Recently we came across a story about a Bosnian war survivor who survived the war and recently was named the SA winner of the Barnardos Australia’s Mother of the Year awards. Hasiba Cesko, 42, was presented with the award at a ceremony at the Adelaide Pavillion, beating two other state finalists.

She was nominated by her son Emir, 23. “She is just an awesome mum because of everything she went through to get to where we are now and to be successful. She’s just amazing” Emir said.

When the war broke out in Bosnia, Mrs.Cesko and husband Semso chose to migrate Australia in 1996 with their son Emir and daughter Elma now 18. During the war Mrs Cesko recalls how she had to rush her children to the basement during the air strikes in the 90s war zone.

“I would cover my son with my body just to make sure nothing touches him,” she said.

“I had Elma in the middle of that war, on the living room floor, no doctor, no hospital. I just had a lady there who had probably watched someone before giving birth.”

“The best thing is that we managed to survive and come to Australia, which is beautiful and I can now provide a life for my kids.”

Her story in Australia began when she first started working in a meat factory, then became a cleaner, working long hours to provide for her childern. Today with the hard work and dedication Mr and Mrs Cesko run a gyros shop in Findon.

“I haven’t felt this excited and happy since I had the children,” Mrs Cesko said after the ceremony where she received her award from Greens MP Mark Parnell.

“This means so much to me, I can’t even find the words. It’s so easy to be the best mother to childern like mine. They are the best children.”

Mrs Cesko will fly to Sydney to represent SA in the national finals of the awards on May 10.

Even though most of us lead busy lives, we must not forget that family comes first. Our parents who have lived through some difficult times always wanted the best for us as kids and even now in adulthood. S

The Cesko family is a great example of sticking together and working as a family to achieve better things in life. Their story should be an inspiration to all of us to stay close with our families and help each other abroad and back home so that we can lead better lives.

Photo Credits (sphotos, adalaidenow)

What motivates you?

A question that everyone should honestly ask them selves more frequently than not, especially when it comes to their work-life balance and work as a whole. Even though we are all different, one thing we can agree on is that different combination of things motivate us or as the saying goes, “different stroke for different folks.”

But after we ask our selves the question, and do some addition and subtraction, most of us are motivated by some combo of the factors below, yet it’s rare to find someone who can be motivated by all of them:

• Money
• Achievement
• Interaction
• Creativity
• Opportunity to make the world a better place
• Problem Solving

Ultimately it is up to us to find our niche to fill as entrepreneurs or in our careers that will propel us to happiness. But for the sake of today’s post, here’s a video that will surely get you thinking and might even motivate you to ask yourself the question: What motivates me? Enjoy.

Photo Credit (tumblr)

Today is March 13th: CBS World News turns 75 years old since it’s first broadcast in 1938. Today also happens to be the 72nd day of the year, which means that there are 293 days remaining until the end of the year.

But for us here at Za Vas, hump day has a special meaning, as it’s a day that we wholeheartedly embrace every week. So, here’s a little motivation for y’all as we celebrate hump day and sexual Wednesday. We hope you have a pretty solid day

Photo Credits (electronicbomb, sourcefednews)