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Monthly Report No 7 January, 2011
Charity organization Serbs for Serbs
PO Box 34206, Chicago, IL 60634 Phone: +1-312-85-SERBS
Website: www.SerbsForSerbs.org E-Mail: [email protected]
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
Dear friends and donors,
Charity organization Serbs for Serbs have
finally registered in the state of Illinois in United
States by the group of the Serbian youth. Charity
organization Serbs for Serbs is currently in the
process of applying for a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization status. We registered organization in
Jun 2010 and we have already started working and
began raising donations.
Since this is our fresh start in the United States
please excuse us for any difficulties and mistakes
that we make in the beginning.
About Us
The mission of Charity organization Serbs for
Serbs is to affect on consciousness of Americans,
Serbs and their friends through planned
projects, social and humanitarian activities in
order to develop and foster better society for
future generations and provide aid for
underprivileged families in need.
Although there are many humanitarian
organizations and associations, help often doesn't
reach the most jeopardized. Due to unnecessary
administration, missing information and slow
decision making, the delivery of aid arrives too late
to the final consumers, or not at all. It is a sad and
embarrassing, but true fact that more than 18.000
children daily die around the world because of
starvation and malnutrition. There, among us, the
blind and deaf.
We are witnesses of the bad demographic situation
of our nation, decreasing natality, increasing
number of singles, abortions, accelerated aging of
the population and generally bad economic
condition of the households in Serbia, Republic of
Srpska and Montenegro and other countries in the
Balkan.
An average couple has "fallen" on one child.
Analysts warn that Serbs will become a minority in
its own country in the following century if the
nation, individuals and government don't wake up
from the nescient in which they've fallen!
On the other hand, nobody is talking about the
families with many children which grieve by living
in bitter poverty. Occupied by their everyday
struggle for survival, they are being humbly in their
desire for implementing rights which belong to
them. Their life stories, fears and problems are
identical, but almost invisible and unheard in order
to gain the attention of the public, media and even
state. That's why the idea of the Charity
organization Serbs for Serbs arose. Organization
was formed by a group of young and trustful
people, who are united by the common vision of
helping families blessed by many children and who
are aware of the fact that even a small help means a
lot for those who don't live in a material excess.
We are united by the humane idea to help the
poorest part of the Serbian nation.
Charity organization Serbs for Serbs try to
revive the spiritless energy of the Serbian Diaspora
which would be able to reinforce people of Serbian
heritage as well as all good people throughout the
world with minimal, but constant monthly
donations.
We hope and believe that there is also a grain of
doing good and that you will join us in the endless
struggle against poverty.
God bless and save all Serbian families with many
children and our honored donors who participate in
the noble effort to return smile on children faces.
CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE!
www.SerbsforSerbs.org
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
Ambition
The mission of Charity organization Serbs for Serbs is to
affect on consciousness of Serbian people through our
projects and humanitarian activities, in order to develop
better society for future generations.
Why Serbs for Serbs?
We wanted to alleviate impaired spirit of Serbian
people in togetherness and brotherhood help through
humanitarian work and social aid.
Who do we help?
We help Serbian families who live in the Balkans, have
five or more children and live in terrible poverty.
How do we define “terrible poverty”?
Under terrible poverty we define absence of one or
more basic factors required for living: food, clothes,
shoes, and safe space for living.
Why do we help?
We believe that there is a basic need for one human (or
a group) to help others in distress. A help is not only
human virtue but also a Christian responsibility. By
focusing our help on families with many children, we
directly affect on their stirring toward becoming
independent from social-dependable government
programs. Indirectly, we want to affect on birth rate of
Serbian people that has been in great decline in last 20
years.
What are our long term goals?
- family is ready to support itself daily and manage to
pay all required expenses and bills
- their children are encouraged to continue with school
and raising their own family
- our donors are satisfied with the activities and they
are ready to help other families
- our organization is satisfied with the results
- family is ready in the future to become our donor and
if necessary help other families that are in need of help
Who do we need in organization?
We need members and donors that will secure financial
stability through supporting our programs and activities
in the future. Donors may join our daily activities
within the organization in order to coordinate our work
better. We also need volunteers ready to donate several
hours per week for actual work within the organization.
Activities of volunteers and their specific tasks would
be determined by the required projects and their
personal interest. From that group of volunteers we
would look for future leaders of organization.
We want to inform all donors and friends of
humanitarian organization Serbs for Serbs that live
in North America we have new Pay Pal account so
you can send your donation via email to:
Обавештавамо пријатеље и донаторе
хуманитарне организације Срби за Србе који
живе на тлу Северне Америке да органак
СЗС у Америци има нови Пеј Пал рачун на
који можете да уплатите своје донације. Да би
ојачали организацију глобално морамо да
јачамо регионалне одборе. Хвала вам
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
. Additional help for Gutalj family
We have already helped twice the single mother with
five children, Zdenka Gutalj from East Sarajevo in the
Republic of Srpska. Zdenka somehow manages to cope
alone, and apart from the appeal this summer to buy her
a refrigerator, she's been avoiding to ask for help.
