Education Serbia Project #17206

Support for Children in Flooded Areas of Serbia

by Pomoc deci

Project Report | May 15, 2017
Bojana: "Can You Imagine how Important the Scholarship Is?"

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Four little sisters living on one scholarship

Four little sisters from the same family live up in the hills of the mountain Cer, in a village Krzava. The closest urban place is a small town Krupanj in south-western part of Serbia. Three of them go to school, and the youngest is only five years old. Each morning three girls travel by bus to school in Krupanj. One of them is in the second grade, the other sister is in fourth, and oldest one Bojana is in the sixth grade. All three are excellent pupils.

Their daily routine is all set up: going to school, getting back home to do their homework and then helping their mom in the fields. They are good shepherdesses as well, because they often have to tend and rear sheep in the meadows, too.

It seems that the life is slowly returning to the normality after an unprecedented downpour and floods undermined the hill and made many houses disappear in a matter of minutes. Lush nature hides the remains of the huge damage caused after the floods that nearly totally destroyed little city Krupanj and its surrounding. The flood swept away everything the family owned.

For a long time the eldest girl, Bojana and her family lived at her aunt’s place. Through the international donations the family was recently granted a small prefabricated house. They managed to equip the house with the sheer necessities and to buy chicken and sheep to feed the family.

The whole household depends on Bojana’s mother Nada, as father cannot do any heavy work after his heart attack. The hard life is written in the wrinkles on her face, but with a broad smile she says that the girls are of great help to her. When the season comes, all the girls with their mother become field workers, in addition to other tasks. They pick raspberries and blackberries and the money they make from selling these fruits is the only income they make for buying the necessities through the whole year.

"This year we had an exceptionally cold winter with lots of snow. It has been too cold even now, during the spring time, so we cannot make any money off this year's crop yet. The only money we have now in the house is a small child allowance that we get from the State, so you can imagine how important the scholarship I receive from you is!”, explains Bojana in a matter-of-fact tone of her voice. “Every penny is a fortune for us. The first priority in spending this money is to buy all the necessities the girls need for school", explains mother Nada.

After the floods, many young people have left Krzava forever, there are mostly old people households in the village, so there are no other children to play with around. Most of the time four little sisters are the only companions to one another. They are playing, fighting and laughing, as all sisters do. In addition to school obligations, work in the fields and shepherding, Bojana, as the eldest among them, has an additional responsibility to take care of the younger sisters, but this modest girl says that she doesn’t find it so difficult. She talks about her plans after the elementary school, her love for the mathematics, but she doesn’t want to remember the disaster her family went through during the floods. And she says that there is no time for her to feel lonely without her school friends around. “When sometimes, I feel like it, I think about and am looking forward to the next time when I can spend some time alone with my best friend Marta. These are the special days! We are in the same class. She sometimes comes to my home in Krzava, and sometimes I can go to visit her in her village. Then we have time to play and talk”, Bojana explains broadly smiling.

Thank you very much on Bojana’s behalf and all the other children you help us to help!

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Feb 14, 2017
Meet Igor from a Little Village Crnce

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Igor and Ivona on a rare trip to the nearby town

Three years ago, Igor was a happy seven-year old first-grader living with his baby sister Ivona, mom and dad in a little village Crnce close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Drina river, beautiful and calm was running through the centre of the village, among the houses scattered on two sides of the hills. And then, overnight, the bridges, roads and houses – all were gone when the river flooded the whole area.

That night, Igor lost his home, but much worse, he also lost his father. His mother becme a widow and a single parent with two young children, with no work, no house and no income.

Today, he is in the third grade of a local elementary school trying his best to have good grades and be a good example for his little sister who will start her education next September. It is tough for him. There are no other houses with children near his house, the only friends and peers are about ten other children who go to the same elementary school in another village. To reach his school, he has to walk three kilometers every day. And the same distance back home. Igor is ambitious, wants to have only excellent results, but admits: “English language is too difficult and no one here knows it, so I can’t ask anyone to help me”. His mother confirms it and feels sorry that she can’t help him either with this subject.

Dragana, his mother, only recently has managed to get a steady job, but works in shifts, at the border customs office, so Igor's grandparents take care of him and his sister when she is at work. With only one meager income for the whole family, the scholarship that Igor was awarded thanks to YOUR donations, makes sure that he can get a new pair of shoes when the long walks to school and back take their toll on the old ones. “Every penny counts”, says Igor’s mother and adds: “I need to save now to be able to buy text-books and all other needed things for two pupils in September.

Please, continue helping us help children like Igor and Ivona!

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Nov 14, 2016
Andjela's New Beginning

By Ljiljana Vasic | Director

Andjela with her Mom at a weekend break at home

Andjela P., a fifteen-year-old girl, has completed her primary school education with excellent grades. This September she left her hometown for the first time to continue her education in Belgrade. She enrolled into a vocational school for postal and technical communications. She plans to start work as soon as she graduates from vocational school.

“It was not easy for me when I arrived in Belgrade. A big new city, new conditions and, of course, the hardest part was to start a new school in a proper way. There are lots of subjects which are not easy. But now it's better. I managed to get organized. I have not seen much of Belgrade, only Kalemegdan. I have a lot to learn so I do not have much free time,” said Andjela about the beginning of her new life in the Serbian capital.

Andjela, like other children from Krupanj were very lucky to live in one of the most picturesque towns in western Serbia. Krupanj is surrounded by beautiful natural scenery: a lovely green river, breathtaking hills covered with green meadows, woods and a rich forest. However one night two years ago heavy rains poured down onto the town, the river became a dangerous force which undermined the hills and many houses disappeared in seconds. The catastrophic flood almost destroyed the whole town and the disaster affected the lives of many people. Andjela`s carefree childhood was abruptly interrupted because everything her family had vanished that awful night.

During the flood she was trapped with her sister and parents in the remains of their house which was situated on a hill in the Kostajnik village. The water was coming in very fast. Fortunately, they were all rescued, but fear of that terrible night still haunts the entire family.

After the flood Andjela’s parents worked very hard on their farm. Every day, she walked for three kilometers to school in the nearby town Stolice. She didn`t complain and it was not difficult because she enjoyed learning. So, Andjela was an excellent student.

Andjela`s family lost all their possessions in the flood. They had nothing. Her parents lost their jobs and they were left with no income. Pomoc Deci was able to provide a scholarship for Andjela.

“At the time it was huge support for me, to continue learning”, said this diligent girl.

Nowadays life in Krupanj is slowly returning to normal. Thanks to international aid, roads, hospitals and schools have been rebuilt and repaired. Last year Andjela's family was granted a prefabricated house, thanks to UNDP donations. Three generations are now living in the new house. Until recently, her grandfather’s pension was the only income in their household. Luckily, Andjela`s mother, Zeljka has found a job and now works in a newly opened denim factory. Her father does not have a permanent job yet and he mostly does farm work. However, without the scholarship that Andjela has been receiving thanks to your donations, she would not have been able to move to Belgrade and continue her education.

We are just two weeks away from #GivingTuesday and we have some exciting news to share! The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has generously provided $500,000 in matching funds for #GivingTuesday!

There will be an unprecedented 50% matching for #GivingTuesday donations up to the first $1 million raised! This is the largest amount of matching funds GlobalGiving has ever had in one day in order to match more donations than ever before!

In addition to this huge matching opportunity, all new recurring donations made from #GivingTuesday through December 31st will be matched at 200% up to $100, on the fourth donation!

So, please, consider donating for our project during this time and help us change more lives of the children who suffered so much in the terrible floods in the Balkans!

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