THEY are not allowed to wait for winter in this place. If it snows, the roof will collapse on them and kill them.
Jelena Kolompar has no one to help, Photo by R. Šegrt
We need to unite and help this humble woman get a safer and more secure roof over her head.
This is what the priest Aleksandar Lekić, a priest and elder of the Orthodox Church in Bashaid near Kikinda, says about the Kolompar family, Jelena (42) and her three sons, and appeals to the public for help. Exactly in that place, at the end of the village, in a ditch without electricity, water and windows, where there is a hole in the roof, and no wall is safe, live four Kolompars. They are protected from the rain by nylons thrown on the roof, just like on the windows. You enter the house with your back bent and with the fear that something will get caught. If touched, there is a risk of falling. When we entered the little room, where everything had long since fallen into disrepair, we found eight-year-old Mirko. He warmed his feet next to the old, blackened “Smederevo man”.
Anyone who passes by there would never believe that such a house could be someone’s home. That there is life, after all, is indicated by a bicycle and a wardrobe that is dried on a string.
– This isn’t mine either. This was given to me by my father-in-law, almost 20 years ago, when I got divorced. The children belonged to me and I take care of them. But nothing is in my name. The oldest Jasmin is 21 years old, but he is ill. He goes with me to work for a wage. The middle Dalibor is 14, and the youngest Mirko is eight. I can’t provide anything for myself anymore. Sometimes I get up at three in the morning to go to work and come back at six. Now I’m going to take out the carrot. What am I going to do, I have to – our single mother from Bashaid is mourning us.

Priest Aleksandar Lekić, Photo by R. Šegrt
Nobody paid attention to her suffering, until the priest Aleksandar Lekić noticed two students modestly dressed, but clean, neat clothes, at the religious classes he teaches to the students of the village school. As someone who cares about his parishioners with his heart, he told them that he would visit them and asked for their address. And when he took them some clothes, his breath caught when he saw how difficult the boys were living in.
– The children are neat and clean. They come to classes and to church. I noticed their mother carrying water from a public fountain in the center of the village. So she washes their clothes with that water to keep them clean. And when I saw where they lived, I became desperate and worried about where and how they would spend the winter. That is why I am asking everyone who can and wants to help them to take care of me, to contact me – dramatically calls the worried father Lekić.

Photo by R. Šegrt

Photo by R. Šegrt

Photo by R. Šegrt
The house where Kolompari lives is not worth repairing, nothing can be done there.
No building material is required. This single mother and her children need a secure roof over their heads. The priest sincerely believes that, with the help of noble people, it is possible to raise a decent amount of money to find a modest house for this family of four in the village.
– If I had a better house, I could pay for electricity and water on my own. I have social assistance and child allowance, about twenty thousand. I also go on a daily basis, wherever there is work – Jelena assures us.
The priest is launching a fundraising campaign for Jelena Kolompar with the blessing of Bishop Nikanor of Banat, just as he recently successfully completed one such mission, and took care of a modest family of four in a new house.
CONTACT FOR HELP
ANYONE who can and wants to help the priest Aleksandar Lekić to take care of Jelena Kolompar and her children in a safe new home, can contact him at 061 64 222 38, for further agreement. Father Lekić is the elder of the St. Nicholas Church in Bashaid near Kikinda.
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