However, she didn't have a choice this time. She had to
take her youngest child, Nemanja (11) to Banja Luka for
tests due to the problem in development. The costs of the
road, no matter how small, were impossible for her to
finance.
She asked us to buy some clothes to Nemanja, so that he
wouldn't go in old things into the hospital, and to help
her pay the accommodation and journey. Nemanja
received plenty of new things we bought for him. We
brought some of the donated clothes to his sister Bojana,
but we didn't have anything else for the boys, so we had
to buy some in Belgrade in the amount of 6,000 dinars.
We payed return tickets (80 KM) and gave Zdenka
money for two-night accommodation in Banja Luka (85
KM), thus spending 120 KM from our account in the
Republic of Srpska. In any case we managed to help the
children whose parents can't afford the money for
unpredicted costs. Nemanja has problems with his
marrowbone, and his growth is rapidly slowed down.
Zdenka hopes that the treatments will help him, because
he should lay in the hospital in january.
Serbian Report
Help delivered to little Darija
Charity organization SZS together with student fund
"Osmeh na dar" and friends from Belgrade and
Kosovska Mitrovica gathered a small donation to help
little Darija Antovic. She lives with her parents in
Zvecan-Kosovo and Metohija.
Two year old Darija has cerebral palsy and she is
currently in the process of recovering from it. The help
from SZS organization consisted of gym mat, Pilate's
ball, rocking horse, eye band aids, different toys and
candy in the value of 4,800 dinars.
Our organization friends from Kosovska Mitrovica, have
delivered this help few days ago. They also paid a visit
to little Darija and talked with her parents. Her family is
forever grateful for all of the help they have received and
to the people of great will and open hearts. God willing,
We are hoping that little Darija will soon fully recover.
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
Serbs for Serbs in Lopare
Representatives of humanitarian organizations Serbs for
Serbs from Switzerland Dusan Đaković and the
Republic of Srpska Dobrina Kusmuk and Vaslija
Obrenovic met the mayor of Lopare Dr. Rade Savic
with the activities of humanitarian organizations and
how to help families in Majevica. The potential of the
Serbs in the diaspora is huge, and with small but regular
individual donations and allowing the families to work
and earn income would be able to quickly solve the vital
problems of those who do not have sufficient means to
live.
Laptop computer awarded to All Honors
Student
Marina Jovanovic from Leposavic, received a gift
Laptop computer delivered by Organization "Mother of
Nine Jugovich" and donated by Organization "Serbs
for Serbs". Visitors of website for soup kitchen's
remember the story of Marina Jovanovic, senior student
at Medical High school in Kosovska Mitrovica. besides
the horrible conditions that she lives in and all of the
horrors in her life, she has somehow managed to be
elected as the Honor Roll student 3 times at her High
school. The problems for her family still persist, but she
never looses hope, she tries as hard as she can to be the
best student.
She says that the story about her life on the website of
Organization "Mother of Nine Jugovich" resulted in a
certain number of people offering help for her, but the
actual help did not arrive yet.
The Laptop computer gift she received from
Organization "Serbs for Serbs" has brought nothing but
joy to her. Computer will be extremely helpful for future
education if she has enough means and funds to
continue. Marina also wanted to express gratitude and
thanks to all of the people involved in providing
necessary help she needs, wishing them joy, health and
happiness so that they can continue their work and
efforts in helping all of the Serbian people in KiM.
We would like to remind everyone interested in helping
the Jovanovic family, you can contact them directly 064-
235-1733. Also, you can send a donation to account,
name: Srdjan Jovanovic 1160626602000105 PRO
CREDIT BANK OF KOSOVO.
Serbs for Serbs again in Prijedor
Reports: Dusan Djakovic, Switzerland (Photos)
First week after Christmas, representatives of Serbs for
Serbs Charity Organization from Switzerland Dusan
Djakovic and the Republic of Srpska Dobrina Kusmuk
conducted three major actions in Srpska. They tried to
make holidays more beautiful for at least one of many
families living on the edge of poverty. First week after
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
Christmas, representatives of Serbs for Serbs Charity
Organization from Switzerland Dusan Djakovic and the
Republic of Srpska Dobrina Kusmuk conducted three
major actions in Srpska. They tried to make holidays
more beautiful for at least one of many families living
on the edge of poverty.
The first day of our visit to Republic of Srpska our
destination was Prijedor. To make us feel like home in
―angry frontier‖ our friends from café ―Kameljara‖ took
care of that. That is where we discussed future plans!
After a short break and hanging out with our great
friends from Prijedor we went to action and visited
family Marijanović.
The family has 11 members: father Drasko, mother
Mira, and children Dragan (18), Suzana (15), Marinko
(13), Zeljka (11), Jelena (10), Dragan (9), Zeljko (7),
Predrag (4) and the youngest Svetlana, who is only 8
months old. After we greeted the family and wished
them a Merry Christmas we decided to first delight the
oldest and youngest member of the household, the
father Drasko whom we bought a chainsaw ―Huskvarna
435‖ so that he can make at least some kind of earning
for his family and little Svetlana we bought a baby crib
so that she does not have to sleep any more in the
basket of the stroller in which we found her during the
last visit.
After that father invited us into his modest home that is
old and dilapidated but full of smiles and lives of
children, what could be more valuable or important than
that? At Marijanovic‘s home with pleasant conversation
we agreed to purchase food that they need to make their
winter at least little shorter until our next arrival. Just
like the previous time mother Mira is worried about the
food for little Svetlana, who cannot process the regular
milk yet and is needing formula which is really
expensive. Father Drasko informs us that he managed to
secure some material from the company he used to
work for who owned him money. In an addition we
discussed how we can help them permanently. Short
after that we went to shopping center in Prijedor in
order to bring the action to the end. At the shopping
center we bought various supplies for hygiene, food and
of course we cannot forget the candy for the children.
Total value was around 400KM. We returned to
Marijanovic‘s home to leave the merchandise we
purchased and with good buys we deported for
Bosanski Samac, where we slept overnight ahead of the
second day of our action in the Republic of Srpska.
We delivered tractor to the Ekmečić
family
Photos /
On Saturday, January 22, the representatives of the
charity organization Serbs for Serbs from Serbia and the
Republic of Srpska delivered the financially largest
contribution since the inception of the organization! We
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
officially delivered a new tractor, which has arrived
several days ago to the Ekmečić family in the village of
Prebilovci. We owe great gratitude to the Ministry of
agriculture, forestry and waterpower of the Republic of
Srpska, which has donated 14.035 KM (7.314 EUR) at
the end of 2010 for this project. Our organization added
another 2.500 EUR and that has enabled us to buy a new
tractor sooner than expected.
Prebilovci is located about 30 km both from Mostar and
the Adriatic coast. It has always been a Serbian village,
and a symbol of suffering and martyrdom. During the
World War II, 52 families were killed, and 36 homes
were ruined. The killed were buried in collective grave,
which represents one of the greatest tombs of the
murdered Serbs in the World War II. After the slaughter,
there were only 174 inhabitants left, out of more than a
thousand before that. During the last war, most of the
villagers went to exile, and the Ekmečić family is among
the approximately 20 families that came back.
We met at the town of Pale with Dobrina Kusmuk the
president of our organization from the Republic of
Srpska. She and her husband accompanied us to
Prebilovci. We received an amazing welcome. They
were sincerely happy and excited due to our arrival, and
welcomed us wholeheartedly. Despite their humble life,
they organized a true feast, and their relatives, neighbors,
friends and the local priest joined them. The host
Miladin insisted on the pray and the blessing of our
gathering and especially to consecrate a tractor. We
delivered several books of Orthodox and historical
theme to the youngest and finished the formalities of
signing the contract of donation with Miladin.
Miladin is a former member of the Army of Republic of
Srpska. He and his wife Sojka have five children: Bojan
(19), the student of informatics, Bojana (16), Branka
(10), Biljana (9), and the youngest and the cutest one
Božana (3). This very hardworking family lives from
agriculture. They grow potato, zucchini, tomato, peppers
and onion, which they sell, and they grow other
vegetables and some fruit for their needs. There was an
article about Miladin in the local papers, because he is a
producer who managed to produce ―Watermelon for
Guinness‖. The land around the Neretva is very fertile,
and Miladin knows how to use that.
Our impression about them was very positive. They
aren‘t giving up due to the difficulties in life. Miladin
and his son Bojan are growing the land given to them in
lease, mostly from the neighbors living in Diaspora. Up
to now they managed to do that only when they were
able to rent a tractor, which made them dependent on
someone else‘s plans and free time. The land in their
property is far away from them, so the tractor we gave
them will now enable them to grow their land as well.
The reaction of everyone present assured us that we did
the right thing by delivering the tractor. That was
confirmed when we all saw Miladin‘s determination to
use this donation the best way possible. The tractor will
surely help this family to become completely
independent and financially stabile family in short
notice. We should mention that this action has not yet
come to its end. We need more money to buy the
appliances for the tractor, so that Miladin could upgrade
the production. We hope to get the appliances soon,
which will end this important project. However, we have
seen that all things said about Miladin and his diligence
was true, because he is not waiting for our organization
to buy everything, but he‘s borrowing from others, thus
not wasting the precious time for farming the land.
This project of the organization was not only the largest
financially, but also the most important. The buying of
the tractor represented the fulfillment of our primary
goal concerning all the families – to allow them to stand
on their feet through work and production, a long-term
perspective and financial independence. We got a
promise from Miladin that he will use the tractor to help
other Serbs from Prebilovci and nearby as well.
