Jasmina Tosić and her team continue the vital work of Bread of Life. It is now part of SGA’s Phoebe ministry, but has been supported by SGA since its inception in the mid-90s.Â
While it has evolved from its early years, the social needs are still acute in Serbia. Bread of Life continues to offer vital help in the light of changing circumstances, in particular growing poverty due to price increases, and crisis in health care today. Social services have been reduced to a minimum, but the needs for the support of the elderly have been increasing. The state employs a number of social workers but not close to what is required. The economic situation is deteriorating.
Dapa Milka is a recipient of help from Bread of Life. Jasmina shares her story.
“She was born in 1933 in Bosanski Grahovo, Bosnia. Like most of her compatriots, she found herself at the end of 1995, in a refugee column moving towards Serbia with her husband and son. They settled in Resnik, a suburb of Belgrade, as tenants. They pay rent and fight for survival. The husband had a stroke and became immobile. Milka took care of him for six years until he died in 2016. The son continues to take care of her. Milka has a problem with sight and hearing. It’s hard to move. She inherits her husband’s pension of 82 EUR. The son occasionally works, but he lost his job. After a while, they could not pay the rent and had nowhere to live. In the nearby parking lot, with the consent of the neighbours, she built a two-compartment barracks for her son. That’s where they stay – without water, electricity, and bathroom – toilets have been constructed outside. They have some other relatives who live nearby and to whom they go once a week to take a bath. They use two batteries with the help of which they have lighting in the barracks. The fire is lit for most of the year because the barracks has no insulation, and when there is no fire, it is very cold. Since everything is cramped and Milka is weaker and finds it harder to move, her son must not leave her alone for a long time.
With the help of donors, we managed to buy them 2 metres of wood this winter, so they had wood to keep warm. We managed to buy them some food every month with your help. These are the most basic foodstuffs, flour, sugar, oil, rice, potatoes, and canned food because they do not have a refrigerator. They are very grateful and look forward to each of our visits.”
Bread of Life teams provide health care and home help services. Also, there is a growing problem relating to the protection of people with dementia.  The problem of violence against and abuse of the elderly which increased during the pandemic, especially violence against older women, is being addressed by Bread of Life. There are additional activities added to the psychosocial support for dementia suffers. The aim of these additional activities was to help the elderly cope better with depression, fears, and feelings of abandonment. These activities will contribute to greater motivation among the elderly to be able to leave the house and counteract the effects of isolation.