It has been four years since we last reported on Djurdjina, one of the children who lost everything in the floods that caused landslides, took away homes and even lives in Serbia eight years ago.
Just two weeks after her 11thbirthday, Djurdjina’s father saved her literally seconds before their house collapsed and was swept away together with everything the family had had. It took years for this girl to overcome trauma and nightmares that would wake her up in the middle of the night thinking that the water was drowning them all over again...
And if this was not terrible enough, her father got injured at work and became an invalid. The only income for the whole family was coming from temporary jobs her mother could find.
At the time, we provided this girl with the scholarship from the donations you made to help children victims of the floods. Other donors provided a small prefabricated house for her and her family on the other side of a small town of Krupanj in the Western Serbia. All this helped both Djurdjina and her family to start rebuilding their lives.
Four years ago, Djurdjina was a proud teenager who graduated from the elementary school with all honours, who has received half a dozen Diplomas for excellence and awards at the knowledge competitions in different subjects and, above all, the Vuk Karadzic Award - a highest State Award for the extraordinary achievements in all educational areas.
Today, she is a thoroughly delighted first-year student of the prestigious Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering in Belgrade! She kept her perfect educational grades throughout High School, graduated with honours and passed the entrance exams. She enrolled into the course she had always wanted – Road Traffic Engineer.
“I’m happy beyond words”, she told us right after getting her student card. Her excellent grades enabled her also to secure a place in the Student’s camp and dormitory so that she can regularly attend all lectures.
“Four years ago, I thought that I couldn’t continue my education beyond Elementary school because we couldn’t afford even the costs for monthly bus ticket to the school in the town from our village, let alone textbooks and all the other things needed. You promised to help me financially if I would keep my good grades. So many nights, I would wake up abruptly from nightmares that the rain would drown us and take our new home away, or that you would stop helping me go to school… I love studying, I always wanted to be a Traffic Engineer, design roads that could connect people, and now, when my dream has come true and I am here studying to become Traffic Engineer, I cannot thank you enough. Please, let all these people who have been giving their money for my studies, that I promise to be the best student I can”, all on one breath Djurdjina says.
And we sincerely thank all of you who have donated for supporting children victims of those worst floods in more than 100 years.
Please, keep helping us help these children. By spreading a word about our work, by donating whatever amount, by organising any fundraiser…
With sincere gratitude,
Yours,
Pomoc deci team
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“有时,这所学校吃饭,我们知道我们将get if we go to school, makes all the difference”, comments Zepa, a 13-year-old girl from Kragujevac. “When Halil and I tell the youngest, our Jusuf, that he needs to get up in the morning on time so that we can all go to school together, ‘you’ll miss the school meal if you are late’ makes him jump out of bed immediately”, she says with a smile. And this would have been just a cute, internal joke, if it would not have uncovered the sad truth. On many days, this school meal is the only cooked meal these three children get in a day. The family of four children and Dad as a single parent, lost their house in the floods seven years ago in Western Serbia and moved to Kragujevac, only to have their new setting flooded completely last Summer. All the electric appliances were lost again. Clothes and shoes were all soaked with muddy water. The walls were completely wet at least a metre high from the ground. And in the middle of pandemic, there was little they could do, but wait for the walls to dry and ask for help with basic necessities. Only the father works and the eldest daughter, who is just 18 years old, is helping as much as she can by sawing things for neighbours and friends and maintaining the household.
With your generous donations, we managed to help them get the textbooks and school supplies last September and to organise a school meal for all three children who go to school for the whole school year. Zepa is currently in the 6thgrade, Jusuf in the second grade and the youngest in the mandatory preparatory preschool.
We would like to help them get also the textbooks and school material next school year, help them with secure school meals in the next school year, so that they can concentrate on learning and completing mandatory education successfully.
Please, consider telling your friends about our efforts, if you can, please donate or just mention our project to anyone you can.
With Gratitude,
Yours,
Pomoc deci team
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A 13-year-old Andrija, was one of the children who we helped when he and his family lost their house in the landslide caused by the extreme floods seven years ago. At the time he was preparing to start going to school and his family had no money to buy even the basics that every first-grader needs. We started this campaign on GlobalGiving platform hoping that with your donations we could help Andrija and other children in the flooded areas.
