In Serbia, but cut off from Serbia: ailing Darko and his brothers grieve for their mother! (video)
From a loveseat in a dilapidated house, a silhouette appears of an underdeveloped young man sitting in a crouched position, as if waiting for someone. This scene of pain and emptiness which captures the tragic fate of the Arsovski family melts even the hardest of human hearts.
Darko (16), essentially immobile and suffering from severe polio, together with his brothers Miloš (18) and Marko (13) and his father Goran, greets us in a home overwhelmed with sadness. Every step is weighed down by the death of the mother who passed away over a year ago.
My wife got sick and died… I have no will for anything, but I live because of them – father Goran tells us in a voice full of pain.
Darko sometimes needs emergency medical attention, but that attention is all but urgent. There is no road connection to their village Starac, specifically Čivčija. While they live in the municipality of Bujanovac in Serbia, they are totally cut off from Serbia! Their only connection to civilization is a wooden bridge over the river Pčinja, which they made themselves and which leads them to North Macedonia. They started building a house there, but have made very little progress.
Father Goran works in the monastery of St. Prohor of Pčinja, which also provides them with basic foodstuffs without which they would not be able to survive. They receive only 7,000 dinars in social assistance. The house they are in is in a very bad state. The furniture is completely threadbare, the walls and ceilings are damaged, the windows are not sealed… They don’t have water or a bathroom, and we were completely shocked when the youngest Marko explained to us how they bathe:
When it’s warmer, we bathe in the river. We take shampoo and dip ourselves in the water…
The Arsovski family has dual citizenship and, as they told us in conversation, they knocked on all the doors in Serbia and North Macedonia, but so far, no one has helped them significantly. Still, they don’t resent it.
In our home, the Serbian flag has always flown proudly. When I see it, I don’t know how to describe the feeling and comfort I experience. While I am alive, one will stand outside and one inside the house. We are, so to speak, border guards – adds father Goran.
Aware of their poverty, Goran thought of taking his sick son to a home, but his youngest brother would not allow it.
He never leaves him, it’s incredible how attached they are. Just to be able to get them through, to help them find their way in life, I don’t care about myself – the father tells us at the end of the conversation.
Their biggest dream is to finish their house, where construction stopped soon after starting due to unforeseen expenses related to medical treatment and burial costs for their mother and wife. The Charity organization Serbs for Serbs is launching a large campaign to help build a house for the Arsovski family, and needs to raise over 25,000 euros to achieve its goal.
Exploziv – video report
We invite all donors to join us so that Darko and his brothers can finally enjoy normal living conditions!
Let’s unite behind the ARSOVSKI BROTHERS!
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