Smile for beauty in Goraždevac -

On the third day of Christmas, on the feast of St. Archdeacon Stefan, we visited Goraždevac, the largest Serbian village in Metohija, and since 1999, the seat of the Peć municipality and Peć district. As part of the “Smile for Kosovo” campaign, we distributed over 100 gift packages to children from Goraždevac and nearby villages.

Distribution of Christmas gifts in Goraždevac

We delighted students of the “Janko Jovićević” Elementary School, as well as younger children, with sweets. Schoolchildren from remote Metohija villages also received tablets to help them follow online classes.

Our visit to Goraždevac concluded this year’s “Smile for Kosovo” campaign, which we ran over the past month as an online initiative together with students from Belgrade, Republika Srpska, and the diaspora under the slogan, “Share Joy – Heart to Heart with Serbia.” The goal of the campaign was to bring our followers and donors closer to the everyday lives of Serbs in the enclaves of Kosovo and Metohija through social media posts. Through videos and photographs of daily life, we wanted to awaken solidarity, care, empathy, and unity, emphasizing that separation from one’s people and homeland is the hardest kind of isolation, and that such a situation must not be allowed.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented our students from visiting their people and holy sites in Kosovo and Metohija, but it did not stop them from supporting us in spirit. In the spirit of collaboration and friendship between our organizations and Serbian youth from all over the country and the world, this year’s traditional student organization campaign by the Serbian Political Forum from Belgrade – “Smile for Kosovo” – was conducted jointly with the Kosovo Pomoravlje Humanitarian Organization from Gjilan, the Values System Organization from Belgrade, the Students’ Association of Republika Srpska in Serbia from Novi Sad, the Political Science Faculty Students’ Association from Banja Luka, Digital Serbia, and with support from the Organization of Serbian Students Abroad. We sincerely thank everyone who, once again this year, stood heart-to-heart with Serbia and who believe that places like Goraždevac, despite being symbols of great suffering, are also symbols of hope for survival, peace, and the return of all displaced from Kosovo and Metohija.