The grief over losing their daughter is still ongoing. Let’s prevent new tragedies in the home of Radomirovićs!

There is not much joy in the home of the Radomirović family. How can there be, when a child passes away. Father Živorad was single for many years. Villages across Serbia have been dying out for a couple of decades now, and this trend has not bypassed even the region where the greatest of us all, Sveti Sava, was born.

The village of Dolac, where the Radomirović family lives, is located near Deževa, municipality of Novi Pazar. Single girls are almost non existant , so weddings have become rare. As in many villages in the Raška region, people were forced to find a solution in order to leave descendants behind. Živorad married his wife Vere, whom he met and brought from Albania.

Life in the Radomirović home was a little brighter then. Father Živorad had a permanent job, the boys Velibor (12), Marko (11) and Ognjen (9) were born, which encouraged him to work hard and build a house for himself and his newly formed family. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse. The Radomirovics also had a fourth child, son Ognjen’s twin sister Olgica. In 2014, tragedy struck, when year-and-a-half-old Olgica accidentally swallowed a large kernel of corn and suffocated. Father Živorad was not at home at the time so he and his wife could take the child to the doctor.

To this day, I can’t get over it. She was our sweetheart – said Živorad in despair.

Given that the house is not very close to the main road, the question is what would have happened even if Živorad had been at home then.

The only machinery and means of transport we have is this 42-year-old tractor. It is also our only connection with the world, although I only use it here to cultivate the land. I expect it to break down any minute – added Živorad.

Mother Vere has not yet mastered the Serbian language, so Živorad took us through the newly built house and highlighted the most important things requiring renovation.

I did as much as I could. Maybe not everything is done right, but for us it’s all we have. The floor is unfinished, there is no ceiling, and we didn’t even manage to install the floors – explained Živorad.

We noticed ourselves during the tour, that the electrical work is quite bad and that some cables are burnt. The chimney was not built properly, so the smoke cinders around the chimney itself are noticeable. All of this represents a potential danger for the Radomirović home, especially for the younger ones. An additional difficulty is that they do not have running water in the house, and due to the lack of insulation, the house can be quite cold in the winter.

The boys share the fate of their peers who live in similar conditions throughout Serbia. They don’t have friends close by to play with, so they are each other’s best company.

We play football behind the house and sometimes hide and seek – Marko told us.

And what they would like to have is not very different from the wishes of any other child of that age.

We would like bicycles and a computer – Velibor and Ognjen quietly added.

The goal is to complete the house for the Radomirović family. Let’s do what we can to prevent potential new tragedies which could result from the poor condition of the house. Above all, we want to make the house warmer, bring in running water, buy new furniture, and ultimately provide Velibor, Marko and Ognjen with decent conditions for their education and growing up.

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