With your donations, we have managed to support Andrija continuously these seven years, which have been continuously challenging for his family. They have faced repeated floods that destroyed the produce his family has been trying to grow as well as unemployment of one or both parents at times.
Although last two years have been difficult for all of us, as well as for schools and students, Andrija has managed to keep excellent grades and now he is in the seventh grade, already thinking which secondary school he would like to enrol next year when he graduates from the elementary school.
Recently, Andrija has gotten really interested in handball, with the scholarship he receives, he could pay the membership fee at a local club and start regularly training. He has proven to be talented and hard-working which has made him very successful at this sport. He has made it to the first team in his age group, has been competing and as his mom puts it: “He has found himself”.
All of this has been made possible because of your generosity and continuous support to our project. We are thanking you from the bottom of our heats for this!
我们将非常感激如果你将信用卡诈骗罪r donating to this project of ours during this festive season, in particular, if you would decide to start a monthly recurring donation. For a 4-month recurring donation whatever you give as the initial amount up to 200 USD, GlobalGiving Foundation has decided to match up. And if you start it today or in the next two days, we will receive a 200% match on your first donation.
On behalf of Andrija and 125 other children that have been assisting through this project, we wish you happy holidays and all the very best in the New Year!
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Almost a year and a half ago, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. And then if it was not enough, new floods came in south Serbia in summer 2020. Western and south parts of the country were under water, crops were drowned… many families were left both without jobs and food…
Little nine-year-old Elena A. from Surdulica lost her father to COVID-19. And her mother and grandmother had nowhere to go to pick fruits and earn some money, because the water destroyed raspberries in other people’s fields. She completed the second grade of elementary school with all excellent grades and although she loved going to school, she was not looking forward to the beginning of the new school year. She was about to start the third grade, but a new school curricula was introduced by the Government and for the new curricula only new textbooks could help. Her mother could not turn to any older child for the second-hand books. She couldn’t afford even notebooks, let alone new shoes or a jacket for the autumn. Elena’s Master teacher wrote to us and asked if we could help in any way.
We reached out to you in an appeal to help and you responded! We received enough money not only to help Elena with new textbooks, school material and tools, but we bought new textbooks for other six Elena’s peers. This proved to be of crucial importance since none of them have any computer, laptop or smart phone and when the schooling went online because of COVID-19, these textbooks were the only thing they could turn to in order to learn and get ready for the tests.
All of them, like other 121 children from the families affected by floods who we could help in some way, completed the school year successfully. However, as the education reform is underway, in September, they need new textbooks again – new programme starts for the fourth and eighth graders and there is no other possibility for these children than to buy new books.
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 TODAY - on July 14thfrom 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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This May marks seven years since the floods swept across Serbia, made families homeless overnight and ruined sources of income for many.
Bojana and her family were one of those families. In 2014, the family lost their home. After years of relying on the generosity of friends and relatives, Bojana, her sister and their dad were able to move into a smaller unit. As it is right now, their father only works sporadically. Childcare benefits and social security help them get by, but often this is not enough. Bojana says that their father does all he can to make sure his daughters are fed.
The scholarship that she receives from Pomoc Deci has made all the difference in the world. Bojana’s dad does not have to worry about her school needs (such as textbooks, supplies, or even clothes) Bojana says that any bit helps to take off the pressure from her father. While the younger daughters rely on hand me downs, the fact that her father does not need to worry about Bojana’s school needs helps the family immensely.
由于奖学金,can continue working hard in school. Without it, she says, she would not have been able to afford textbooks. And if she doesn’t have textbooks, her sisters won’t have them either. Having her own set of textbooks has made all the difference over the past year when she had to study at home, due to the coronavirus. “I can do homework and do practice assignments, study for tests and learn” She is in the tenth grade currently and, while it is still early, she hopes to continue her education at university level. Her favorite subject is math. “I am very proud of myself when I finish solving a problem!”
You allowed us to do this. Your contributions and support over the years has allowed us to help Bojana, her family, and children like Bojana. For it, we are very touched and grateful. The past year has been especially challenging for Pomoc Deci and we would be ever so grateful if you considered providing vital, long-term support for those affected by floods and rising water levels by providing a monthly gift. After four monthly payments, GlobalGiving will match your generosity by 100% (up to $200). What happened in 2014 has been happening almost every year since in communities across Serbia and to continue providing support, we need your help. For less than $1 a day, you can help us bring necessary resources to those affected most.
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