“I sleep on the floor with my daughter; the problem is not that the floor is cold, but that the ants crawl over us!”

The life of Ljiljana Lolić from Prizren is difficult to describe in words. Forced to leave her home as a young girl, she first sought happiness in Svrljig, where she married her first husband, then after the divorce, she headed to Srebrenica, from where she practically fled with her children due to the violence she suffered in her second marriage.

We barely managed to return to Serbia. We had nowhere to go, so we bought this house in the village of Vranjani which the state publicly posted for internally displaced persons – mother Ljiljana tells us at the beginning of the conversation.

The house is falling apart both outside and inside due to moisture – this is the simplest description of its current condition. The public posting required that Ljiljana find a house in the municipality of Požega on her own, but there was nothing available there for that money.

David (10) is asthmatic and had a terrible attack a few days ago. The conditions are terrible, and it is especially difficult for me to sleep with Tamara (1) on the floor. Our problem is not that it is cold, but that ants are crawling on us – Ljiljana told us, leaving us in shock.

Besides David and Tamara, Ivona (12) and Masa (3) live with her, while the oldest children from the first marriage, Stefan (20) and Andjela (17), live with their father. As if there is not enough suffering and pain that this woman is facing, we learn about the tragic event that happened to her son Stefan:

It almost killed me. He played football, and a year ago went to the gym, was driving with his friends, when they had a serious car accident in which he suffered life-threatening injuries and became a paraplegic.

However, we felt that everything was not so sad in the Lolić family, and that there was hope, expressed in David’s words:

When I grow up, I would like to be a soldier. To protect my mother and sisters, to be a hero but not to brag. I don’t want to be rich, I just want my mom to be happy!

The clarity and shrewdness that this boy shows completely enchanted us, so we wanted to find out what happiness means to him:

Happiness is when a person’s heart is warm!

The words of this little hero left us encouraged by the end of our visit and gave us additional motivation to launch a big fundraiser to help buy a house for the Lolić family. We call on all donors and generous people to once again work together with us, to do everything in our power to finally provide this large family with normal living conditions!

Here is how you can donate: