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There was a time in New Zealand when kids with disabilities would have been put in institutions
– cast aside. We wouldn’t dream of doing that now but in the two countries we visit
today – Mexico and Serbia, life is very different.
In Mexico kids with disabilities are made even more vulnerable by their extreme poverty,
many end up on the streets. Just six years ago a child born with a disability in Serbia
would have been institutionalized. Today attitudes are changing, government policies are in place
but in this war torn country there isn’t the money to make a difference.
Belgrade, a city recovering from political turmoil. In the 1990’s it erupted into full-scale
war and wreaked havoc on millions of families and left lasting economic impact.
In the past two decades most countries have looked to improve the lives of people with
disabilities. In Serbia there’s been too much else to deal with. Here the social stigma
surrounding disability remains strong. Many families still send their children to institutions
believing there is no other choice.
From birth it’s sort of accepted that the majority will choose to institutionalize the
child.
In Serbia we are very strange people, we are shaving our invalids parts of people, I don’t
know why.
Mary Borojevic and Jovica Vukmirovic are a dedicated duo working for Cherish Our Children.
It’s an international organization that helps kids in desperate situations.
Mary’s lived most of her life in the US but when she came home to Serbia in the 1990’s
she was struck by the way children with disabilities were treated and wanted to make a difference.
Jovica is her right hand man. Together they support dozens of young people with disabilities.
All of these kids were moved away from their families and placed into orphanages and institutions.
Most of these teenagers will remain institutionalized for life.
Even today when a mother has a handicapped child, even ones that are marginally handicapped
or not so severely handicapped the immediate advice from the professional doctors and social
workers is to institutionalize the child especially when there are non-special needs children
in the family, they really still believe that it will hold back the development of the rest
of the family and that they are just not equipped to deal with the logistical things, the emotional
things that go along with caring for a special needs child.
Mary and Jovica have always believed that these kids are capable of living independent
lives. Thanks to them these kids are learning work skills. Jovica convinced local businesses
to give him some old industrial sewing machines, other donations followed. Now it’s a thriving
fully equipped workshop.
We were going to some factories and asked them if they had some old machines to give
the kids and we have some results.
It’s a small shift but it’s giving these kids hope.
OK so here we are entering the vocational unit at the institute – this is where the
children are learning vocations and you’ll see around you examples of their work, some
needlework, sewing, arts and crafts and through Jovica all of these machines were donated,
these cutting machines, these sewing machines and then they have teachers that teach them
on a daily basis, the ones that are interested in this kind of work. So they learn this vocation
and out in the hall are examples of what they do with that vocation.
And one machine that was donated is the machine that actually makes the toilet seat covers
for restaurants and institutions that need that and so the machine was donated to do
that and they actually got a contract so the people that are interested in that kind of
work do that and actually make a little bit of money from it.
You can see that during Easter time they were painting and creating eggs and making bases
and bottles, it’s a healthy bright cheerful environment that’s really conducive to the
childrens learning and creativity.
Belgrade is a bustling city… not easy to get around especially if you have a disability.
Public transport is really stretched and many people can’t afford to own a car. That means
they can’t get to day care centres, schools and hospitals, they can’t access the medical
care and support services they need.
Mary and Jovica realized this was a major issue and convinced others working for Cherish
Our Children to create a community transport scheme. They underestimated what a difference
the service would make to peoples lives.
The name of the programme is called community transport and it was created to provide the
necessary transportation services for handicapped kids to get to the resources that are necessary
for their survival – to get to special school or special clinics, day care centres. Most
of them live out on the fringes of Belgrade where there usually isn’t transportation
available and the families are usually very poor.
Our logistics director Jovica has been instrumental in identifying needs and the lack of services
in the community of Belgrade because his son is autistic and he’s spent over 20 years
trying to get access to resources for his son and as a consequence he became involved
with many many families that had the same issues to deal with.
On the other side of town Jovica is gearing up for a busy day ahead. Every week he drives
50 kids around town. As word spreads he’s becoming a bit like the pied piper. He spends
his week visiting homes, picking up children and taking them to everything from sports
activities to medical appointments. Some kids can’t leave their homes so he takes the
teachers to them. He’s on the road 10 hours a day, six days a week.
We are going to visit one family with a Cerebral Palsy son, that is the family Costich. I know
them 8 years that family, we started supporting that family in 2002 when we start here in
Belgrade our community transport programme. This is the father and they are living there.
This is a Roma family; they’re the gypsies of Serbia. The seven members of this family
survive on the equivalent of NZ$40 a week. There’s no spare money to provide for the
needs of 19-year-old Slobo. He rarely leaves the house and doesn’t get many visitors
so it’s a highlight when Jovica visits.
The most difficult thing is that he can’t walk, he can’t walk and sometimes he can’t
breathe which means he can’t go anywhere so she’s got to carry him anywhere he goes,
he has to be carried so that’s the first primary problem is mobility.
It’s so hard for her to move him and with Jovica she’s able to go places but he really
wants to go to school and we’re now bringing a teacher here is a big big change for him
– a positive change.
Our interview turns into a family scrap. Slobo’s dad openly talks of his son as a burden on
the family and says he should be in an institution. Slobo’s mother has fought against that since
her son was five.
It’s very important to be with Slobo, to live together. Since Slobo was five from social
works they give her an opportunity to put Slobo in an institution and she told them
no.
The father is thinking for Slobo it would be better to be in some institution and spend
the weekends with
the family.
He loves to spend most time watching TV and painting.
Despite the family tension Slobo is staying put at home with his mum – forever as far
as she’s concerned!