Thank You Serbia! Together We Moved Pavle into a New Home!
This past fall we introduced you to little Pavle and his three siblings from the village of Zdravinje near Kruševac. Pavle (3) suffers from a severe form of Aper’s Syndrome and needed urgent jaw reconstruction surgery and prostheses for his missing fingers. The conditions in which they previously lived were inhumane, to say the least. Their old house was cold, dilapidated, and on the brink of collapse. They had no water, bathroom, and absolutely no conditions for maintaining basic hygiene. We did not take it lightly when we said they lived in the worst conditions we have seen. SRPSKI
Serbs from around the world came together like never before to make all that a thing of the past! This weekend, with the welcome of their school friends, neighbors, and our volunteers, we moved the Dimitrijević family into their new dream home. We carefully selected the spacious, two-story house together with the family, which they insisted be in the village they are from. Immediately after all the paperwork was signed, renovations began so the family could be rushed in before the winter. Our teams worked day and night to make this happen in record time.
In addition to renovations of everything from the kitchen to the bathrooms, to the bedrooms and living room, we purchased all new appliances for the entire home. The children’s rooms were fitted with everything from their favorite toys to laptops. The fridge and pantry have been stocked with enough food, wood, and supplies to last them until the end of winter. In addition to the complete renovation of walls, floors, windows, and doors, to the equipping of the kitchen on the first floor and the kitchen on the ground floor, to the renovation of the bathroom, the complete furnishing of the bedrooms and living room and other rooms, we also purchased the appliances that were missing. The children’s rooms are fully furnished, from comfortable beds and favorite toys, and play areas, to study areas and laptop computers. Given that the family declined the offer to move into a temporary home while the renovations were in progress, our priority was for them to move to this house as soon as possible. More renovations and furniture are on the way!
The outpouring of support has been unprecedented in our organization’s history. Your donations were put to immediate use as we transferred funds to local organizations tending to Pavle one week after we launched. 28. Jun then fully took over and financed all transport and other costs for the family when Pavle was seeing specialists in Belgrade. We kept the public updated every step of the way on our social media. In addition, we donated to the children’s hospital where Pavle is being treated, and we will also direct the donations to the special needs school attended by his older brother and sister.
Finally, we have set up a fund that will cover all future costs associated with Pavle’s treatments including speech therapy, travel expenses, and additional financial support for his parents in raising their four children. Pavle has many more operations ahead of him and we will be there together with him every step of the way. We are grateful for all the support and with the blessing from the family, the remaining funds will be redirected to other disadvantaged and vulnerable families who are relying on our help.
