the SOS kindergarten, children involved in the Family Strengthening Program, and children from the SOS Children's Villages family care model. Through these workshops, he aims to increase their awareness and motivation for engaging in sports.

- Smiling, hardworking, full of life, a true athlete, he manages to do it all. He is a coach in the youth academy of FK Sarajevo, a collaborator in administration and education for coaches at the Football Association of BiH, a swimming coach for children at the Dami sports and recreation club, and an independent ski instructor – state SOS Children's Villages BiH.

Armin explains that the workshops he leads include elements of various sports: football, martial arts, conditioning training, testing, and competitions.

- Considering this segment of workshop functioning, children expand their knowledge, increase their physical fitness level, improve their ability to perform certain exercises they couldn't before, and strengthen all character traits with a special emphasis on a positive approach to life and the difficulties they encounter – emphasizes Armin.

As a child who grew up in an SOS family, he knows exactly how the girls and boys he leads workshops for feel.

- I understand them because I know all the phases I went through during my upbringing. I want to help them face their fears; we all go through that phase of fearing we will be left alone. I want to help them prepare for the struggles of life. Thanks to SOS Children's Villages and my SOS mother Fikreta, and educators Asim, Hasija, Edina, Samira, Džemal, I had a wonderful childhood. Doc. dr. Eldin Jelesković, with his strict approach, taught me responsibility and helped me immensely. Precisely out of responsibility towards myself and all these people who marked my upbringing, I want to leave a mark on life – says Armin.

He adds that his SOS mother Fikreta instilled in him all that is good and positive.

- Mother Fikreta means everything to me! Who I am today is her work; she instilled in me all that is good and positive, from the habit of vacuuming the house and dusting every night, to a love for singing, painting, film, sports, and my brothers and sisters. I used to get angry when she didn't let me go out and waste time, but instead directed me towards sports, dance, creative workshops, and today I am endlessly grateful to her for that – shares this successful young man.

Besides sports, Armin has other talents. In recent years, he acted in two short films shown at the Youth Summit in Belgrade, and he directed a third film about environmental protection himself.

He enjoys cooking and regularly follows Jamie Oliver and 24 Kitchen.

BECAME AN UNCLE

As a child, in 1998, he also won the first prize at the "Mali šlager" competition together with his SOS sister Vermina. Everyone at SOS Children's Village Sarajevo knows about the special love between the two of them. Although they are not biological siblings, they love each other like twins. He recently saw his SOS sister Vermina off to marriage from mother Fikreta's SOS house. When asked if her marriage was difficult for him, he replies, "Not at all, her happiness is most important to me, and I know she is happy. I also know that we will never lose each other. It seems to me that Vermina's marriage has brought us even closer, especially the fact that I became an uncle."

SOS Children's Village states that they are "endlessly happy when we see what a young man he has become," and he adds, "we all make our choices, and I chose to have a quality and fulfilling life."

- I want to have my own family, to be excellent at what I do. I see myself working with children; that is my calling – says Armin.

(The source of the text is SOS Children's Villages BiH)