Education Serbia Project #14610

Give refugee children in Serbia hope for education

by Pomoc deci

Project Report | Jan 10, 2022
You Helped Kristina Live Her Dream!

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Hello dear friends! We wish you all a very healthy, happy and successful New Year! With all the uncertainties around us, we know that you are also aware how difficult it is for many children who depend on us. We would like you to meet Kristina. She is the second child in the family which had to leave everything they had ever had behind in 1999 and flee to Serbia. She was born in a refugee camp in Raca and lived in it until she was 10 years old. She always had only what her elder sister could not wear anymore and she always learnt from the textbooks her sister kept for her. As she also has a younger brother, she tried to keep her wishes always in line with what she thought the reality was – she would have to stay at home after the elementary school, try to help her parents and younger brother so that they could all help her elder sister go to secondary school and, if possible, university.

You have helped us support her older sister go to the telecommunications school which is only available in Belgrade, pay for the dormitory and when she graduated from the school, to enrol in the University. Kristina was happy for her sister and grateful for the help. It was only when she was in the second half of her last year at the elementary school and when we asked her what her dreams were, that she ever mentioned how she would also like to enrol into telecommunications school in Belgrade and be close to her sister, but that she knew “that this was impossible”.

You made this dream of hers become a reality! You helped us pay for her dormitory in addition to the scholarship you enabled for her elder sister at university.

Now, she is a happy teenager, learning what she loves and is interested in, but also having her elder sister near her in the same town to support her and make life in a big city easier.

This is why we need your help. Over the years, we have been able to provide hot meals, school supplies and educational scholarships to over 100 children and youth like Kristina.

Our long-term goal is for all these children and young people to complete as many levels of education as possible, and be in a position to become independent and successful members of society.

The work that we do is entirely dependent on donations from individual supporters like yourself. We want to be able to provide hot meals, school supplies and opportunities to children and youth like Kristina.

What can you do?

Donate! If you set up a recurring donation, GlobalGiving will match it.
Use your gift card to make a donation.
Reach out to your network of friends, peers and colleagues and start a fundraiser. For every 5 people you know, those 5 people know another 5!

Every bit helps (more than you even realize) and we'll be forever grateful :)

Don’t forget to connect with us online (facebook, instagram or our website), we’d love to hear from you!

Warm regards and a huge THANK YOU for everything you have done to help these children,

Pomoc deci team

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Jul 14, 2021
Their Success is Your Success Too!

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Happy and Successful at the End of the School Year

Almost a year and a half ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a COVID-19 pandemic. All these following months have been difficult for everyone but they have been especially tough for children.

School year was unlike those before. Unable to attend regular school, they were forced to stay at home and follow the curriculum via television or internet. Not only has the pandemic made lives harder, but for the refugee and internally displaced families living in Serbia this was one more expense they couldn’t afford. People dependent on part-time jobs to make ends meet were forced to choose between food, medications and their children’s education.

Thanks to your generosity and support, we at Pomoc Deci were able to proceed with our mutual goal of giving refugee children hope for better education achievements. With the learning going on and off line, we could redirect funds planned for school lunch directly to parents instead of paying to school meals’ providers during the online learning period, could secure needed textbooks, school supplies and we could even buy several smart devices needed for following the online lessons.

Our joint help gave the children from dislocated families and those with insufficient funds an opportunity to complete successfully the school year. Children could focus on their education and dreams of further educational progress and we are immensely grateful to you for making it happen.

Luka, Vasilije, Kristina, Milica, Jovan, Sofija, Nevena and Dragan all managed to complete the elementary school and get accepted into the secondary school he wanted. Natalija, Jelena, Nikola, Petar and Jovana S. all graduated from the high school and were accepted at the Faculties they always wanted to go to.

A total of 64 children in various other grades received some kind of support during the school year and successfully passed the grades.

We know that this year has been difficult for us all but your donation will help us make sure that the children from the poorest households will have that one secure meal per day at school, will have all the needed textbooks for the next school year, or will be able to attend school regularly because they would have the needed money for a monthly transportation pass. If you donate on TODAY - on the July 14^th from 9:00 am Eastern Daylight Time - EDT (15:00 Central European Time - CET), donations between 100 USD and 1,000 USD will be matched from 15% to 50% by the GlobalGiving Foundation through the Bonus Day campaign.

Please, click on the Donate button today and help us help these children to start the new school year ready for new learning in September!

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Mar 11, 2021
With the gift of textbooks, Obrad can study and learn!

By Lena Martinovic | Communications Coordinator

One year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. In the following months, coronavirus impacted each of us more than we could have imagined. Some more than others.

For internally displaced persons living in Serbia, the pandemic has only made their lives harder. Families that rely on benefits, childcare allowances and part-time jobs to make ends meet, saw their income shrink immensely. For families that can barely make ends meet, making sure that their kids are fed is a challenge on their own. Thanks to your generosity, over the past year, Pomoc Deci was able to continue providing vital support to children and their families.

This is a story about Obrad. The family was displaced from Kosovo and have been living in shelters for a while until they finally were able to move-in to an apartment some six years ago. Since then, it has been an uphill battle for the family. The dad is a single father, who until recently was raising three children on his own. (the daughter had moved out after getting married) Most of the family’s income comes from social benefits and a childcare allowance, with an occasional shift or two that his dad is able to pick up. This helps them get by, Obrad’s father says, but just barely. Without the generosity of people, Pomoc Deci would not have been able to give Obrad textbooks and a daily lunch in school. And without this support, Obrad’s father says, the family would not be able to get through the month and would have to make sacrifices. Getting food or paying the electric bill? Textbooks or logs for the fire to keep them warm?

Obrad is in 7^th grade now. While the pandemic has made it difficult for him to make friends and stay active, it hasn’t dampened his dreams of succeeding in school. His favorite subject is math and he says that he can’t wait to go to high school and learn more advanced concepts and formulas. Thanks to the textbooks he has received from Pomoc Deci, he can actually study this year. Since classes are held both online and in-person, his dad says that they do not know what they would have done if Obrad did not have his textbooks.

We know that this year has been difficult for us all—but if you’re able to give, you’ll help us tackle food insecurity in some of the most vulnerable families across Serbia. When you donate today, GlobalGiving will match your donation of up to $50 at 50% for their Little by Little campaign.* For as little as $0.4 a day, you can help make sure that one less child goes to bed hungry.

*Terms and conditions apply.

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