If you wish to make something truly exceptional, it is important to have an idea and money, but it is not only about that. You must be very familiar with what you want to do, you have to gain personal experience by working on the field and have an immediate insight into the situation. To observe, learn and sense the needs of the people you intend to work with.
Written by: Vanja Stokic; Photographs taken by: Ajdin Kamber
This is how the “Lonato” restaurant in Mostar has been created over the years. It has been active for six years, but the idea about it was born and has been shaped throughout the last twenty years, although the key persons were probably not even aware of it. This restaurant is unique in that is employs persons with intellectual disabilities, thus giving them a chance to feed their families, but at the same time to get a social life.
The restaurant is full of people. It is breakfast time when we arrive. Each employee is busy with his work, and is preoccupied with his own responsibilities. They greet us as if we were regular guests, warmly, with a big smile. One person even comes over to give us a hug. We are unable to tell whether they remember us from two years ago, when we wrote our first story about them.

After they welcomed and farewelled different groups of guests, there is a sudden standstill. There are only two of us in the restaurant, two journalists soaking up every single moment, and a group of five workers. Their attention is now fully directed to us, only. They want us to taste the food they have prepared, not wanting to talk about anything before we grab a bite of something. Not having time to realise what is happening, all of a sudden there is a hot pizza, just taken out of the oven, in front of us.
“I grated the cheese,” one of them said.
They offer us juice, ask if we want some coffee. We cannot convince them that we are fine.
“At least some water,” Skender Mustafi says, as he puts two glasses of water on the table.
As we are enjoying the fruits of their labour, it all looks like we are being evaluated by a commission. Two of us on one side, and five of them on the other side. A plate with pizza in between. They are awaiting our reactions, reading our face expression. They are happy to see we like it.
“I come here every day, from Monday to Friday. We are off on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as during holidays. It feels good, time flies quickly at work. And again, I can hardly wait to come back here the next morning,” Skender says, who is a 31-year-old young man, working for “Lonato” for already five years.

Every single move of his shows he is very familiar with this place. The activities he performs have somehow become a part of him. He is the one in charge of serving drinks to the guests, and in addition to his duties at the bar, he also assists in the kitchen with vegetable preparation.
“I enjoy doing everything. This job means a lot to me, because in our country it is difficult to get a job if you are not a member of a political party. Unfortunately, that is the situation. I am glad to be able to collaborate with my colleagues and to hang out with them. It gives me the greatest pleasure to work with Josip,” Skender tells us in the rare moments when he is not posing questions to us.
He is rather curious and wants to learn more about the situation in Banja Luka, the city we are coming from. He wants to know everything, from the political situation to the life style of the citizens. He obviously follows the media actively and is very interested in the world around him.
Josip, who he singled out as his favourite colleague, is actually the head chef at the restaurant. This entire team supports him in making delicious meals, and he supports them in their learning process. Together, they progress and improve, creating a perfect symbiosis.
“They are mostly engaged in some auxiliary work. Peeling potatoes, cleaning the surfaces, throwing away the garbage. We are also doing catering for outside customers, custom-made takeout food. It is great to work with them, I have not had experience working with children with special needs before. At the beginning it was a bit hard until I got to know them, but now everything goes smoothly. We get along well, we complete each other at work and outside of work. We sometimes hang out outside working hours,” Josip Dzidic says during a break between different meal preparations.

Throughout these six years of engagement in this environment, he has witnessed their progress, both on a personal and professional level.
“There are a couple of them who stand out in particular, with whom I can do external catering without any problems. They have become more communicative, more relaxed, more open, and it is possible to have a normal dialogue with them,” Josip, the chef, further explains.
Noticeable changes
Employment in the “Lonato” restaurant has changed the life of Elvedina Kurtovic (41). She has been working here for six years, and her job is not just a place to come to and carry out work tasks, for which she is being paid. It is rather a feeling of being useful to her community, it is about helping her family, but also about spending quality time in a supportive environment, which is far more important than the money she earns.
“I feel good. Every morning I go to work, I have an activity. It is better to be here than at home. I go out of the house, have some company. I come here and work with them, sit down with them, have a chat, drink some coffee. We hang out. When I and a colleague of mine go somewhere on a trip, we stay in the same room. We take care of each other,” Elvedina explains.

