Education Serbia Project #14610

Give refugee children in Serbia hope for education

by Pomoc deci

Project Report | Nov 13, 2020
School snack and textbooks: Emilija, Milica and Dragan get by with your help!

By Lena Martinovic | Communications Coordinator

Dear friends,

Did you know that alongside monthly stipends that we provide to students, we also help out on a smaller scale by providing school supplies, textbooks or school snacks? For a lot of children, the school snack is one of the only opportunities for them to receive a warm, hearty meal.

One of the families that we have been able to support is a family originally from Kosovo. Displaced in 1999, for a number of years, they lived in refugee centers. At one point, through donations and a foreign-development project, they relocated to a small apartment where they have been living ever since. Pomoc Deci has been helping the family, by providing textbooks and a warm lunch for all three of their children - Emilija, Milica, and Dragan. Their father currently works in a PVC building plant, while their mother has not worked in six years. Since their mother has lost her job, they get by as well as they can. The benefits they receive, help them get by, but just barely. Their daughter, Milica used to do folk dance after school, however after her mother had lost her job, the parents were not able to pay for it. Currently, children are focusing solely on school, ensuring they get good grades to be able to continue their education.

Families that are displaced often suffer financially and emotionally while waiting to have their residence status confirmed. A lot of families go into debt, are forced to work under the table just to make by or are dependent on donations and help of others. Support and generosity of people is what allows us to help families in their time of need.

By providing support, children can focus on their education. Education has been proven to be one of the best ways for children to lift themselves out of poverty.

To add, don’t forget to add Tuesday, December 1 to your calendars. Our work, and our ability to support the most vulnerable families is dependent on the generosity of people reading these reports and making a donation. Thanks to GlobalGiving’s support, every donation made on December 1, up to $2,500 will be eligible for a portion of the $1,000,000 bonus prize draw! Please consider sharing our message, with the hope that someone who hasn’t heard of us will see it and help us!

GivingTuesday is the biggest fundraising day of the year, and any help during it helps us immensely!

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Jul 16, 2020
You helped Jovana realize her dream of studying mathematics!

By Lena Martinovic | Communications Coordinator

Jovana in class

Dear friend,

We hope you and your family, friends, and colleagues are doing well.

We would like you to meet Jovana, our scholarship recipient. She is a recent high school graduate, whose parents were originally from Kosovo. Displaced during the war, they had settled in the Raca municipality. Along with Jovana, they also have another two children - a daughter and a son.

Jovana is a student at the Technical High School in Belgrade. As Belgrade is a one-hour’s car ride away, she has to live in a student residency, a building housing high school students who do not live in the city.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, like all of her peers in Serbia and beyond, Jovana’s last couple of months of high school were different than anyone could have imagined. As a state of emergency was declared, Jovana was forced to return back to her parent’s place as she could not remain in her student residence. Along with thousands of her peers throughout Serbia, Jovana’s classes were held remotely. Classes were recorded and aired on a streaming platform for all high school students, students would download assignments from the school portal, while her teachers would occasionally schedule oral exams over the phone. With university entrance exams coming up, remote learning was not ideal, but it was much better than the alternative - not having any classes at all.

During our conversation, Jovana also reflected on her high school experience, indicating how grateful she was for being able to attend a high school in Belgrade. “There are no opportunities back home. There is only one high school, but it does not provide classes and the expertise the high school in Belgrade did.” With the help of the GlobalGiving community, the generosity of donors helped Jovana and her family pay for her dorm in the student residence, allowing her to continue her education beyond elementary school, helping her work on realizing her dream of studying mathematics. Without your support, her parents would never have been able to afford to send her to Belgrade.

Beyond high school, Jovana plans on attending the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Belgrade in the fall. You made this happen. Thank you.

We want to be able to continue to provide opportunities for children and youth like Jovana. To give them the opportunity to continue their education and make a life for themselves. Without a support system, children of displaced parents are unlikely to be able to break the cycle of poverty. They need us.

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Mar 19, 2020
Andreja's a happy boy, he has a healthy meal every day for lunch!

By Lena Martinovic | Communications Coordinator

Hi friend,

We would like you to meet Andreja, a young, 12-year old from Smederevo. Like any energetic pre-teen, Andreja has dreams and goals for himself.

When talking to his dad, he commented how interested his son was in the life around him. Every day, he would come home from school, run up to his parents and would proclaim: “I want to be a singer when I grow up!” or “I want to dance!” On Friday, when we spoke, his son’s latest career obsession was basketball.

In school, he tries very hard - and we are so proud of him! This year, he is in upper elementary school so his workload has increased. One of his new classes is ICT and he loves it! The class covered a lot since the beginning of the year, but definitely the favorite part of these classes for Andreja is that they get to learn how to use paint. He paints everything. From his favorite basketball player, to his family, to his friends and the solar system.

His home life is not easy, though. His parents are both internally displaced refugees who came from Kosovo to Smederevo with nothing to their name. They try to make do, but it’s hard. The family receives benefits from the Serbian government, however it’s often not enough.

This is how you’ve been helping the family over the years. Every day in school, Andreja gets a hot meal, which sustains him and allows him to study, apply himself, and work on achieving his dreams. For his parents, this support is invaluable as it allows them to focus on paying the bills, taking care of Andreja’s siblings, and helping Andreja with his asthma.

Majority of our donations come from individual donors who donate less than $50. This is why, March 23-27, we are inviting you to participate in GlobalGiving’s Little x Little campaign. For every donation under $50, GlobalGiving will match it at 50%. For every donation, your dollar will go further, allowing us to raise money and bring hot meals to children like Andreja.

The work that we do is entirely funded through donations and would not be possible without the philanthropic support of our community. We are counting on your support to help us surpass our goal and invest in our children's future.

Please consider donating and making a parent's day, which in turn will help their children. If you can't donate, consider sharing Andreja's story with your friends and starting a fundraiser. Don't forget to stay in touch with us, over Facebook or Instagram, we’d love to hear from you.

With love,

Pomoc deci team

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