We left the Ekmečić family with the desire to meet them
again soon. On our way back we stopped to see place
where there were once the monument dedicated to the
murdered Serbs in the World War II and the Orthodox
Church, both destroyed at the beginning of the war 1991
by the descendants of those who killed the Serbs earlier.
Despite the attempts to hide the evidence of the suffering
of Serbs, a new church and the monument will be built
again.
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
We will conclude by ascertaining that the Ekmečić
family is not in extremely bad social position as is the
case with some other families we are helping, because
they have their home, and manage to send their children
to school. Their condition is, however, very sensitive,
and an accident, like the one last year, when Sojka was
hurt, can destabilize them. The cows are being taken to a
distant pasture. The renting of tractor was quite waste of
time, and that is now over.
We thank all the donors again and also the Government
of the Republic of Srpska. We owe special thanks to our
representative Dobrina Kusmuk for all the things done.
The project is not over yet, and we need additional donor
help to complete this nice story.
Serbian Report
SfS visited family Matić in Novi Sad
After visiting the Republic of Srpska, the representative
of the charity organization Serbs for Serbs from
Swizerland visited the ten-member family Matić in Novi
Sad. The members of the family are the single mother
Jadranka and her children Milena (26), Milorad (24),
Đorđe (22), Milica (17), Miloš (16), Dragana (14),
Snežana (14), Predrag (14) and Verica (11).
The family has an income of 8.400 dinars (just over 80
EUR) which Jadranka earns as an employee of Clinical
center in Priština.
The monthly expences for the rent and utilities are 220
EUR, so it‘s not difficult to conclude that this family
from Knin is having a hard time to survive. It is worth
mentioning that Jadranka‘s first husband died defending
the Serbian people in Srpska Krajina.
When we visited the family, not all the children were at
home. We could only talk to Đorđe, who is a quiet boy.
He is prepared to work anywhere, as long as he is being
paid, because he had had bad experiences. Đorđe and
Milorad were both employed in a firm that provides
security, but they weren‘t registered nor paid, so they
left the firm.
Milena is the only employed member of the family, but
she lives and works in Montenegro as a waitress, and
manages only to earn for rent and food. After talking to
Jadranka we went to the mall and bought the necessarry
groceries – flour, oil, sugar and milk in the amount of
7.200 dinars, because they only had some flour, and they
wouldn‘t be able to buy bread.
We said goodbuy to the family, and promised not to
forget them.
Serbian Report
Serbs for Serbs provided a cow in
Majevica
Reports: Dobrina Kusmuk, Republic of Srpska
On the second day of the visit in Republic of Srpska
representative of charity organization Serbs for Serbs,
Dusan Djakovic and Dobrina Kusmuk visited Lopare. In
Lopare our host was Mr. Vaslija Obrenovic, a man with
a big heart and a great patriot, even though we spent
couple hours with Vaslijem it was enough for him to
become one of us and be a part of what we do. On that
occasion, and before the planned visit to the family, we
met with the mayer of Lopare Dr. Rado Savic.
At the meeting with Dr. Savic he introduced us with
the problems that municipalities have in taking care
of the poor and how they help. We were pleasantly
surprised with the effort made by the mayors
invest in fundraising to address the basic needs of
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
those families as well as his desire to facilitate our
visit to the families that we choose to help in this
action. Thanks to the hospitality and kindness of our
hosts, although we were in Lopare for the first
time we felt like we were among friends of many
years.
We
quickly found the village Peljav and family
Cetkovic. Milorad got married ten years
ago with Genoveva, Romanian woman, with whom
he had four children Gina
(9), Miodrag (8 ), Milijana (7), Mirko (1.5) years.
They live in an unfinished house that has only two
rooms. Milorad wages and thus trying to feed his
family. Genoveva, very valuable and a good
mother she ties to contribute as much
as possible. Children are beautiful, loving and
raised well, they are good students as well.
During our visit Mirko was sleeping so tight that
even our voices didn‘t wake him up, while other
children curiously accompanied our tour. We found
out that Genoveva stay was not legalized in our
country and in the meantime, her passport has
expired and we promised to help her collect the
necessary documentations. In further conversation
with them we tried to figure out what is the most
effective way to help Milorad,Genoveva and their
children so we concluded to buy them a cows, for
which they have good conditions and enough land.
In this way they don‘t have to buy milk for the
children and could sell rest and have a monthly
income.
Around New Year Vasilije donated money to less
fortunate families in Majevica from Switzerland and
100km we gave to the mother to pay for milk for
two months, there was no need to buy food because
they had enough.
Accordingly, we decided to leave money with our
representative Vaslije so that he can buy them a
cow and if there is remaining money he plans to buy
more chickens to be grown.
