Hello, I'm Vanja Melnik, the initiator of the SUPer HEARoes Hear the World humanitarian action. Together with Milica Popović, Dunja Ivezić and Luka Radivojevic from Novi Sad, Nenad Maverick Popović from Belgrade and Aleksandar Popović from London, we are SUPer HEARoes dream team.

We will be SUP paddling from 20-22. June 2023 (3 days, about 180km) for the first time this long distance, on the river Danube in Serbia, in order to raise awareness about the Cochlear Implant and its benefits for children and adults with profound hearing loss. The mission of the action is, in addition to the awareness about the Cochlear Implant, collecting donations for the OOKI Association (Organization of People with a Cochlear Implant) founded by Bojana Vidic, who was implanted as an adult, which aims, to educate and give support to the children with a Cochlear Implant in their long-term journey through silence, adapting to the hearing world and the adaptation of children for a quality and independent life without restrictions. The cochlear implant is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century, because it can replace the entire sensory organ, yet little is known about it.

What is a Cochlear Implant? A surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides hearing impaired people with sound perception with the help of years of therapy. A Cochlear Implant does not amplify sounds; it provides useful sound information through direct stimulation of nerve fibers in the cochlea and thus enables sound perception. It consists of an outdoor and an indoor unit.

★ The price of one implant is 25,000 euros ★ Rehabilitation takes years and costs around 6,000 euros/year in Serbia ★ There are around 800 implanted people in Serbia ★ The first operation here was performed 20 years ago, and despite the time, little is known about it.

Through the idea of ​​"Kilometer of paddling for 10 EUR" in the 2023 season, we want to encourage people to help the OOKI association, but also to motivate everyone to try this wonderful sport. At the end of the season, we will calculate all our kilometers and target reached and share it with you all our success.

What does a "Kilometer of paddling for 10 EUR" mean? Every kilometer of our paddling, anyone can "buy" by donating to OOKI though our page. All fund will be transferred to OOKI transparently.

We will start our journey in Bezdan, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Our plan is to paddle 60 km per day, so that we can reach Novi Sad in three days in the late afternoon, on Thursday, June 22, 2023.

Please support us by sharing this page on your social media, tell friends and donate. You can paddle also wherever you are and tag ooki.rs on social media, so we can support each other from the distance. By our names you can follow us on all social media.

UPDATE 23.06.2023. WE DID IT! 180km on SUP over 3 days! 29hrs on the water in total! The team and Cochlear Implanted kids & their friends.

Hugs and love to you all! Forever grateful, your SUPer HEARoes Team.