“I know people pressed by fate, yet still they breathe,” wrote long ago Desanka Maksimović.
These words perfectly describe the hardworking and humble Denić family from the village of Straža. The family is made up of parents Đorđe and Leposava, their children Nikolina (10), Anđelina (9), Marko (5), and their uncle Milovan.
Straža is one of the poorest villages in the Municipality of Gnjilane. Once entirely Serbian, over time it became multiethnic, where today Serbs remain the most endangered majority. Under the pressure of poverty and difficulties, many Serbs have left in recent years, selling their land. But the Denić family is among the few who have not, determined to raise their children in Kosovo and Metohija.
At the entrance to their old village home, the harsh reality of their living conditions becomes immediately visible. Two small rooms without a bathroom or running water are all they have. This house, inherited from their ancestors who once defended it with their lives, is their only shelter.
Yet despite its historic and spiritual value, the house is falling apart rain leaks through the roof, the walls are crumbling, and the windows are broken, covered only with plastic to keep out the cold.
Even so, the Denić family continues to endure poverty, harsh weather, and daily struggles. It seems only such challenges could give rise to parents as proud and honorable as Đorđe and Leposava, who despite everything, teach their children to love and never abandon their homeland.
They have heard many empty promises and endured disappointment after disappointment. They no longer expect anyone to help, as for years no one has even visited them.
Đorđe still carries the deep wound of losing his brother, killed while guarding cattle during the war. That tragedy forever binds him to these hills and the sky above them. “During the war in 1999, Albanians killed my brother. Even today, they don’t leave us in peace. They stole two of our cows, and every winter they steal our firewood. But we will never sell our land we want to leave it to our children,” says Đorđe.
Their children have been raised with modesty and honesty. They ask for little and dream simple dreams. They are hardworking, love learning, and are eager to help. Yet they often struggle to follow school lessons because they don’t have a computer, enough notebooks, or other basic supplies their parents cannot afford. Nikolina and Anđelina dream of a new house where they would have more space to study and so they would not be teased at school for being poor. Their younger brother Marko wishes most of all for a computer, so he could play games with friends and learn better.
The family’s only steady income is child benefits and minimal social aid, far from enough to cover education or build a new home.
We hope that the Humanitarian Organization Kosovsko Pomoravlje will succeed in helping this brave family and inspire others to care for those in greatest need, so together we may restore hope that we can be better than we are.
Let us open our hearts to those who have no one but us, let us build a home for the Denić family, and restore their faith in a brighter future!
Donations can be made via PayPal or directly to the account number listed bank account , with the note “For the Denić family.”
Donations via PAYPAL