Geneva could manage to enter the production chain
of chicken that would have provided allocation of
additional money. We previously agreed with the
mayor that we will keep in mind to help with our
other brotherly organizations and municipality
Lopare in a near future to finish Cetkovica small
house and round up all their needs.
From Peljavo we were escorted by little Gina, then
we went to Bobedina hills near family Teodorovic.
Radislav, his brother, wife Jadranka and three
children (Jovica '97, Daniel '99 and Stojan '02) live
in what I would call ruins than houses. Adults and
the oldest child are people with special needs. The
girls were sleeping during our visit so we only met
the brother Jovica who does not attend school but
from whom we learned that girls were excellent
students last year. Dr. Savic in this case managed to
animate the village and raise some funds to make
their homes. They are hoping this summer
municipality will complete the project and collect
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
sufficient funds to complete a modest home so that
kids can move before the house they live in
collapse.
Because Todorovic family received assistance for
New Year from Majevicani we tried to figure out
what could be the best possible way to at least little
bit improve children‘s dull life.
Radislav told us that they carry water every day a
half kumometers distance. During Vasilije‘s last
visit he told us that he sow lice in the girl‘s hairs so
we agreed to help with other brotherly
organizations and municipality so that we can at
least provide water a front of the house for the
children.
Our plan was to visit household of thirteen
members, family Todorovic in the village Labucka
but we were told that this village was far and it
could not be approached by a car. Since Vasilije
helped them for the New Year with some urgent
needs of this family, we agreed that he will visit
them later to see if we can help the family with
something in long term.
After visiting Lopare we had lunch, which we were
honored by the Mayer and we discussed the impressions
of that day and made the final conclusions. We said
good bye to Lopare with the hope that we find a long
term solution for these children and reduce the number
of them who live in poverty.
With a book of Lopare that we received as a gift from
the Mayor, we went thinking that it seems like things are
moving forward as more and more people in responsible
positions such as Dr. Rado Savic, begins to fight for
their residents.
Organizations such as ours, the good people who help us
and enthusiasts like Dr. Savic in our institutions will lead
to no more hungry Serbian children.
Serbian Report
KOSOVO SUNRISE…
Written by Predrag Marinkovic /GALLERY/
FINANCIAL REPORT /RADIO KIM/
On January 15th and 16
th, 2011 representatives of the
humanitarian organization, Serbs for Serbs (Srbi za
Srbe) launched a massive Christmas humanitarian aide
mission for the ninth year in a row in aide of Serbs in the
Kosovo-Metohija region. Joint forces of the organization
SAD, Austria and Switzerland, in conjunction with the
ongoing and immeasurable support from NVO branch
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
‗Mother of Nine Jugovica‘ from Zvecana, have once
again successfully garnered much-needed support for the
most vulnerable Serbs. A total of eleven families from
the Novo Boro and Strpce townships have been assisted
as well as the soup kitchen in Prekovac. Contributions
totaled approximately 5,100 Euros ($6,939 USD).
This most recent humanitarian effort has yielded the
following:
- 15 beds (51,840 dinars + 720 euros)
- 4 refrigerators (18,800 dinars + 375 euros)
- 6 washing machines (105,400 dinars + 520 euros)
- 2 sinks (9,720 dinars)
- 16 chairs (8,640 dinars + 216 euros)
- 1 wood-burning oven (180 euros)
- 1 vacuum cleaner (60 euros)
- 10 blankets (100 euros)
- 22 books (5,367 dinars + 30 euros)
- Housing fees for three students (300 euros)
- 11 packets of sweets and candy (5,850 dinars)
- 5 bags of toys, clothing and small household items
- 10 kilograms Aleve pepper for everyday cooking
(6,600 dinars)
Expenses:
- Transportation for 5 representatives from Belgrade –
10,280 dinars
- Housing in Zvecan for 4 representatives – 3,300 dinars
The five representatives of Serbs for Serbs arrived on
holy Serbian land in the early morning hours of
Saturday, January 15, 2011 and were greeted by
representatives of NVO ‗Mother of Nine Jugovica‘.
Upon brief consultations and planning regarding the
visiting of Serb families, they departed for their first
destination, Novo Brdo. On route they stopped by
Monastery Gracanica, one of the holiest Serbian
Orthodox monasteries. Following their short visit they
were welcomed by representatives of Radio ‗KiM‘ from
Caglavice with whom they discussed their agenda before
continuing on their journey.
The campaign officially began in the village of
Jasenovik in St. Sava grade school, which is a specific
school in that it serves both Albanian and Serbian
children. Albanian children have classes in the afternoon
on the first floor and Serbian children have classes on
the second floor in the morning. Upon arriving, plenty of
children, villagers, teachers and the school principal are
already awaiting us in front of the school. The
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
schoolyard is full of smiles, the clamor of children and
happiness at our arrival. It is difficult to explain how our
visit alone is cause for great joy to the children and
people of the Kosovo-Metohija enclaves. Quite simply,
it is difficult to understand unless one experiences it
directly. In the school‘s facilities, lined with all twenty-
four little ones from first to eighth grade, we distribute
packages prepared by NVO ‗Mother of Nine Jugovica‘.
