Standing on his only leg, Bosnian refugee and former soldier Mirsad Kurtagic told high school students in Palatine grisly stories of war, occasionally using his crutch as a map pointer.
The tragic tales of Kurtagic’s homeland made a lasting impression on the students, especially those representing the Fremd High School Model United Nations Club, which promptly decided to help Bosnian war victims in some way.
During a formal presentation Thursday at Fremd, the team donated $500 and kitchen utensils to the Bosnian Refugee Center in Chicago. The money will allow a Bosnian refugee child to attend summer camp in Colorado, and the $200 worth of kitchen supplies will help a refugee family as it begins residency in the United States.
The effort dates to March, when Fremd hosted a Model United Nations tournament that focused on the war in Bosnia and simulated diplomatic situations, said Steve Buenning, one of the club’s advisers and Fremd social studies teacher.
To make the exercise more realistic, the Bosnian Refugee Center sent representatives to talk about Bosnia. Kurtagic, who lost his leg during combat in 1994, was one of the presenters, Buenning said.
“Our students were quite moved and decided to establish a connection with the Bosnian center,” said Buenning, who shares the advisory duties with fellow teacher Reba Petraitis.
Club members decided not to carry over their club budget surplus to next year, but to donate it to help Bosnian refugees, Buenning said.
Currently, about 10,000 Bosnian refugees live in the Chicago area, or roughly a fourth of those in the United States, Buenning said.
The club’s executive committee members are seniors Aisha Mohyuddin, Amit Udeshi, Rakesh Jotwani, Christina Eng and Nicholas Ling, and juniors Ankit Mehta and Rachel Pierce.
