They dismantle cars, sell bricks, and help their dad who lost his job due to surgery – the Bižić brothers are saving up for a laptop and a new house!

„I had an open wound; I had to undergo surgery on the veins in my leg. Unfortunately, they didn’t really have much understanding for sick leave. Oh well—at least now I have more time to gather materials and dismantle cars. You can earn two to three thousand dinars per car. I can’t stop when I have children; I have to work”, said Srđan Bižić, who was displaced from Vinkovci at the age of 16, and later volunteered to serve on the front lines in the Kninska Krajina region and in the area of Bihać.

“I lost a couple of friends in the war…”

Srđan lost his job at the beginning of last year. Now, thank God, he is better, and he hopes that he will soon manage to find employment again. He welcomed us on the outskirts of Šid in his improvised workshop where, we must point out, everything is tidy and organized —almost like in a pharmacy!

„We fled in 1991 – we only took two bags of belongings. We had to start all over again, and I had to grow up too soon. I mean, I didn’t have to, but I felt sorry for my parents. I started working through a youth employment agency at 17, and at 18 I became a permanent employee and soon after joined the army. They told me I was too young and kept sending me back, but I felt I should go – those people needed to be protected, so that they wouldn’t have to leave their homes like I had to. The hardest thing for me was losing a couple of friends, and then that unfortunate retreat when we had to leave behind what they weren’t able to take from us during the war”, this selfless, emotional and kind-hearted man recalled with tears in his eyes.

“I would like to be a programmer, but I don’t have a laptop!”

The boys Đorđe (13), Aleksandar (11), Lazar (10) and Dušan (4) help him with various tasks, and each has their own interests and hobbies. Dušan is, of course, his mother’s little darling and the main entertainer, Lazar is exclusively interested in football, but he also helps out with the dishes; Aleksandar is his father’s apprentice and is not interested in housework; and Đorđe is interested in programming games and coming up with mysterious stories for comics.

„I would like to be a teacher and a programmer, but unfortunately, I don’t have a laptop. I recently went with my dad to help with firewood and earned 500 dinars, so I immediately put it in my wallet. I’m saving up to buy it, but I’m still a long way off”, said Đorđe, a smart and talented boy who is a real pleasure to talk to.

“I wish my children had more space!”

The Bižić family’s biggest problem is their poor, old, and cramped house. They have problems with dampness, old beams, bad walls… The father bought the house as a young man with the money, as he says, he had managed to save. Although over time he has repaired and patched up quite a lot, this is still not a place for a family of six to live. He struggles every day; they are not hungry, but he is still unable to resolve the issue with the house.

„While I still had a job, I took out a loan of 650,000 dinars and we started building a new house. Now, unfortunately, I don’t have the means to continue, but we are still repaying the loan—we’re about halfway through. Everything was done by my brother-in-law and me, with a couple of friends also helping out. It would mean a lot to us to finish it, so that my children could have something newer and more space”, added Srđan.

Jam, tomatoes and knitting!

His wife, Aleksandra, is also a hardworking woman. She diligently takes care of their four children, keeps the household tidy, keeps chickens, and also makes jam, cooks tomato sauce, and knits.

„Basically, I don’t have too much of a choice about what I would like to do, but it’s more about what I can do. I want to start earning money, and these things are in demand and can be sold. I promised the boys that I would take them to the sea next year, because they have never traveled before, so we’ll see”, she added to the conversation.

“Maybe they’re saying behind my back that I’m poor?”

Since it had already been several years since they had applied for help from the humanitarian organization “Serbs for Serbs,” they thought that application had been a lost cause. Now, since our members came to visit, hope has awakened and they simply find it unbelievable that someone would want to help them from the goodness of their hearts. After spending time with the children, we also learned about other things that trouble and distress them.

„I would like to invite my school friends over, but I’m afraid they would make fun of me. After all, they all have two or three-story houses. It still hurts me to think that they might be talking behind my back, that I’m poor, this and that”, complained ten-year-old Lazar.

Let’s pay off another debt!

We invite all good people to join our new campaign. Let’s join forces to help the Bižić family – to repay the debt to Srđan, another forgotten hero of the Serbian people; to make it easier for mother Aleksandra to take care of the household; to enable Đorđe to become a successful programmer, to help young craftsman Aca fulfill his wish of having a room full of tools; to give Lazar a place where he can invite his friends; and to gift the youngest Dušan a Spider-Man toy!

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

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