Following our brief interaction with the children and
school personnel, we continue our mission with their
heartfelt farewells.
The first family we visited was the Zlatanic family from
the village of Bostan. The family consists of two sisters
and their brother who, are in a difficult mental state and
who, through the help of their neighbors and the soup
kitchen in Prekovac, manage to survive. We helped this
family two years ago with the purchase of a wood-
burning oven. This time we have purchased a bed and
washing machine for them with the hope that it will
lessen their strife at least a little.
The next family on our itinerary is the Milic family from
Prekovca. This family consists of husband and wife,
Vitomir and Leposava and their twelve-year old son,
Stefan. Even though they live in poverty they have
nevertheless taken in a single mother, Miljana and her
two-month old daughter, Anastasia, who have been
outcast by her family. The Milic family is managing to
survive thanks to meals from a nearby soup kitchen.
They have shown great humanity in taking in Miljana
and Anastasia as if they were their own. For this noble
household we have donated a bed, kitchen sink and
refrigerator. Little Stefan received books on Orthodox
themes and several toys.
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
Our journey continues taking us to the village of Zebnice
and to the Simjonovic family. The family consists of
Dragan, the father and Jelena, the mother of two little
girls named Andela (3 yrs.) and Andrijana (9 mos.). This
extraordinary family possibly made the strongest
impression on us. The young married couple quite
simply refuses to succumb to the circumstances life has
dealt them. On the road to their cottage, which dates
back to the early twentieth century, we encountered
hard-working Dragan and his herd of sheep (currently
their greatest wealth aside from their daughters). In our
conversation with them we learned that they are
surviving on modest social assistance. They are hindered
by their difficult living conditions in particular because
they are not the owners of their dilapidated abode but
rather pay a rental fee of 200 Euros a year to Dragan‘s
uncle, the owner, for a ―satisfactory‖ dwelling built in
the early 1900‘s. Dragan has a great desire to further his
work with livestock and wants help in the meantime
with the purchase of additional sheep in order to expand
his herd.
Through a consultation with the representatives of
‗Mother of Nine Jugovica‘, it was decided that they
would assist with that aspect of aiding the family and we
would provide a washing machine, bed, sink and for the
youngest ones packages of toys and sweets. With words
of support and encouragement, we bid farewell to this
hard-working family and continue to the village of
Straza.
In Straza we visited the Stojanovic family; father,
Gradislav and mother, Biserka and their four sons, Milos
(21 yrs.), Igor (20 yrs.), Stefan (18 yrs.) and Aleksandar
(12 yrs.).
While the Milic family amazed us with their big hearts,
the Simjonovic family with their persistence, sadly this
family left a bitter taste in our mouths, a lump in our
throats and eyes on the verge of tears. The mother and
father are in difficult psychological and physical states
and their sons even worse. Instead of being full of life
and flourishing through various athletic activities,
socializing with girls and finding first loves and crushes,
empowered by knowledge and planning their own
families, with great misfortune they are suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder from the NATO bombings
of 1999. They live their pain-filled lives inside four
walls. The only ray of light is the youngest son,
Aleksandar who, alone cares for the family‘s two cows.
The one in deepest despair is Igor, who doesn‘t get out
of bed. We aim to ease their profound struggles with the
purchase of four beds, a washing machine and four
chairs.
The last family we visited in the Novo Brdo township
was the Vasic family from the village of Koretiste; father
Stanko, mother Zorica and their children Milos (19 yrs.),
Bojan (17 yrs.), Katarina (8 yrs.) and Marina (5 yrs.).
We caught up with the males of the family in the midst
of a construction project repairing and replacing the tiles
on their roof while Katerina and Marina occupied
themselves with the organization of a mini party for
themselves in their room dancing and singing to music.
This family survives by way of irregular social
assistance but thank God, is in far healthier
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
psychological and physical states than the Stojanovic
family. In addition to books and toys for the girls, we
obtained a washing machine and three beds for the
family. With this visit, we complete our tour of families
in the township of Novo Brdo.
On our return to Zvecan we stopped by Monastery
Draganac, an endowment of holy martyr Tsar Lazar,
erected in the 14th century and named after one of his
daughters. The church was destroyed several times and
rebuilt ten years ago, thanks to the arrival of Father Kiril,
an extraordinary individual who with his God-given
hands singularly rebuilt a large portion of the monastic
complex—the strength of this man is truly unbelievable
until it is witnessed firsthand on site. Father Kiril hosted
our small group and upon brief heartfelt conversations
we warmly part ways with an invitation from him to
return to the monastery when each of us marries.
