HOUSE OF FEAR AND HORROR: Zorica (10) and Zoran (5) awaiting Christmas shivering in a house with no electricity!

I’m Zorica, I’m 10 years old and I would most like to have electricity in our home so that I can watch cartoons. I have been told we had electricity when I was small, but I don’t remember  – said this sad girl who spends her days looking after her younger brother Zoran (5).

Verica (11), Milan (7) and Branka (4) are also growing up in this house of horror. They haven’t had electricity for six years, they bathe in a trough and they share the three beds in their home with their parents, Branko and Dragana. Red balloons, attached to the ceiling to brighten up the gloomy Ilijin family home, further emphasize the feeling of immense sadness.

Some of our children have never had electricity in the home, but have seen how it works in other homes in the neighborhood. As their mother, this makes me very sad, but we have no ability to offer them anything better. We wanted to brighten things up a little for the upcoming holidays by decorating the ceiling, providing a glimmer of light – Dragana explained.

Their house, situated in the Banat village of Novo Miloševo, gets its only light during the day from the sun shining through the holes in the roof. In the evening they use candles. No electricity, no bathrooms, bare walls and dilapidated woodwork patched with blankets and cardboard, paint a picture of the difficult life faced by these five little ones. However, these challenging conditions do not prevent the older daughters from being successful in school.

Zorica and I are excellent students, we both love to study the Serbian language. We study mostly at school since we have no room here. We help our mother and father with anything they need. We go to the store and the market, we wash dishes. It’s the hardest in winter. We get very cold – said the oldest Verica.

The stress of life is clearly etched on the faces of the parents, and it is evident that the children have suffered hardships that no child in the world should have to endure. Their father Branko does not have a permanent job, so he picks up work wherever he can. They also receive modest social assistance, and they get their meals from a soup kitchen. They often have to borrow money to simply have bread in the house every day.

I do all kinds of work from early dawn to evening. I clean, milk the cows, and dig wherever necessary. At least I can give them the basics, the other day I took them out for burgers. It’s the third time I’ve done so, but I can’t do it very often. There isn’t always work available. It’s most troubling for me because of my daughters as they will soon enter puberty, it’s very difficult for them not having a bathroom – said Branko, who used to work at a brick factory until it was closed down.

There is no point in discussing their furniture, everything is old and worn out. They even have a 2016 calendar on a black, damp wall!

Until they resolve their problem with electricity, the Ilijins have nowhere to store their food, so they only buy as much as they can eat. Sometimes, if there is anything left over, they keep it in the back room where it is much colder. At the end of the conversation, we asked the girls what they like to do and if they have any wishes.

I like all toys, but we don’t have many, so we mostly play with rabbits. We also have dogs and cats. I would most like to one day have a room for me and my sister – said Verica.

The Charity Serbs for Serbs is launching a major fundraising campaign for the Ilijin family. We invite good people from all over the world to join us. Light the flame of hope and provide these suffering children with normal living conditions! 

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

SERBIA
1. SMS to 7763 (200 RSD)2. Account: 160-279491-71, Banka Intesa
2. Pay Pal
3. Foreign currency account

REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA
1. Call 17763 (2 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. 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
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GERMANY
1. IBAN: DE97 7606 9559 0002 7519 92
2. Pay Pal
3. Send text SZS to 81190 (2.99 Euro)
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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
4. SMS to 339, SZS 20, SZS 45, SZS 90, etc.
*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

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