Since 1995, the Olga Havel Award has been awarded every year, honoring those personalities who help other people with disabilities. Out of a total of 21 nominees, Tereza Nagyová won the award this year, for public education about her life with ostomy. At the ceremony in the New Building of the National Museum, she received Olbram Zoubek's luxurious sculpture “Encouragement” from the hands of the Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Miluše Horská, and Bishop Václav Malý, a member of the Board of the Committee of Good Will - Olga Havel Foundation.
Tereza Nagyová has been living with an aggressive form of Crohn's disease since her 18th birthay, which escalated to the point where she needed an ostomy (an artificially created intestinal outlet outside her abdominal cavity) several years later. She spreads knowledge about life with an ostomy through her blog NEJSEMTABU (I'm not a taboo), and also organizes educational seminars for people with the same disability and their nurses. She even designed a special collection of underwear and swimwear for stomics.
Josef Cerha, the director of the non-profit organization Tyfloservis, won the Public's Award for helping people with visual impairments despite his own handicap.
The Olga Havel Award is awarded by the Committee of Good Will - Olga Havel Foundation since 1995, when it was founded by Mrs. Havlová with the aim to draw attention to the lives of people with disabilities and to appreciate exceptional personalities who selflessly help others. The Director of the Committee of Good Will - Olga Havel Foundation is Monika Granja, with whom LP-Life.cz has recently made an interesting and inspiring interview.