Trips happen often. Some are shorter in duration, when they go on field trips around Mostar. Some are work-related, when they serve catering at the events in other cities. Some are distant, which is a real adventure from them. No matter what the occasion is and the mileage, they look forward to each one equally.
“I am overjoyed here with my colleague Dzenana, with Rusmir, with Elvedina. Being here is the same as if being at home. Over the weekend, I can hardly wait to come again. Or during vacation. When we are on annual leave we travel somewhere. This time I went to Sarajevo for two days, then to Kakrinje for two days. We attended music therapy sessions and rode horses there, then we played, sang, walked around, and did some visits. We went to Blidinje. I had a splendid time,” says Aldijana Moric, always the cheeriest member of this team, says this in just one breath.
She explains that this job has positively affected her mood, and she has noticed to have become more cheerful. In addition, she has become more independent, financially speaking.
“When I receive my salary I give my mother some money to pay for the utilities. Then I buy groceries for the house, and get myself boots, or a jacket or something else. I leave some money aside, not to spend it all on girl’s things,” Aldijana elaborates.

She lives with her mother and her brother, and she is applying at home everything she gets to learn in “Lonato”.
“I come home, my mom cooks me a lunch, and I help her around the house, with the laundry, cleaning. On weekends I do everything. Clean, vacuum. And when she needs to go somewhere, I prepare her a meal, do the washing, and I was helping her the entire time I was on vacation. We have a cup a coffee together. When the guests come to our house, I serve them. I do the dishes, put everything in order,” she tells us joyfully.
The calmest among them is Iso Dzono (23). The group is encouraging him to talk to us, they do not want anybody to be left out or to be neglected. He does not say much even when we ask him a direct question. But when he smiles at you, it is as if the warmth fills your soul.
“I come here by bike everyday. I clean the tables, sweep the floors, help in the kitchen. I do whatever is needed. I take lunch and bring it to the kindergarten. I like it here. I have friends here,” he tells us shyly.

“I am happy when I come in”
Among them is Dzenana Terzic (52), a single mother of two. All these six years of her work here have been filled with positive emotions. And above all, with support.
“I have a lot of friends here. This is such a great place for me. I am happy when I come in. I feel useful. This helps me a lot, this job, and the money I get as well. My brother and my children give me their full support. I am not alone. I also have support of the Director Jasna Rebac and of Mirce,” Dzenana tells us gently.

Mirce is actually Miro Rebac, the Director of the “Radin” company, within which the “Lonato” restaurant operates. As you probably wonder how come that employees can give their director nick names and address him by the nick name in public, please try to understand that this is not just another ordinary company. It does not hire people you are used to seeing, nor is a director a formalist who keeps himself on a distance. We are telling you this because we witnessed his interaction with his workers on several occasions. More importantly, we saw how they reacted to him. When he shows up in the kitchen, first there is a lot of hugging. Everyone wants to approach him and greet him. Someone even makes a joke at the account of the jacket he is wearing or is criticizing him for not putting a tie one. But all this is done in a very relaxed, genuine and friendly manner. Workers in the “Lonato” do not know how to pretend. You can easily read every emotion from their faces.
“I am motivated by love towards these people. As the time goes by, we are becoming more of a family, there is a personal relationship that binds us even more, therefore the material and financial aspects of this place are not primarily what we strive for here,” Miro Rebac, the Director of the “Radin” company, tells us.

The objective of the company from the very beginning was to satisfy the needs of persons with disabilities. These needs are not special, nor are different from the needs of any other person in the world, it is just that these needs are addressed in a slightly different way. Given that for them it is hard to get into a new environment and adapt to it, the establishment of a relaxed atmosphere and close relationships is of big importance.
In the last two years, they have entered the open market, so their clients are now individuals, non-governmental organisations, private companies, even international organizations. They have prepared and served food at different events organized by some foreign embassies or schools at several occasions. Birthday parties for children are also organized in their facilities.
“All those who have a need to organize any type of event can find us here, prepared for those challenges. This would not be possible without the Professional Rehabilitation Fund, which really helps us both financially and materially ever year, and thus enables us to retain these workers, improve their position and hire new persons,” he emphasises.

The greatest limitation, as he sees it, is people’s distrust. When someone is insufficiently familiar with the needs and possibilities of persons with disabilities, he lacks the trust in their abilities.
“We work a lot on this type of promotion, so that people could realize that our services, prices and quality are better than of some of those who are present on the open market. In order to achieve even a bigger success, people need to use our services, because in this way they will help us the most in retaining these workers and employing new persons with disabilities. We invest a lot of effort in making people understand what we do, we organize open days of our company to introduce others to the way we work, and when we are hired to do catering services, we use that as the best form of advertising,” Miro Rebac explains.
Over the past years, he has learned some important lessons. To all those who wish to launch something similar he gives an advice to first get to know what their capacities are. To be aware of the maximum they can get from their employees, but also to offer maximum to their employees, company and to their clients.
“Then to try to find a partner. We found a partner in the organization “Just Sophie” from the Netherlands, which helped us with the kitchen opening. It is very important to find a partner at the very start,” Miro Rebac recommends.

