In the Children’s Public Kitchen in Lukavac, the number of users has increased, and the food is getting less and less. For seven years, it has been surviving solely thanks to the volunteers who opened it and to the humane people. Appeals, requests, requests to all levels of government did not bear fruit.
Grandma Dudija Bjelobrvić lives on 120 marks a month in social assistance, which barely covers the cost of medicine. Without the Children’s Public Kitchen, she says, she would have nothing to eat.
“They take my bowls when I receive food, they eat it, they bring it out. They are all good to me and I didn’t believe there were such good people”, Bjelobrvic says.
Thanks to good people, meals can be provided. Waiting for the authorities, Dudi and the other 424 beneficiaries would spend their days hungry.
“This kitchen means the best to us. I have nothing, I have no income”.
“I have the minimum pension, but I have been diabetic for almost 40 years and I need five marks every day for strips”, Kada Mehmedovic says.
The children’s public kitchen was opened seven years ago by the altruistic association “Hands of Friendship” in Lukavac, with the help of good people and volunteers. Since then, the number of users has tripled.
“Can we receive more… the number of users is really too high. It was always ours, we can’t return anyone, but when nothing comes out of nowhere. And we’ll see how it will go on.”, explains Selma Zukic, President of the Association of Altruists “Hands of Friendship”.
Recently, through a public appeal, they were granted three and a half thousand marks from the Lukavac Budget, which they used to purchase groceries. While all these years the authorities are watching silently, and the users depend on donors, even the abolition of VAT on donated food has not brought any benefit to this kitchen and its users.
The “light at the end of the tunnel” is provided by those who, through humanitarian work, want to improve the situation. Among them is young Haris Likic, who has been volunteering for seven months.
“As I work the second shift from half past three, I saw that I could fill my time with that, so I came and made myself available to the Kitchen”.
The children’s kitchen in Lukavac reflects the real situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Luxury for politicians, punishment for citizens. While there are donations.