An interesting aspect of our recent humanitarian mission
is the fact that, due to the financial contributions we
received and the number of families we subsequently
planned to visit, for the first time ever we were able to
devote two full days to the aide effort.
We begin day two of our mission in the early hours of
Sunday, January 16, 2011 heading to the township of
Strpce where we will help needy Serbs living in that
area. In Strpce we were greeted by Father Aleksandar,
our old friend from earlier missions in the area. With his
enormous help we discovered and visited six families
from within the neighborhood.
The first family Father Aca took us to was the family of
Branislav Stevanovic. In addition to Branislav, the
family consists of his three daughters, who are students
in Mitrovici (they were not present during our visit), his
wife and youngest son. In speaking with the family, we
learned that Branislav occasionally gets work in
construction when work is available and that aside from
that, the family does not have an income. We also
discovered that the daughters are excellent students
majoring in biology and chemistry but that they are
struggling with the housing fees in Mitrovici. Given that
we were convinced on site that their living conditions
were adequate regarding furnishings, we nevertheless
decided to make a small exception for this family. Due
to father Aca‘s advice and high recommendation, we
designated 300 euros for the family‘s student housing
fees so as to ease their difficulties and make possible the
timely obtainment of college degrees which, we hope
will ultimately enable a better life for the daughters and
their family. The youngest family member received
educational books on Serbian literature and a package of
sweets.
We continue and end our humanitarian mission by
visiting five families in the village of Vrbesnica at the
foot of Mount Sar. The landscape of the village features
green hills against the white peaks of the Serbian Alps,
antiquated cottages and mountain streams all of which
leaves an extraordinary impression on us. In awe of our
surroundings, we are unable to cease admiring another of
the beauties, which adorn our holy Serbian land. As such
moments pass so rapidly, we return to the task at hand
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
and the harsh reality of the first five families from that
village.
The Stankovic family, consisting of Stanko, the father
and Ivana, the mother and their two girls Aleksandra (2
yrs.) and Andrijana (4 yrs.) live in catastrophic
conditions without a bathroom in a one and a half room
dwelling, on social assistance and sporadic minimum
wage. We did not find the father at home and from
Ivana, his wife, learned about their most pressing needs.
Due to their dire living conditions and their small
children we have decided to designate for them a
refrigerator, washing machine, bed, four chairs and a
vacuum cleaner. The children will receive clothing, toys
and sweets.
The next family we came to is also named Stankovic and
consists of Zoran, the father his wife and three sons,
Nebojsa (12 yrs.), Nenad (9 yrs.) and Nikola (6 yrs.).
This family lives in a house that belongs to their cousins
and which has been offered to them on unspecified
terms. The house is fully equipped and furnished. The
issue was with the fact that the family has the necessary
items for a normal life however nothing belongs to them.
In the end we agreed to donate a bed as they were in
need of one due to the number of children they have.
Our visits continue with the Staletovic family consisting
of Zoran, his wife, Ljupka and their children Violeta (15
yrs.), Stojko (12 yrs.), Valentina (10 yrs.) and Stefan (4
yrs.). We were introduced to this family by their
benevolent neighbors who had good reason to bring us
to them. This family abundant in children, is severely
lacking in many other ways. With the exception of 7,000
dinars in social assistance, the family has no income.
Upon speaking with Ljupka, the mother, we agreed to
help them with a washing machine, wood-burning oven
and four chairs. The children received gifts of sweets
and books on Serbian literature and Orthodox themes.
Midst plenty of words of thanks we received from yet
another family, we moved straight on to the next family
in the neighborhood.
The Orlovic family, whom we were also introduced to
by the noble residents of this village, consists of
Svetislav, the father, Budimka, his wife, her elder and
disabled mother and the couple‘s four children
Aleksandar (16 yrs.), Jovana (14 yrs.), Dragana (11 yrs.)
and Darko (9 yrs.). Needless to say, their situation is
critical—there is no income aside from modest social
assistance, the household is large and there is no
possibility of owning livestock. For this impoverished
family we have designated a refrigerator, three beds and
four chairs.
And it is here, where we completed our family visits but
not our list of planned help. Namely, a cousin of the
Orlavic family named Vesna was present during the
visit. She has six children one of whom is seriously ill.
We met her family during our last visit and promised
them a small refrigerator, which were going to deliver
now. Prior to leaving the village we distributed more
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
sweets, toys and books to children who had gathered
because of our visit but whose families we did not help
during this particular mission.
We thank Ms. Nada Vulic from London who donated
3,000 dinars, which we used to purchase gift packages
for all the families we visited during this Christmas
mission in the holy Serbian land.
