Everything I do, I do for them. And because of them, of course,” says Danijela Krivokuca with pride.
A single mother of six, she welcomed volunteers from the Cacak Red Cross at the doorstep of her modest home in the village of Zablace. On cold days, she works even harder to ensure that her children — from a seven-month-old baby to a 17-year-old — stay healthy and do not have to play, study, or sleep in cold rooms. The family stopped using electric heaters because they simply couldn’t warm the entire house.
“The fire has to burn 24 hours a day just to keep the temperature stable throughout the house,” Danijela explains, while nine-year-old Marija carries firewood inside and gently picks up her baby sister. “I manage somehow, even though it’s hard to get the firewood, transport it, cut it. But we have to“.
Just a few kilometres away, in the village of Goricani, Snezana Vasiljevic faces a similar struggle. She is raising two high-school students while caring for her 25-year-old son with disabilities and her seriously ill, bedridden husband.
“I work as a home support worker. I have three beneficiaries. Last month my salary was 60,000 dinars, before that it was 54,500”, she says. She tries to make sure her children don’t feel the hardship when they come home from their dorm in Kraljevo on weekends. But the house, with old and worn-out windows and doors, is impossible to heat properly.
“We heat this room with this Alfa stove. Our older son sleeps here. In the other room, we also have a wood stove. And the third room is where my husband stays. We heat only three rooms. The children and I sleep in that room over there. We somehow make ends meet. It’s hard,” Snezana says, admitting that with so many responsibilities, she barely has time to think about energy saving.
That is exactly the kind of support that the Krivokuca and Vasiljevic families received from young volunteers. Through a joint programme financed by the Joint SDG Fund and implemented by UNICEF, UNEP, and UN-Habitat, the Red Cross trained youth volunteers to advise vulnerable families in the rural Cacak area on how to reduce energy use, lower electricity bills, and ensure a healthier environment for their children. The volunteers also assessed the energy efficiency of their homes and showed how even small changes can make a difference.
“Each family will receive a high-quality extension cord with improved safety features, three LED bulbs that consume less energy, sealing strips for windows and doors to stop cold drafts, and reflective panels for their heating units,” explains 17-year-old volunteer Petar Popovic.
Natasa Cvijovic, Secretary of the Cacak Red Cross, hopes that these visits will inspire broader community action.
“Selecting ten socially vulnerable families with children, living in rural areas of the City of Cacak, will encourage the local community and local authorities to initiate new measures and allocate resources to improve energy efficiency in vulnerable households”, she says. She adds that the programme benefits not only families but also young volunteers by teaching them values and empowering them to drive positive change in their communities.
"You know, when someone enters a family’s home, it feels as if even the walls speak, telling us what we all need to hear: that these people are longing for help. Our volunteers develop even deeper empathy than they had when they first joined the Red Cross. This is a truly important path. One that helps shape them into lifelong humanitarians”, Natasa Cvijovic notes with satisfaction.
For Petar, the experience has been transformative.
“I’m really glad there are so many wonderful children”, he says. “They’re all lovely families who just need a little help. It feels warm, fulfilling… It’s a feeling everyone should experience.”
