A hero from Paštrik lost everything in a fire, and now lives with his family in inhumane conditions!

Visiting hundreds of families every year, it is always the hardest for us when we enter homes where we see children’s eyes everyday filled with sadness, and where happiness is a rarity that only sometimes, very briefly, appears on their faces.

The story of the hero from Paštrik and his six-member Marković family from the village of Provo in Vladimirci caused us great sadness because of the conditions in which they live.

I was wounded on May 30, 1999 in the village of Planeja. Even though I had 7 shrapnel in my body, I rescued wounded and injured comrades from the ruins – Stojić Marković tells us.

After the war, he decided to return to his village and continue his life “under the radar” of the public and his war comrades. However, after 22 years, his war comrades found him thanks to the “Heroic 549th Motorized Brigade Tsar Dušan the Mighty” association, which awarded him recognition for preserving and nurturing the combat tradition.

Stojić has two daughters from his first marriage, and he has four sons from his second marriage with his wife Rada: Stefan (14), Ognjen (12), Filip (10) and Ivan (2).

While preparing wood for the winter in the nearby forest, I saw smoke coming from the direction of the house. Unfortunately, due to bad installations, there was a fire in which the house was completely burnt down. We were left with only the clothes on our backs – the father recalls of the fire that in a few minutes took everything the Markovićs.

Major General Božidar Delić, who recently passed away, launched a campaign for initial support, in which the veterans’ association “PJP” was also involved. Mr. Miloš Šupica from the humanitarian organization “Save Serbian children” also helped with $500. Thanks to the foundation “Humano srce Šapca” they had temporary accommodation near Šabac.

In the end, they settled at his wife’s grandfather’s place in a hundred-year-old house that has only two rooms without a bathroom. We were shocked when we found out that six of them sleep in two beds – mother and youngest son in one, and father and three oldest sons in the other!

The municipality allocated us a plot of land to build a house and allocated 500,000 dinars for building materials. In the contract, I undertook to complete the building within two years. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I will succeed in that, considering that we live on 18,000 dinars in child allowance and my wages – father Stojić told us at the end of the conversation.

Although he is a war veteran with physical disabilities and a hero from Paštrik, he did not get recognition for that status because all the documentation was burned in the house. He hopes that with the help of his comrades, he will be able to obtain documentation from the military archives and the hospital.

The Charity Serbs for Serbs invites all good-hearted people to join us in helping the Marković family build their new home!

YOU CAN DONATE THROUGH THE DONATION PLATFORM: www.srbizasrbe.org/donacije