An open wound
Those who drive on the beautifully asphalted highways and enjoy all the splendid natural beauty and the very touristy coast are hardly aware of the open wound in Croatian society. The contrast compared to the relaxing coasts and the harsh hinterland can in fact be shocking.
Almost 30 years ago, a fierce civil war raged in the Croatian interior. Many of the people who were evicted in 1995 have never returned. The situation is hopeless. No work, no future, no youth.
Despite the beautiful, lush nature, this interior offers a desolate sight. Many houses were never rebuilt. Only 30 per cent of the ancient population returned. Returning to what once was their home. They face numerous problems; Depression, loneliness, poverty and rejection. The biggest problem in these former war zones is the overwhelming feeling and impression of hopelessness. In fact, the civil war lasted 5 years but the devastating effects of this will last for two to three generations. Many of the people who returned are now in their late 70-ties or 80-ties. The places where they live suffer from depopulation and a lack of social cohesion. Many of them only see the postman once a week as their neighbours and children left a long time ago.
Bringing hope, love, groceries and friendship
One cannot change the whole world, but we can change the world for a few people. That is why we decided to set some of our time, money and energy apart to weekly visit the people that have no friends or relatives.
Having been raised in both Christian families we felt that faith without love and practical deeds are a meaningless religious matter without power. Our aim is not to solve the problems of all the people that we visit or beat the relentless chain of poverty. Our aim is to switch on the light in places that appear to be dark, for light is more powerful than darkness. Spending time with people, listening to their stories, encouraging them and helping them with a bag of groceries is what we do on a weekly basis.
The people we visit have an average monthly income of no more than 130 euros. The groceries are just as expensive as in the Netherlands. On average we provide 400 packages per year. Each package is worth 30 euros. We do not just bring the necessary goods but love to bring some luxury biscuits and chocolates as well.
When we meet a specific need such as a new woodstove, a new mattress or firewood we can always rely on our sponsors from the Netherlands “foundation Humaned”. They visit us three times per year and know all the people by now.
Which areas do we visit?
In 2013 we started contacting municipalities if they would be willing to cooperate with us. Often times the social department or the local Red Cross were very willing to cooperate with the exception of the municipality of Duga Resa. We are mostly focused on the rural areas where only a few locals have remained. These are the areas that we visit on a regular basis: Glina, Vojnic, Topusko, Pokupsko, Vrginmost, Slunj, Cetingrad, Tounj, Josipdol, Dreznica, Plaski, Saborsko, Otocac, Zumberak and Lasinja. All these municipalities are located either in the county of Karlovac, Sisak or Lika. Of course, we would like to visit many more places, but this is where our focus is and this is what we can handle in one day.
The grannies and their lifestyle
As we said, fighting poverty is not our goal. It is about establishing relationships and encouraging the Croatian Country Life lifestyle. The people that we visit have small gardens, a wood stove and some chicken. It is their lifestyle of acceptance and simplicity that is very inspiring. Their impact on the landscape and their connection with nature are of great importance. People that work the land on a small scale basis like the people we visit means more bio-diversity, more knowledge and happiness, and more local home products instead of industrially produced food. The more we embrace this lifestyle the more we will taste its benefits of it. Croatia offers the knowledge and the possibilities for such a life. It will cost you some blood, sweat and tears but the reward cannot find its equality in a materialistic lifestyle. We believe that small-scale country life can be learnt from many of the old grannies that we visit. Their knowledge, their passion and traditions are of high value, and with every grannie dying in a lonesome forgotten place part of the land dies as well. So time to turn the tide.
Click here to see the images that we made over the years of the people and their typical country lifestyle
Our approach towards “humanitarian work”
Often the idea of helping people in need is that it is labelled as humanitarian work. This is not our approach and it never will be. The idea is all about relationships, encouragement and mental support. The bag of groceries is much more a gesture to honour and respect them. Our aim is not so much to feed the hungry but to shift the focus from those who have more than enough; make them hungry for righteousness. There is a special blessing and joy put aside when you visit those who are not so well off and have no friends. That blessing comes back to you and is a spiritual gift. Therefore we never embark on big projects, fancy social media videos, fundraising projects or you name it. We keep it simple because the focus is on relationships. Everything bigger than that just spoils what Jesus has called us for.
For that reason, we do not recruit any volunteers or aim at more branches in other places in Croatia. We do not send any newsletter or extensive reports of our activities. That is just not necessary. Our financial support comes from our own income and friends from the Netherlands. Once more, we want to keep it small, clear simple and personal.
Our foundation and its mission statements:
In December 2017, we founded “Kracht voor Kroatië”(Strength for Croatia) together with our friends Pieter and Nina Hamelink from Kapelle (Zeeland). They are our best friends and have been so involved and supportive in everything we did in Croatia so far.
1. Encouraging and visiting the older generation in the former war zones of the Croatian hinterland.
2. Showing the beauty of “Green Croatia” through photography and publishing blogs and articles about this area.
3. Living a life of blessing. We do this from our house of prayer in Pribanjci, but also by actively entering the areas and praying for the people and the places.
Donations:
Stichting Kracht voor Kroatië
Tax number: 70596964
Bankaccount: NL87 INGB 0008 3274 56 (euro)
Conferencestraat 10
4421DS Kapelle – Netherlands
