Center “Living Upright” from Novi Sad represents a special place of encounters, exchange and acting, not only for disabled persons and their families but for a wider community. This kind of mutual trust takes years to build. About the struggles, achievements and challenges throughout these years we speak with Mima Ružičić-Novković, a founder and president of the Center, and Jelena Sokref, a long time member and activist.
1. Center “Living Upright” from Novi Sad was founded more than 20 years ago, which is significant anniversary for many non-governmental organizations in Serbia. Center is one of rare organizations which so dedicatedly fight for the rights of disabled persons. How did the Center begin? What motivated you to continue with your work despite many challenges you have faced?
Mima: Center “Living Upright” has started as the project of psycho-social support to disable persons organized by Handicap International, within the project there were founded counselling centers in six different cities in Serbia, in Novi Sad as well. Some of us who were associates and beneficiaries within that project has founded in 2002 an independent association of persons with disability. A few weeks ago we celebrated our 21th anniversary.
The important thing is that Center gathered all disable persons in Novi Sad and the goal was to connect local movement of disable persons with city institutions, and the first mission of Center “Living Upright” was full implementation of standard rules for equalization of opportunities provided to disable persons, which were the base for further adoption of the International Convention on protection of disable persons (2006), so the first mission was full implementation of the Convention.
Then in 2007 within our team we made decision based on foundations of all levels of human rights movement to contribute creation of possibilities for independent life of all persons, using coproduction approach, which mean that nothing happened without participation of the persons whose particular segment of human rights referred to, from the beginning of the process till the evaluation. Center “Living Upright” has begun as the organization directed to disable persons, but in the meantime, thanks that founders were persons from multiplied marginalized communities, Center overgrow that segment and from 2010. we provide peer support to all persons, in relation to someone’s needs. The person who is providing free „jump in“ support regarding to the experience she or he has share with the person who is looking for support.
At the beginning, when Center started to work, when we were still the counseling center, there were strong energy at the 2000. the energy of something new, people really felt good at that time. During first three years The Handicap International financially supported Center and we had around 500 beneficiaries at the time. When they stop to support Center, one part of our team which consisted of experts withdrew to more secured working places, and few of us who have the personal experience of disability, continued to work in the Center.
We fundraised our first grant in 2002 from City directorate for culture in Novi Sad for the film festival. At one moment we were without the working space, and my room in the Student House was our office for the few years. During all these years we have moved several times, and at the moment we are moving for the fourth time since the foundation of the Center.
2. One of your attributes which makes you recognizable not only among the community of the disable persons, but in wider public is your commitment toward social approach of disability versus health approach only. As well, Center “Living Upright” has provided for years the service of personal assistance to disable persons and their families, which include large financial resources to assure them dignified life. In the area of advocacy to national and local institutions the Center went one step further. What are the main successes in those areas of work you are particularly proud of?
We started with advocacy for providing services of personal assistance earlier in 2004. those were the first negotiations for the services of personal assistance. Then we organized the campaign for reducing social distance of the disable persons, then we started the program for the equality marginalized groups in public speech, next the program for accessibility for the disable persons which initiated 12 action plans for accessibility in the Province of Vojvodina and the strategy for accessibility in the city of Novi Sad. Thereafter, we organized the workshops for disable persons all around Serbia.
In Subotica in 2008 we have been approached by young disable woman who wanted to study, but could not do so, without personal assistance. Then the president of the Association of disable students and me went to the Province’s secretariat for education and arranged to reserve the first resources to finance the services of personal assistance from the state budget for five disable persons.
The two Province secretariats in 2008. and 2009., and then City Institute for social and children’s protection from 2009. continued to co-finance the service of personal assistance, and over the years the number of persons who received those services has increased. Although in 2011 the Law on Social Protection has been adopted, we consider that the service of personal assistance till 2019 was the pilot phase since the Provincial Institute for social protection co-financed the service through projects, and City Institute for Economy and National Employment Service through public work, not through services. It took ten years for the city of Novi Sad to introduce the service of personal assistance into the system of social protection.
But the biggest effect of everything that Center has done is peer support, since it changed the life at least 300 people, and among them are Jela and me. The peer support is experiential support which mutually provide people who share some similar experience, for example, someone who already adopted some knowledge on consultative, educational or advisory level provide support to someone else. It usually takes place in teams of two or three persons, and not everyone can provide peer support, mutual trust must be felt within the team.
3. Center “Living Upright” act also, for many years in area of philanthropy and within you organize donation actions for the community and link different cultural and artistic institutions, firms and disable persons. Which donation actions are particularly important to you and why?
During above mentioned pilot phase, Center “Living Upright” has established collaboration with business sector as well, since we permanently lack some amount of money for the services of personal assistance. Each year Center has ensured significant sum of money from business sector and therefore that reference on fundraising.
The last donation action, well-known for many people was the collaboration with the bookstore Booka within Humandan. The bookstore Booka organized every Monday the Humandan, which is dedicated to some organization and group. The donation action was organized on 30th of January and plenty of money was fundraised, which was so significant to us, as we had to pay back till 31th of January the loan, which was used for payment of health insurance for 30 persons. That was literally as force majeure influenced the solution to appear. Out plan is to continue with donation action, since we had to return more money..( otherwise our total debth is 14 million dinars from 2011 until today). In 2017 we have organized donation action with MacDonalds restaurants around Serbia and collected resources was directed to disable persons who do not have right to personal assistance.
What is very important, thanks to Ljilja’s (colleague) engagement, we have organized a number of artistic events which ensured us great deal of money. Those were events with significant cultural content in which for example, took part members of Opera House within The Serbian National Theatre, various choirs, pop and rock groups, The Musical Youth of Novi Sad, The Gallery of Matica Srpska and many others artistic and cultural institutions.
4. In times of global and local crisis and challenges, when mutual linking and support is vital for everyday activities of progressive organizations and activists, what solidarity means to you personally? What kind of solidarity do we need today?
Jela: I will return one generation back, to childhood. The solidarity actually began in childhood when we share something, when we acquire something and share it with someone. And even greater level of solidarity and donation is when we have something which we like so much, and then we see the someone else does not have it, and we give that to she/him. That level when we give something from ourselves, not an excess from ourselves is something very important to us nowadays.
And why in the context of an excess from ourselves, we often forget that we are transient, we grow old, in one moment we have one need, and then in some other moment we have some completely different need, and that’s where our fears catch us. From those fears we become generation which collect, enshrine, but in fact we are suffocating. In that suffocating we are losing our breath, our circulation.
At the end, to ad that I am very proud of several women in Center “Living Upright” who remained persistent to certain values and minimal standards below whom we do not act. And that standard remains on everything, not only personal but mirror reflection on whole society, since those we want for ourselves, we want for others. I am very proud to be part of Center “Living Upright”.
Interview by Diana Miladinović
