#SUPPORT ZVECANSKA KIDS!

BalkanNoise Fundraiser
#SUPPORT ZVECANSKA KIDS

Dear friends join our efforts and help us raise much needed funds for children in a Orphanage in Belgrade!

OUR STORY

Now based in Belgrade, Serbia and reunited after a year, two friends and members of the BalkanNoise team Natalija Milanovic, a former high school teacher and  a learning centre educator and Maya Jankovic a social worker with experience working with children and teenagers with special needs decided to team up after discovering they had a similar passion... supporting children without parents. 

And so our journey began. 

ZVECANSKA ORPHANAGE, JULY 2015

Nestled in the hills overlooking Belgrade sits a four story building in a residential neighbourhood. The street offers a gorgeous view of the Temple of Saint Sava and is otherwise quiet, except for the occasional sound of children playing in the nearby park playground. 
This building pictured is one of six centres known as "Zvecanska". One of the two orphanages we visited in early July 2015 and is home to children under the age of 12. The centre has over 400 children in their care who are placed between the six buildings located on the same street. We will never forget  the first time we visited this place. It left such an impression in our hearts and we promised to return. 

Our first visit was with the head of Projects and Outreach, a psychologist. He gave us a great overview of how the homes are run, how heavily they rely on volunteers, the challenges and politics of modern day Serbia when it comes to funding and adoption laws as well as the many behavioural and psychological challenges children and adolescents face as a result of being in care of the state and so forth. It was on his recommendation that we were approved to visit another home, this time a home to teenagers aged 14-18. 

WHY THIS CAUSE 

There are a few components we would like to fund. 

- Firstly we would like to ask our friends to donate money for much needed airconditioning systems and to pay for their installation. The group home at Zvecanska 52 has a computer and craft room neither of which have air conditioning. As you can image, it gets quite hot and trying to work under these conditions is not an easy task for the kids or their teachers.  

- Secondly we will be working with children aged 14-18 on various creative workshops. From making short videos about Belgrade, working on creative art projects and taking them out to places of their choice for some time out from the home. The whole aim of this project is for the children to choose what they want to do and for us to make it happen for them.

- The home at Zvecanska 52 is in great need of many miscellaneous items and we'd love to help them make the home as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for these kids.  Another example is the lack of gardening tools for the home garden. The kids have a sense of pride and would like to fix up the garden but there are no tools to do this with. 

COLLABORATION

We've already met the kids and started our work with them and can't begin to tell you how rewarding the experience has been so far. These projects will allow us to continue this work, to hear their stories, their experiences and to see what resonates with them and will enable us (with your help) to transform their dreams and ideas into something special for them, from creating memorable shared experiences to the visually aspirational. 

FUNDING NEEDS

The funding goal we are hoping to achieve is AUD 5000 dollars. The amount would cover the following: 

- Two new airconditining systems and installation for Zvecanska 52 home

- Food and drinks at workshops

- Public transport allowance to get to and from the workshops

- Workshop technology e.g. filming equipment and art materials

- Hire of venue for exibition, including refreshments

- Excursions and venue entrance fees

- Miscellaneous items such as wheelbarrow, shovels and gardening equipment

To be absolutely transparent, all our time is pro bono. None of the funds raised for these projects will be for use outside the projects. If the funds do not reach the goal, the project will still go ahead and any money will be used for the workshops. If we exceed our goal, overage raised will go towards additional supplies and excursions we aim to run in coming months. We will also be looking at working with other homes in the Zvecanska complex. We will save all receipts and be as transperant as possible throughout this project.

More about Zvecanksa you can find on their official website  http://www.zvecanska.org.rs/ 

Thank you for your support!

If you need to reach us and give us your feedback please e-mail us on [email redacted]

Much love
Maya & Natalija
and the BalkanNoise Team