It was a rainy Saturday morning when I and volunteer worker went to pay a visit to Zahirović family in Romany neighbourhood in Zagreb Savica Šanci. I read an article about them in a local newspaper towards the end of last year, at the same time when I was establishing the Blue Angel Association, and I immediately took interest in that large family. While still in Africa, and visiting similar families I made comparisons with Romany families in this country, whose living conditions are equally poor. Thinking about what kind of associations I wanted to help large African as well as large Romany families in the same way. By doing this the association became unique and different from other existing associations. African as well as Romany population face similar problems: reduced access to healt care, low education, poor housing condition and low levels of employment, which all contribute to continued marginalizacion of this population groups, as well as their dependence on social welfare. We should all strive to alleviate the problem and try and help large families by improving standards and the involvement of children in education and activities outside of school, which would provide them with equal opportunities, non-discrimination, combating social marginalization, etc.
I called Mrs. Zahirović and told her that we are coming to visit them and she said they`ll be waiting for us in one supermarket on Ferenščica and they will take us to their home so that we wouldn`t wander around searching for them in their neighborhood. For the last few days it has been sunny but today it was cloudy and as soon as we left my house it started to rain. On our way to the supermarket we stoped at one store to buy bananas, oranges, apples and other fruit for the kids, and headed to Ferenščica.
In the supermarket, in the playroom for children, Mirsada (36) was waiting for us with her husband Rašid (42), holding in her arms the youngest 11-months old daughter Stella and holding hands with her 4-years old Anela. It was almost 13 o`clock and we did not know that he has to be till 13:30 in public diner to get the food for whole family, with his wagon by foot. But he got back with empty little wagon because the diner was closed just at the time when he got there. I wish they said that sooner, we would come earlier. I felt terrible, I was so sorry I kept thinking would that little fruit be enough for the whole family. How much food is needed to feed a family of 13 members? Can you even imagine that you have that many children that you don`t even know what you are going to eat tomorrow so that everyone could be full-fed. How many families have I seen in the villages of Kenia? And that is exactly why I thought that nothing can surprise me when it comes to poverty, but still I was surprised and a little bit ashamed. Yes, ashamed for what I saw. How is it possible that in our beautiful Croatia, a country that is about to enter the European Union, just few kilometers from the center of capital city, just few blocks awas from tram stations, there is perfect place for rats, mice, different diseases where children live. They live just few kilometers away from someone`s villa, from someone`s multi-storey luxuriously decorated apartment, from someone`s expensive car which costs as much as it would cost a new house for this people. There are living families that don`t have a place to sleep, that have rain in their shacks, that don`t have enough wood for fire. We have heard so much about embezzled money from our goverment last few years, the money that is saved in accounts in banks abroad. They still live in our country and they will have huge pensions, the ones that ordinary people can only dream about. I`m calculating how much food we could by for the starving children in that neighborhood and in the world with that money. After I got back from Africa, everytime before I decide to buy something I`m calculating exactly that, how many children I could fee that money. How many goats I could buy in Africa so that children can have milk everyday.Then I leave thing and don`t buy them, because I would rather buy food for family like this. I wonder, if anyone from city goverment came to see this neighborhoor and did something.
As we arrived in gypsy neighborhood, the rain stoped for a while, just enough of time to take some photos of the place where this family lives. In that neighborhood there are no normal houses, just shacks made out of sheet metal, bricks and all kinds of materials, the same as the roof, and around all that are piles of rags, garbage, cats and dogs that are just spreading diseases. And just because of those diseases, how can city of Zagreb let those people live like that in those conditions, without electricity, water, drainage. They are talking to us how many people bring them food and clothes but what would really change their life is a warm home in some decent house or apartment. But noone wants to deal with that. One politician came to visit them right before Christmas, but not to give them food or offer any kind of help, but to invite them to vote for him. What an irony.
In front of the shack there is a pile of wood, but as Mirsada said, there is noone who can saw it up because it cost 50 HRK per cubik metre, and there are fivecubic metres of wood that one students associationhad given them, but they didn`t provide sawing of it. We immediately promised them to take care of it send someone tomorrow to do it,because it costs only 250 HRK. For a moment a felt sorry that I hedn`t visited them earlier. We entered the house, inside there were only 2 old sofas and a wood-burningstove inside. Luckily it was still warm here. Inside we met other children, sons Kemal (20), Mehmet (18), Žaklina (2). Beautiful children, peaceful and quiet, good and nice, Antonija (6) sat right away in my lap and she didn`t separate from me. Her big brown eyes were looking at me as eyes of an innocent child full of love. I realized that those children are surrounded with warmth and love daily, that they have warm family home. I admired their parents for bringing them up like that in such circumstances. It turned out again that for love in the family you don`t need to have designer dresses, shoes or bags, big houses with pools, but honest love to your closest. In this family there isn`t a lack of that love.They win over anyone who meets them. Mirsada had put Stella on her chest to breastfeed her. The rest of the children were still in school so we didn`t meet them that day. They are Silvija (15), Frančeska (12), Frančesko (10), Antonio (8), Elizabeta (14), they are going in 3rd grade. We talked about immediately startingon on either buying a new house because the children really deserve it. In school they have excellent grades and they deserve a desk sor learning, a bed to sleep, bathroom... I pointed out to them that this is a long-term project of raising funds for a warm home and that they should be patiend, and not lose hope. I inquired into expenses of building a house to compare whether building or buying would be the better option and somehow I think that buying a house seems more cost-effective, unless we werw donated a piece of land somewhere near Zagreb. We are looking for smaller house near so that children wouldn`t change the school because they are very well excepted here. We have already found something similar but we continue to search. We believe that there are good people that want to help us and that we will find a sponsor which could help us to provide a warm home for this nice family. As we were leaving they said the last directions for the way how to drive out from this neighbourhood.
I left from yet another large family filled with love and warmth of their hospitality. I had also experienced in African families. I am grateful to God for that He`s following me, directing me and giving me strenght on my path that I am walking.
Dragica Kopjar
Zagreb, 20. January 2012.
