“I love it when I get to buy ice cream for my sister” – little Nikola (9) picks mushrooms every morning to earn some money and to cheer up his disabled sister.

„I get up early in the morning and go into the forest to pick porcini mushrooms. Sometimes I go alone, sometimes there are several of us. Afterwards, I sell them, and buy ice cream for my sister and everyone else. I give it to her first because she has one leg shorter than the other and can’t go with us. I also mow the grass at my neighbor Veso’s, so that when he comes back from Italy he gives me some money. Now he’s going to bring me a phone”, said little Nikola (9), the oldest of six children in the Ćorić family.

„How will she get married tomorrow?!”

This wonderful and noble little boy lives in Mala Sočanica, near Derventa. Poor living conditions and poverty made him incredibly hard working from an early age, allowing him to contribute to the family in his own way. There are also Mirjana (7), Lazar (6), Željko (4), Aleksandra (2) and baby Anđela who was not even a month old at the time of our visit, as well as parents Bosa and Nebojša and great-grandmother Milica.

„Unfortunately, Mirka can’t put any weight on her heel at all. While other girls wear dresses and sandals, she’s not even allowed to take part in physical education. How will she ever get married someday? And Željko, even though he’s already four years old, still doesn’t speak. He should see a speech therapist, but we can’t afford it. Other children shout when they need something, but he just points with his fingers. It hurts. He might have to go to a special school”, mother Bosa said through tears, and only then did we realize that Mirjana wasn’t posing for the camera, but simply always stands that way.

„The war wore him out… ”

Great-grandmother Milica was a great support to them until recently. However, she suffered a stroke and other health problems appeared, so now they have to be around her all the time. Almost, as they say, like around a seventh child. She was the one who raised Nebojša, whom his parents abandoned, and took care of him while he fought epilepsy.

„I fought as long as I could, I can’t anymore. The situation is, as you can see, bad. If my husband were still alive, things would be better, but what can we do? He was in the war, it wore him down and he died not long after. He just lay down and never woke up again. I suppose that’s how it had to be. At least these children know how to make me happy”, said this great-grandmother whose entire life has been one great sacrifice for her loved ones.

„Oh my, there’s often sadness!”

The cramped house where the Ćorić family lives is in a catastrophic condition. The roof leaks, the walls are cracked, the draft blows through the windows to the point that they can’t keep the house warm in winter, and dampness has penetrated every corner of their home. The parents and six children sleep in one small room on two beds and in one crib. They also had a big problem with mice.

„Oh my, there’s often sadness. How can there not be when your child goes without. At least I used to work, but now I can’t find any. I do odd jobs for daily wages, a little work around the garden, and we also have chickens and bees. We receive social assistance for families with many children and that’s it. And when I have a last dinar left, I buy them a toy or when there’s a fair I squeeze in two or three months of savings to take them – that’s how I am. The problem is that we’re quite far from everything”, added the father.

Relationship, yes or no?

One of the interesting details about this family’s life is how the parents met – via Facebook. Nebojša at one point posted the status „Relationship, yes or no?”, to which Bosa, even though they didn’t know each other, replied „Yes”. Two days later, they started living together. They are both aware that they could have done some things differently in life, but they know that they must somehow provide better living conditions for their children.

„When you see that look in their eyes, you have to keep going. There’s no such thing as can you, but you simply have to, have to and have to. Just the word “have to” and that’s it. When you announced the visit, I became weak in my knees, and then I told Nebojša that we had to pull ourselves together, that our children had been teased enough and that there should be no more tears. You gave us hope that things would get better”, Bosa said.

While one child awaits surgery and another his first words…

While one child awaits surgery and another his first words, the Ćorić family’s house is in danger of collapsing. The Charity organization Serbs for Serbs is calling on you to help us provide a home for these wonderful children, their parents whose lives, unfortunately, have not given them better opportunities from an early age, and their great-grandmother who is a true heroine!

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

 SLOVENIA
1. IBAN: SI56610000031400411
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: Organisation fuer humanitaere Hilfe in serbisch 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

Patreon