“There are holes, rats, and mice” – Jovan (8) and Valerija (10) are heartbroken over their brother. Their only friend is Grandma Jagoda, who is 88 years old!

“This is our home. There are lots of holes, rats and mice. We get scared when we hear them in the attic, but we’ve gotten used to it. We dream of welcoming our brother to a new, beautiful house one day, he would be so happy,” said Jovan (8) and Valerija (10), who waited for us at the doorstep of their dilapidated little house, and immediately told us about their brother, Filip (15), who, due to Down syndrome, attends a boarding school for children with developmental challenges.

Nothing can make up for the sadness of being separated from their brother, whom they mostly see during school breaks, and since they are the only children living in the village of Opila (Rankovce Municipality, North Macedonia), they cope with loneliness by spending time with, as they like to say, the only friend they have in the village – 88-year-old Grandma Jagoda!

She loves to tell us stories about how things used to be, and we ask her all sorts of questions. We are also here to help her whenever she needs something, she is our closest neighbor, said Valerija.

The Jovanovski children go to school in Rankovci, about five kilometers from their village. The road there, if we disregard the wolves, foxes and jackals, is not as bad as the terrifying  makeshift bridge that can barely be crossed by car. A couple of times the water washed it away, leaving them cut off from civilization for days. Still, they love going to school. For the company.

I’ve been working lately on nearby road construction, but we’re in dire straits right now. We’re pushing through the month, and the month is pushing us — everything’s a struggle. We give up everything so the children can have what they need.  I suffered as a child, so I know what it’s like, and I don’t want that for them. We’ll see what happens when this work is finished. But we’re not going to be sad, a child will sense that right away, added Zoran, the weary but patient head of the household, a man of integrity, as we heard from a couple of sources.

“At home” the children spend most of their time in the little playhouse in the yard. They brought to life their imaginary children’s corner by building the small improvised room themselves. They placed two large canisters close together and covered them with wooden boards, used a sheet of metal as a door,and added a small mattress, a blanket, and a pillow, and thus, at least for a moment, made their wishes come true.

We have the best time here, we lie down and play. I love watching YouTubers from Serbia, and my sister likes listening to Breskvica. Though, most often, we come here when someone yells at us, said little rascal Jovan.

How could they not run to their “room”, when they don’t even have a proper room in the house. Ten-year-old Valerija and eight-year-old Jovan are forced to sleep on an old couch with their mother Katerina, while fifteen-year-old Filip, when he visits, sleeps with his dad on a broken bed in a non-functioning room that is not theirs. Suffice it to say that the children “repaired” the mirror with gum stickers. Cute, creative and sad all at the same time.

Everything is truly a disaster – the roof, the floors, the windows, the dampness, the electricity goes out often… The toilet is an outhouse, and the bathroom is what we call a dry bathroom. It’s just a space with a tub, but we don’t have any running water at all.  We bring it with a donkey a few times a week, explained mother Katеrina, detailing the dreadful conditions in which they are living with their three children — in the year 2025.

The hardest thing for them all, of course, is Filip’s situation. However, there is no shortage of love among them.

We didn’t know he had Down syndrome until he was three years old. They kept telling us he was just stubborn and that he would start talking eventually. It was painful when we found out, but it’s okay, he’s our child, we love him and we’ll always take care of him. He understands everything, but we, except for his mother, find him a little difficult to understand. He doesn’t like crowds and too much company, he prefers peace and quiet. A room of his own and better conditions would mean a lot to him, And what weighs even heavier on my heart is when my daughter told me that she wants a new house just for him — as if she doesn’t have the right to wish for something for herself too. Believe me, it would be a new start for us all, added the father.

We also heard how much Filip loves spending time with animals, and there is certainly no shortage of them in their yard. There are cows, goats, pigs, chickens, geese, pigeons, dogs and, of course, a donkey. The Jovanovskis are not sitting idly by, but they need the support of good people to break free from what could be a generational cycle of poverty.

They have suffered enough, a new house will make their lives easier. It will be an epic change for the better and, as they say, a rebirth. The Charity organization Serbs for Serbs invites you to donate and be part of our new fundraiser for the Jovanovski family!

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 (3 КМ)
2. Account: 56201281300241-58 (NLB bank)
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1. Account: 510-91548-03 (CKG bank)
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

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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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1. IBAN: DE97 7606 9559 0002 7519 92
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3. Send text SZS to 81190 (2.99 Euro)
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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
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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
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3. Call 0901 300 201 (3 Euro)

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1. SWISH: 1230 133 900
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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

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