The mother of this family lost her leg aged 16 to a landmine.  Her father was killed in the blast.  For some years Arthur’s charity has been funding new prosthetic limbs for her.  Some years ago, we realised her husband was unemployed but too ill to work.  We began sending donations every three months as after paying for utility bills and medicines, there was very little left for clothes or food.  E has never received a penny in Invalidity Benefits over all these years although injured by a weapon of war.

Recently, we became aware of their living conditions.  E, her husband, daughter of 13 and twin boys of 12 all live in 48m2.  The three children slept on couches in the only bedroom while the parents slept on couches in the living room.  A couple of steps down in the “basement”, the father’s parents lived in a tiny space, sleeping on a couch but with no water connected and no toilet facilities.  The house was not insulated and was mouldy.  We saw clearly that they needed our help.

Our builder extended the house to add two new bedrooms for the family.  We provided beds and furniture for all the rooms.  Water was connected to the basement and a shower room built for the elderly couple.  We replaced their old kitchen as well as insulating and decorating the entire house.  A balcony was added and old railings by the front steps were replaced.

Costs:  €41,000 which we shared with Fr Slavko’s humanitarian aid organisation.  Now these parents and three teenagers have a home to be proud of and they can sleep in beds for the first time in their lives.  Other children at school will be no longer be able to make fun of them because of their poverty.

There are many families like this who were refugees during the dreadful Yugoslav war – 1992 – 1995.  If you would like to change lives for other poor families, please donate online and tick “Poor Family Support” on the dropbox menu.  If you would like to help amputees like E, please tick “Prosthetic Limbs”.