“Every day we wait for him to come home, but…” A father of five suffered a heart attack while driving a truck.

“Everything was normal. The kids were in school, I was taking care of the house, and he was on the road, far from home. We were looking forward to being together again soon, but instead of hearing from Mićo, I got a call from his boss. It was a shock. He was working in Germany. He had a heart attack as he parked to unload, and he passed away. He wasn’t sick, other than high blood pressure—and who doesn’t have that these days? He didn’t drink or smoke, but that damn truck, all that sitting, and the constant worry about us—five little kids and his parents who were ill,” Vahida Cvijanović said through tears, describing the moment, a little over a year ago, when she became a single mother.

Without separating one responsibility from another

In Pelagićevo, a small town in the central part of Republika Srpska, Vahida is fighting a hard battle just to get through life. With grief that hasn’t eased and a burden few can truly understand, she took everything on herself. Along with caring for her children, she also looks after her late husband’s elderly, ill parents—without putting one responsibility above the other.

“To be honest, I didn’t have a single second to grieve. I had to figure out how to tell the kids, and within half an hour of getting the news, I was already dealing with the paperwork so the funeral home could bring him back. I still don’t have the luxury of breaking down, because everyone depends on me. And even now, every Friday, I find myself reaching for my phone, hoping there’ll be a message telling me to come outside to meet him, like I used to,” said Vahida.

“As long as they live, they’ll miss their father.”

What happened brought an overwhelming amount of pain into their home. Marko (12), Ruža (11), Nikola (10), Dušanka (8), and Milanka (6) didn’t even mention their dad for the first few months, each trying in their own way to cope with the tragedy that hit them. Still, little by little, each of them found a way to make growing up without a father a bit easier—through hobbies and by working hard in school. Marko plays soccer, and he sings in the church choir with Ruža. Ruža also plays volleyball with Nikola and Dušanka. And that’s not the end of her activities—she’s very serious about learning traditional crafts through the Kolo srpskih sestara as well.

“I avoid talking about their father because they immediately get sad, especially when we remember some of the things he used to do — how he joked with them, how he’d give them a little pinch in the morning when they woke up. They’ll always miss that image, that father figure, as long as they live. I’m fighting to make sure they don’t lack anything. That they’re clean, that they’re neat, that they’re well-mannered — that’s what matters most to me. Because of them, I was baptized; we keep the fasts, we celebrate Christmas, Easter, and our family patron saint’s day,” this devoted mother continues.

“Mom and three sisters sleep in one bed!”

The house they live in is only half-finished. While he was alive, Mihajlo started building an addition so they could have more space. Sadly, everything stopped when he passed away. He left behind an unfinished home, a loan that still has to be paid off, and children he will never hug again.

“It’s really cramped. The hardest part is that Mom and three sisters are currently sleeping in one bed meant for two. When there’s a lot of rain, when there’s a storm, it can leak. Then the power goes out too, so we all light candles,” Marko explains, describing everything they’re dealing with.

“Life decided I should reach out to you!”

The Cvijanović family lives off a modest benefit for an unemployed parent, a child allowance for four children, and a pension that has to go toward paying off the loan. On top of that, Vahida’s days are filled with work—she raises pigs and chickens, sells them whenever she can, tends about half an acre of garden, and turns everything that bears fruit into support for her children.

“Everything has gotten more expensive, and a lot goes toward medication for my father-in-law and mother-in-law, so the hardest thing for us is to keep the work going on the house. It was built on a shoestring, you could say—we saved a lot on materials. For a long time I kept thinking about whether to reach out to you, but life and fate decided,” Vahida said at the end, adding that what encouraged her was seeing that our organization doesn’t help only families on the very edge of survival.

“Dad loves chocolate…”

The lack of space has meant that the elderly and ill Grandma Ruža and Grandpa Marko are living in the summer kitchen. Even though they’re broken by the lasting pain of losing their son, they’re trying to support their daughter-in-law and, together with her, guide their grandchildren onto the right path.

“Our son died, and I still can’t wrap my head around it. I can’t cry in front of them—not at the grave, not here either. When Grandpa and I go away, then I let it out a little. Everything is on Vahida. What I can do, I do. Unfortunately, my back is weak; I walk completely hunched over, my legs and arms hurt. But as long as I’m on my feet, it’s okay. Do you know that little Milanka wrote letters to her dad every day, and in the end she even packed him chocolate? She said, ‘So he has something to eat when he wakes up—Dad loves chocolate,’” Grandma Ruža said through sobs.

For brighter days!

The Charity organization Serbs for Serbs is launching a major campaign with the goal of finishing the Cvijanović family’s home so they can all live together and so everyone can have their own bed. Our aim is to ease one mother’s struggle—a struggle for her children, for the lasting memory of the one they lost, and for the life that must go on. We invite you to support us with your donations so we can help bring them some brighter days!

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

SERBIA
1. SMS to 7763 (200 RSD)2. Account: 160-0000000279491-71, Banka Intesa
2. Pay Pal
3. Foreign currency account

REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA
1. Call 17763 (3 КМ)
2. Account: 56201281300241-58 (NLB bank)
3. Pay Pal

MONTENEGRO
1. Account: 510-91548-03 (CKG bank)
2. Pay Pal

USA
1. Donation platform (credit card, bank account)
2. Pay Pal
3. ZELLE: szsamerika@gmail.com
4.Check to: Serbs for Serbs, Po Box 34206 Chicago, IL 60634
*all donors exercise the right to tax deductions

CANADA
1. Pay Pal
2. Check to: Serbs for Serbs Canada, 635 The Queensway, Lower Level, Toronto, ON, M8Y 3B3
3. Е-transfer to: donate@serbsforserbs.ca
*all donors exercise the right to tax deductions

GERMANY
1. IBAN: DE87 7605 0101 0015 8913 36
2. Pay Pal
*all donors exercise the right to tax deductions

SWITZERLAND
1. Konto: 61-335679-5
IBAN:CH57 0900 0000 6133 5679 5
Hedwigstrasse 3, 8032 Zurich
2. Twint: donate.raisenow.io/stbdh
3. Pay Pal
*all donors exercise the right to tax deductions

AUSTRIA
1. IBAN:AT97 3200 0000 1036 4339
SWIFT/BIC: RLNWATWW
Customer: Org. f. hum. Hilfe – Srbi za Srbe
Kalvariengürtel 39/6, 8020 Graz Austria
2. Pay Pal
3. Call 0901 300 201 (3 Euro)

SWEDEN
1. SWISH: 1230 133 900
2. Pay Pal
3. Bank Giro: 5302-1077
4. Account: 5226 1060 858

NORWAY
1. VIPPS: 104 414
2. Pay Pal
3. Account: 1503 83 80483

AUSTRALIA
1. Donations via Bank Account:
BSB: 032-278
Account No: 878615
Bank: Westpac
2. Pay Pal
3. Donations via PayID
PayID Type: ABN
PayID: 57472783829
4. Donations via Cheque:
Check to Serbs for Serbs Inc, 18 Mantle Ave, North Richmond NSW 2754, Australia

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