Stories From The Village

Serbia! It’s charming and beautiful – if you’ve been here, you know.

But I must be honest -- I favor the village.  Endless miles of rolling hills, amazing organic food and simple living.  One should come here just to breathe the air.

I’m an American Serb who would give anything for acres of organic land and the knowledge and fortitude to grow my own food.   In America we have “Farm to Table” restaurants popping up everywhere – here in the village, it’s always been that way. 

But all this greatness comes with a price. Hard work! People work hard just to survive. There are no jobs to make a living. The majority of people want to escape – I want to stay!   

In Serbia the economy is bad, horrific actually.  The floods in May made matters worse.  All of this economical chaos has taken a big toll on families, and sometimes parents leave.  Yes, you read correctly.  Parents leave! 

Sadly, it’s quite common for many of the village children to live with their grandparents or neighbors because their parents leave to find work in other countries.  It’s so common that no one really talks about it.  It’s shocking to me!  What upsets me the most is when the mother’s leave, and don’t come back.

I was horrified to hear the life story of one of our sweet friends, who at the age of 14 only met his mother once. To make matters worse, his father is mental ill and unable to care for him.  He lives with a neighbor.

Because it’s Serbia, these kids will always have enough to eat, and a place to sleep – after all, Serbia is the most hospitable place on earth.  But with such a large number of Serbian Diaspora in the world, we can’t just sit back and settle for that.  So let’s do something, friends – the children and families of Serbia need us!

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