Reflecting on how the days pass for these brave Serbs in
an environment where they lack basic human freedoms,
where children have no fulfillment except for each other,
where people have not the opportunity for the most basic
and humble work as farmers and livestock proprietors;
we leave disappointed because we realize that our help is
just a drop in the cup from which the thirsty cannot be
satiated. Instead of being satisfied upon delivering to the
Serbian people in the Kosovo-Metohija region the most
comprehensive support to date through the continuation
of our organization, we retreat discouraged toward the
capital city (capital in terms of a lack of concern for
those who live outside its walls) because we know that
we have changed very little in the lives of the people
here.
We are not comforted by the fact that our small
assistance is a great deal more than what others are
doing, nor does this discourage us from continuing to
help our fellow people from the historic Serbian
judgment day and Serbian shrines, rather it inspires us to
persist more strongly and to help even more in the future
regardless of the bitter taste it might leave in our mouths
because nothing is changing for the better.
Each and every time, we will give our maximum effort
for the sake of sleeping Serbian pride, for the sake of
stirring the Serbian spirit (which has been sleeping a
winter‘s sleep for decades), for the sake of an example to
others, for the sake of a positive example to the country,
for the sake of future generations.
Get up and WAKE UP Serbs and think of your
generations to come-- think about what they will inherit.
NO SURRENDER! With faith in God,
Predrag Marinković
Help for Family Ljiljak and Milutinovic
Report: Bojan Ilic ,Serbia (Photos ,Serbian Report)
On Sunday, 23 January, three activists of the
Humanitarian Organization "Serbs for Serbs" have
visited two families from northern Serbia. We have
delivered aid worth about 1,200 euros and this time
pleased 22 people, including a 16 children. Assistance
for family Ljiljak the Banat villages Neuzina was in the
form of purchases cows in the value of 900 euros, and
assistance to family Milutinovic from Backo village
Pivnice consisted of basic food items to 300 euros.
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011
Charity Organization Serbs for Serbs
Annual Video Report 2010
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СВИМ ДОНАТОРИМА И
ПРИЈАТЕЉИМА ОРГАНИЗАЦИЈЕ
СРЕЋНА НОВА ГОДИНА!
Charity Organization Serbs for Serbs from USA wish
you a Happy Orthodox (Serbian) New Year!
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We want to inform all donors and friends of
humanitarian organization Serbs for Serbs
that live in the United States and Canada we
have new Pay Pal account so you can send
your donation via email to:
Обавештавамо пријатеље и донаторе
хуманитарне организације Срби за Србе који
живе у САД и Канади да органак СЗС у
Америци има нови Пеј Пал рачун на који
можете да уплатите своје донације. Да би
ојачали организацију глобално морамо да јачамо
регионалне одборе.
Хвала вам
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011 We want to inform all donors and friends of
humanitarian organization Serbs for Serbs that live in the
United States and Canada we have new Pay Pal account
so you can send your donation via email to:
Note: If you wish to have initials, a nickname or to be
an anonymous donor instead of having your full
name in the donors list, with or without stating the
state where you are, please email us:
[email protected] or [email protected]
Donors in January
1. Мilan Kolundzija (IN) - $15.00
2. www.cikaskisrbi.com (IL) - $25.00
3. Mateja Stojkovic (IL) - $20.00
4. www.NemaPredaje.net - $20.00
5. Lidija Stojkovic (IL) - $20.00
6. Michigan Serbs (MI) - $16.92
7. I.S. (IL) - $20.00
8. Milan Dobras (AZ) - $15.00
9. Lazar Krsmanovic (IL) - $25.00
10. Zelimir Lalusic (IL) - $50.00
11. Milos Vujasinovic (PA) - $20.08
12. Dejan Petrovic (IL) - $15.00
13. Vladan Milosevic (IL) - $100.00
14. Savo Radulovic (IL) - $100.00
15. Nebojsa Madzarevic - $20.00
16. Ozren S. (Canada) - $40.00
17. Ljiljana Kalinic (WI) - $50,00
18. Aleksandar K. (NY) - $50,00
19. Sasa Lazarevic (IL) - $50,00
20. Mladen Simic (OH) - $40,00
21. Ankica D. (NJ) - $25,00
22. Serbos Kanada - $355,00
23. Magdalena Markovic - $100,00
24. Christina Spiwak- $100,00
Total: $1292,00
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Number of Donors (24) January 2011
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Donations in January ($1292.00)
Monthly Report www.SrbizaSrbe.us 2011 Charity organization Serbs for Serbs is currently in the
process of applying for a 501(c)3 tax-deductible
organization IRS status.
Хуманитарна Организација Срби за Србе је
регистрована као непрофитабилна организација у
држави Илиноис и тренутно смо у процесу за добијање
статуса 501c3 који би омогућио свим донаторима да
донације упућене нама могу да се отпишу од пореза.
У наредних пар месеци очекујемо позитиван одговор
од IRS-а.
If you live in USA or Canada please use our new
Pay Pal account: [email protected]
CHARITY ORGANIZATION SERBS FOR SERBS
www.SerbsForSerbs.org
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