Marija Rukavina, the director of the Ana Rukavina Foundation, accepted another worthy award yesterday on behalf of the Foundation. The recognition of “Person of the Dialogue – Person of the Year” is given by the Croatian Academic Society Split – Man Above All, a non-profit organization whose principal goal is to promote Christian values and thus to contribute to the prosperity of society and individuals. The Society has recognized the Foundation as an organization which contributes to the quality of life in Croatia.
This prestigious acknowledgement, which in the last 13 years has also been given to the respectable writer Vinko Nikolić, academic Ivan Supek, writer Vlado Gotovac, Bishop Franjo Komarica, His Holiness the Dali Lama, Imam Šefko Omerbašić, Vaclav Havel and others, for the first time has been bestowed upon a legal person – the Ana Rukavina Foundation.
While presenting the award to the Foundation, Mrs. Jadranka Matijašević remarked:
“For the first time since its installation, this award is being bestowed upon a legal person – the Ana Rukavina Foundation. The news of Ana’s death positively jarred the nation and showed how many warm emotions are hidden behind the seemingly soul less dreariness of daily tensions, on every level of people’s work and lives. Ana wrote, “I want life” and not long after, she was gone. She is not with us physically, but she has become a presence in our daily lives. While she was with us, she could not foresee how she would continue to live in the thousands of charitable souls which have become aware of how great it feels to do good by one another.
Ana has inspired all of us to take action, come together and above all, to bridge the mental barriers. With her touching letter, Ana has steered us toward one another, she has awoken a dormant and inert impulse for action and has succeeded in inspiring the formation of our collective consciousness, which, when united with love, can really make us perform miracles.
In the face of the great tragedy that she experienced, Ana’s mom, Marija Rukavina, found sufficient strength to dedicate her life to those in need, to those suffering from leukemia and lymphoma. Through the Ana Rukavina Foundation she promotes the purest of human virtues – giving yourself to others. Overcoming one’s own selfishness and giving oneself to another, to an unknown person, wherever they may be on the earth, means to touch the very essence of pure human thought and life. Having one’s name listed in the Registry of Ana’s Foundation means having the desire and power to save someone’s life. Is there any greater meaning to life than that?
There are over 32,000 members in the Foundation, people of all profiles and all age groups, who have found in themselves the unique impetus for nobility and it is indisputable that by giving ourselves we are becoming better people, toward ourselves and others.
Ana is not with us anymore, but the Ana Rukavina Foundation is an indisputable living organism. With the awarding of the recognition “Person of the Dialogue – Person of the Year”, the Croatian Academic Society Split – Man Above All bestows that recognition upon every member of the Foundation who is wittingly subscribed to serving other people. Starting from the fact that the fundamental value of human life is life itself, the Foundation has outlined its goals, activities, plans and last but certainly not least, its results. It has established the right to a dignified assistance to those suffering, it has given them hope for recovery, it has given joy to their family members and friends and it has put in place the necessary medical prerequisites for bone marrow transplants. At the same time it has offered each and every one of us the possibility, as individuals, to find our place under the stars as better human beings. A true dialogue of love has been made possible owing to the work of the Foundation.”
We are deeply touched by this recognition and with all of our hearts we would like to thank the board of the Croatian Academic Society Split – Man Above All, especially Dr. Don Ivan Grubišić, Dr. Mirjana Nazor and Mrs. Jadranka Matijašević for the warm words and heartfelt reception.
Find out more about the Croatian Academic Society Split – Man Above All at: www.hau.hr