“One of the brightest stories”
One of their loyal clients is the “Rolla” company. After their regular monthly meetings, the company management organizes a lunch in the “Lonato” restaurant for their 40 employees from Mostar.
“Every time they create the most beautiful atmosphere here, with an exceptionally good food. I think that nowadays this is one of the brightest stories that we, as the city, can offer. If we can contribute in any way to something that is so positive, I believe that there should be no hesitations,” Amina Borec, social media manager at the “Rolla” company, tells us.
For them, visits to this restaurant came quite natural, they simply found the way to support one magnificent story, and the meal served here has become something that they are all looking forward to.
“When we go to “Lonato” I believe it would insufficient just to say that we feel happy. It sounds like a too simple word for such a sincere emotion. Truthfully speaking, the conversation we have there, emotions associated with this place and the level of happiness are indescribable. And this is all so genuine,” Amina highlights.

Currently, the “Radin” company employs 21 persons, of whom 19 are with disabilities. This would not have been possible without a great help of the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. “Radin”, according to law, has a right to refund of taxes and contributions for employees and to the net salary subsidy in the value of 30% of the average salary in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Fund has supported 16 persons employed by “Radin” so far. According to Sabina Zubcevic, this support has been ongoing since 2017.
“What is specific for the company is that it employs persons with severe disabilities. We can say with certainty that these persons would have never found a job had the “Radin” company not given them this opportunity and possibility for employment. Their workshop for persons with severe disabilities as well as their restaurant actually show a wide community that it is possible for persons with severe disabilities to work and to give contribution both to themselves and to social community. This generally affects the elimination of prejudice towards persons with disabilities,” Sabina Zupcevic points out on behalf of the Federation of BaH Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities.
She adds that the Fund is actively supporting around 130 companies from the F BaH, hiring between 1500 and 2000 persons with disabilities.
”The Fund supports these companies in the way that it enables them to apply for programs amounting up to 50,000 BAM. They also have the possibility to hire persons with disabilities and receive financial incentive which at the moment can reach up to 25,000 BAM worth a grant for each person with disabilities who gets hired,” she states all those benefits that employers can receive through this Fund.

“This is my life’s mission”
This whole story was actually initiated by Miro’s mother, Jasna Rebac. After the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina she participated in the establishment of the Centre for Children and Youth with Special Needs “Los Rosales” in Mostar. This is a public institution which integrates a kindergarten, primary school, various workshops and residential accommodation. Physically, “Los Rosales” today consists of five buildings offering different services and programs for children and young people with developmental difficulties. She worked for this institution for 14 years, first as a teacher and then as a director. She earned her pension by working with persons with disabilities.
“This is a part of me. It is my life’s mission,” Jasna Rebac is honest and direct.
Recognising the need for socialisation of persons with disabilities, 16 years ago she decided to open “Ruzicnjak”, a non-governmental organisation, the director of which she was and still is. This non- governmental organisation founded the social company “Radin” six years ago, which in its composure has the “Lonato” restaurant, hiring persons with disabilities. In addition, “Radin” organises trainings for persons with disabilities to work on CNC machines and to manufacture different souvenirs and items, all with an aim to empower them and provide them with employment. All these segments, from the Association “Ruzicnjak” to the “Radin” company, the “Lonato” restaurant and the activities on CNC machines, are closely connected with the “Los Rosales” Centre.
First of all, they are using their facilities, they are located in their buildings. Then, some of the Center's protégés get employed by the company “Radin”.
“I know now every child since kindergarten, by name, surname, I know their parents, their families. I might have even been in their homes”, Jasna Rebac responds to our observation how close she is to the company employees.

She draws our attention to the fact that every social company, including “Radin”, faces problems with providing salaries for their employees. Prejudice re-emerges as a topic that requires discussion.
“There is still a belief, unfortunately widespread, in the minds of those who make decisions on the open market that persons with disabilities are unable to work and therefore their products are not appreciated. Such a person prefers to go to a Chinese store to buy a souvenir, instead of coming here, although that would represent a direct support to the employees of the “Radin” company,” she accentuates.
Breadwinners of their families
The decision to establish “Radin” did not come up easily. It was preceded by a lot a work with persons with disabilities, as well as a lot of research. Jasna Rebac explains that in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, where Mostar is located, there are only two majors in high schools that persons with developmental disabilities can attend. These majors are assistant tailor and assistant cook or pastry chef assistant.
“Like this, their interests, their abilities, their skills cannot be displayed. Sadly, given that high school education is not compulsory, persons with disabilities, male and female students, in most cases remain at home after completing the ninth grade of elementary school, which is tragic, and they do not continue their education. Those who do continue and who graduate from high school have no chance to get a job on the open market,” she says.

