Bujanovac – Jelena Mitrovic, 32, a single mother from the village of Rakovac near Bujanovac, will remember last year, as well as the beginning of this year, all her life.  

In December 2018, the “Blic Foundation" built a house for her and her three daughters, while this year Jelena got a job at the Tobacco Industry of Bujanovac (TIB).

Her daughters Andjela (9), Emilija (12) and Milica (15), who grew up in a 12 m2 room, without water- supply and sewage, now live normally and attend school, while their mother Jelena, instead of receiving social welfare assistance, earns her salary by cleaning the premises of TIB. 

And 11 years ago, life played bitterly with the Mitrovic family. Jelena's husband Igor, a secondary raw material collector, was killed in a traffic accident. Emilija was just born, while Milica was less than five years old.

“I do not want anyone to experience what life has done to me over the past 11 years.   That's why I am immensely grateful to the "Blic Foundation" that has enabled my children to live as well as others, and to our beneficiaries from the Tobacco Industry who have made it possible for the four of us to have food on the table", says Jelena.

 She got a job thanks to the assistance of good people. In addition to a lot of other people, Bratislav Lazarević, Director of the Red Cross Office in Bujanovac, knew about her life story.  

"When I heard about Jelena and her three children, we provided them with one meal a day in the Red Cross kitchen, while Bogoljub Tomić, Director of the TIB, helped with finding a job for her," Mr. Lazarević said.

On the other hand, Mr. Tomic says that the economic situation in the country is difficult, while the economic situation in South Serbia is extremely complex, but that with a little goodwill, problems such as the existence and normal childhood of three children can be addressed. 

“Three years ago, the Blic Foundation launched a campaign to help this family. The girls waited a little longer for the house, because the family did not have literally anything. First we had to find a plot on which to build, and then to begin construction works. Thanks to the municipality of Bujanovac, Mayor Shaip Kamberi and Deputy Mayor Stojanca Arsic, as well as to the assistance of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medveđa, we received  a large plot of land and all necessary permits for the construction of the house ", said Ljiljana Knezevic, the Executive Director of the  Blic Foundation.

So, now, in a 60 m2 house, which is located on a 1,000 m2 plot of land, Andjela, Emilija and Milica, and their mother Jelena, are starting afresh. Ljiljana Knezevic says this is an example of how we can jointly change the life of a family.

"The Blic Foundation built the house and, with the assistance of donors, bought everything for it, the municipality of Bujanovac donated the land, and the TIB company provided the job. This, we closed the circle, and Milica, Emilia and Andjela, along with their mother, can now be more peaceful, while the "Blic Foundation" goes on, in a new battle for some other children, "said Ljiljana Knezevic.  

Source: “Blic” daily and Coordination Body