Violet's Story
Representing Community Transport in Serbia

One girl is fighting for her place under the sun. She was born in great pain. Years were passing, but the pain remained. Dull pain tearing apart the soul and the heart. They say one should resign to his destiny. Well I cannot accept it. We never lost hope.  The only thing that remains is hope. A small ray of light is lighting our road and giving us hope. My violet is a great fighter for all the things in her life. In the very beginning the doctors said the worst. In only one moment, our life was changed. They said to is she might not be able to see, speak, or hear. That she might not be able to walk. Despair. This is a soft word for the feelings we had. Hopeless sadness. In the hospital Violet fought for months for her life. It was winter and very cold. My heart was really frozen from the sorrow. But she was a fighter, a hero, she fought for her life. But she has done it. She survived. Then we couldn't guess how many battles were ahead of us. Miracles happened. We only have to believe and not lose faith. My violet can see with her own big curious eyes, and she is watching the world. She hears and adores music. She walks, she wants to dance, and does dance. Clumsy, but she is joyful. She sings and is a happy child. I adore her and I love her more than anything. She's the best thing I have in my life. She hurts me the most, and makes me the most happy. Pain and happiness. She had one operation and was so courageous. I prayed to God every day to give me strength. But the consequences remain. She is a special child. For everything she has achieved so far, she had to engage a lot of effort and endeavor. At first, some of the simplest things were a great battle for her. But she never gave up. Violet is a fighter. She is persistent and strong and tender. She builds her own world. She goes to school with many children. But I can see she is lonely. She's eager to play and talk to other children. Other children are not spending time with her. They feel that she is "different." So far we've been alone. Now we go in the association for children with special needs. We have the teacher Mira. Violet adores her. She speaks often of her and she's always requesting to go there. The organization is "Nada" (hope). Hope has been our guideline. Even when it was the worst, hope gave us strength. In the past, now and I hope in the future.

--Violet's Mom

Nikolina's Story
Representing Community Transport in Serbia

I'm the mother of Dragan. He is 6 years old. He's psycho-motoric. Development is slow. He has problems with speech, wearing spectacles due to cross-eyedness. A cyst in his brain is the cause. Since my husband and myself are unemployed, we can't afford to send him to speech therapy or defectologist because we are so far from them. So this "Nada" Association is important for us because they have a professional staff that is assisting my Dragan and the other children as much as they can. In "Nada" Dragan, through playing and exercising with other children, is learning that there are other children with similar problems and that he is not alone.

--Dragan's Mother

It is illegal to take photographs in the areas in which these stories come from. Therefore the pictures above are of various children in Eastern Europe, but do not match the stories presented.