While researching the needs and desires of persons with developmental disabilities, it was established that the biggest concern of their families, and of themselves, was what would happen after the school completion.
“They finish primary or secondary school, register with the Employment Bureau, but the open market does not accumulate them or hire them. These persons in most cases register with this Bureau after graduating from high school in order to get health insurance, but the possibility for their employment remains unlikely. That is why we have invested a lot of effort, having legal grounds for it, to register this company,” Jasna Rebac elaborates on the process of the “Radin” company foundation, and then of the “Lonato” restaurant.
They did this in the cooperation with the “Los Rosales” Centre, the logistic and human capacities of which they utilize.
“There is a huge number of professionals who can influence, both motivationally and professionally, the progress of these employees at the workplace, and at the same time help the poverty reduction, since many of these workers are breadwinners of their families. It is of utmost importance for them personally, and all these advantages could be listed down, to go to work every day, to get up, get ready, get dressed, have their work tasks ahead of them, have their employment paper, have their annual leave, spend time with their peers on a daily basis, be in the company of other service beneficiaries, restaurant users, where the ultimate objective is actually to provide for their social inclusion,” she highlights.

She does not hide the fact they were scared at the very beginning. The uncertainty was prevailing as they could not have predicted the reaction of employees, given that 97% of them have intellectual disabilities.
“Although we knew each of these person’s soul, as they had been the beneficiaries of this public institution since kindergarten, and we were familiar with their capacities, their skills, knowledge, abilities, this was something entirely new. They were becoming officially employed by the company. The first month, we decided to approach the Federal Fund and we addressed the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. Their commission visited us and established that, according to the legislation, there were legal grounds enabling us to operate as a protective workshop. Then we thought “OK, we can do it, we should not be petrified, we will manage it,” because the Fund was the one who would refund all the investments in the sense of taxes, contributions and all costs we would have for the salaries. Every year this fact makes their advancement at work possible, as well as workplace improvement, purchase of new equipment and the equipping of the workplace,” she explains.
In the meantime, the risk has decreased, but has still not vanished. Although they are trying to attract all organisations, from governmental to non-governmental sector, to become their partners, the support comes only through projects and through cooperation with other non-governmental organizations.

Focus on possibilities, not on difficulties
The work of the “Lonato” restaurant, as well as the values it nourishes and the principles by which it is guided, relies heavily on the “Los Rosales” Centre. The Centre Director, Mirna Mezit, does not hide her pride with the work and achievements of the “Lonato” and its employees.
“This is the place where they can show what they are able to do. We recognize what they can do and we invest in it. Actually, we judge every person by his/her abilities, and not by the disabilities. We have known them since their childhood, and these children are now young people, they are adults, they have employment. This means that they have gone through the entire cycle of their upbringing, education, which has been fully adjusted to their abilities and capabilities. And these adults, who have undergone occupational therapy and trainings, are now employed persons,” Mirna Mezit tells us.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, persons with disabilities find it difficult to get a job, and those with mental disabilities are in a particularly invidious situation. According to laws in force, the employers are obliged to hire one person with disabilities for every 16 workers. However, Naida Spuzevic, Expert Associate at the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is working in the Department for Monitoring and Exercising the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, confirms that this seldom happens. The reason for such a situation she finds in mental barriers in the minds of employers, and not in the architectural barriers in their offices.
“There are still a lot of prejudice among employers when it comes to persons with disabilities. Architectural barriers, though, can be changed, can be fixed,” Naida Spuzevic says.
Employment has a positive impact on a person, regardless of whether he/she has disabilities or not. All people have the same needs, to be useful and to be included in the society as active members.
“We all like to wake up in the morning with the intention to seize the day. We like having some duties to fulfil the day. By providing employment to disabled persons, by engaging them in a working environment we are raising our level of acceptance, our awareness, promoting the rights that these persons definitely have. They have the rights like the rest of us. These are no special human rights. These are fundamental human rights shared with everyone else,” she highlights.

She singles out the “Lonato” restaurant as a shining example of action, which she perceives as a true story of how “the society of equal values can be built up, guaranteeing equality of persons with disabilities in employment and the right to work, which is guaranteed as one of the basic human rights”.
In the publication on the employment of persons with disabilities, the Ombudsmen Institution states that more than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability, of which almost 200 million face significant difficulties in everyday life. Referring to 2013 population census, 8% of the BaH population has some form of disability, which is close to 300.000 people. This number is not final, as it does not incorporate persons accommodated by different institutions.