Child Protection Serbia Project #21722

Let's Help Syrian Refugee Children in Serbia Now!

by Pomoc deci

Let's Help Syrian Refugee Children in Serbia Now!

Project Report | Feb 5, 2019
My First Three Electronic New Year's Cards!

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Learning to use computer applications

Benjamin is an eight-year old Afghani boy and with his elder brother Matin and his mother has been in a Refugee Camp in Vranje for almost two years now. His Dad is in another Refugee Camp since his parents separated a year ago. He doesn’t even remember when they left home, but talks only about his friends in the Camp and school.

Benjamin is also always active in all the activities we organise for the children at the Camp. With his Mom, he helps newcomers, translates for other children what people say, comes regularly to the psycho-social support workshops, but loves most everything to do with mathematics and computers.

At school, he has won the third place in a school competition of the third graders in mathematics and is preparing for the Municipality Competition now. At the Camp, he has learnt how to make a Season’s Greetings card electronically on computer. “I have made one New Year’s Card for my Dad. He has promised to come back to us and then we can all go to Germany to see my Aunt. And I have made one Card for my Mom since she is always with us. She comes with us to school, she helps me with my homework and helps me make new friends when they come to the Camp. I’ve just also made a special card for my brother Matin. You know, he has won a third prize in drawing at school. He draws better than me, but doesn’t know how to make a nice card on computer”!

With your support, we organise computer classes at the Refugee Camp for children and young people twice a week. They learn how to make a file, a folder, to move, change and save the documents. They also learn how to use search options, to find and use instructions for making different things, but also to draw and create greeting cards and other objects.

Please, help us continue helping these children overcome trauma, learn skills that can help them wherever they will be in future and build their self-confidence so fragile after years of suffering in many ways!

Radiating with exctement about computer skills

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Oct 29, 2018
When Nasim Found His Lost Brother Karim

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Nasim checking his new clothes

Nasim from Afganistan will never forget that day – August the 15^th in 2015. He was just nine and with his four siblings and parents was trying to get through the border in Greece into Macedonia. There were so many people there, he could hardly breathe from the heat and the crowd, but he held his Dad’s hand tightly. His one-year younger brother Waheed was holding the other Dad’s hand. Their Mom was holding Sonia who was only four in her arms whilst Niam who was 11 and Karim who was 13 were squeezing in with all of them. Hours later as it seemed, it became clear that they wouldn’t be able to get into Macedonia that day. But Karim was not there. Dad went around looking for him, Nasim looked around too scared to make a step away from Mom, but they couldn’t see him. Three days they were stuck at the border, three long days they were trying to find Karim. When they finally reached Macedonia, Dad immediately told police that his son was missing.

The weeks went by, the family came to Serbia and has been put in a Refugee Camp in Bujanovac. Again, Dad informed everyone around that his eldest son was missing. Two additional years have passed. Nasim has been regular participant at the psycho-social workshops, his sisters and younger brother were coming to play with other children too, even their Mom sometimes joined them.

Nasim started going to school. As he admitted, he has frequently relived those days in Greece in his dreams. And Karim has sometimes come to his dreams to tell him that he would find him soon. He believed his elder brother but was not telling his Mom this so that he would not make her cry again.

And then a miracle happened. People have come one day two weeks ago and asked his Dad to go with them. Nasim thought his Dad was flying over the path to the Refugee Camp on his return – Karim is alive and well! He is in the Netherlands in a foster family and has given enough details to the authorities that they were able to find the family in Bujanovac. Back in Greece, he actually went through the border on that day and some people helped him go on. They claimed he was their relative and together they all got eventually to the Netherlands. He was sure his family was also among the crowd until they reached Austria. When he realised that they were nowhere around, he remembered that his Dad had been talking about going to the Netherlands and thought that if he could get there, he would find them. He only reported that he had lost them when he reached the Netherlands. The authorities have found him a foster family to take care of him, but took all the details that he could give them and informed the police and international organisations about this case. That is how they finally found Nasim and the rest of the family in Bujanovac. Now, the paperwork is underway to reunite them all!

The whole Refugee Camp and all the workers there cried with happiness. Nasim’s Dad was told that the family would be sent to Belgrade in order to prepare everything for them to leave as soon as possible for the Netherlands to reunite with Karim.

Everyone felt like doing something special for Nasim and his siblings. We bought him and his younger brother and sisters new clothes so that they would all look good when they meet their brother again.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to help these children in every way we can. With the textbooks for those who go to school, with psycho-social support so much needed after all the trauma and with new clothes and shoes. It all means so much to them and us!

And new outfit for Nasim's little sister Sonia

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Jul 15, 2018
Together on a World Refugee Day

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Nasrin all smiles on the stage

“I wish I had my room and my dolls back”, said an 11-year old Nasrin, when we asked her what she misses most in a refugee camp in Bujanovac in south Serbia, where she and her mother are waiting for the international birth certificate for her new-born sister before they could be listed for moving to Hungary. Her father is in another refugee camp in Serbia waiting to be allowed to reunite with his family.

“And I miss my friends and dancing with them”, shyly smiling she added. Maja, our Coordinator for psycho-social support to refugee children in south Serbia remembered this when a local school started preparing a performance to mark the World refugee day and asked Nasrin if she would like to participate. Hesitant in the beginning, but overcoming her stage fright, Nasrin joined the group. For two weeks, they were practicing every day and Maja made sure that this lovely girl could join every practice – she went to the refugee camp to pick her up, took her to the school and after the practice, she would take her back to the camp.

So, the 20^th of June arrived and all the refugees staying at the Bujanovac refugee camp were invited to the performance. Among the 20 local girls, Nasrin was part of the performance. “This was great, I met new friends and we managed to understand one another. it was almost like being with my friends back home!”, with the broadest possible smile, Nasrin was telling us when she went back to her mother to make sure that Mom saw everything she had done on the stage.

All these children are in dire situation, living in refugee camps, far from their homes, not really understanding where, how and why they are going, not understanding much of the languages around them and having very worried and distressed parents. We have been trying to help them through psycho-social workshops, small toy gifts and provision of opportunities to learn and mix with local children.

On July the 18^th, from 9:00 in the morning Eastern Time (15:00 in Europe), GlobalGiving Foundation will match 50% every donation you make, up to 500 USD, as long as 120,000 Matching Funds last.

On this Bonus Day, you can help us continue providing this type of help to the Middle East refugee children in south Serbia. Please, donate whatever amount you can on this day and as soon as the Bonus day starts (the available matching funds go fast).

Please, help us help these children to be children who laugh and play, who, for at least, short time can forget what they miss and what they are going through!

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