Poverty in Serbia

I made contact with a kindergarten teacher in Belgrade, Serbia, named Zora Petrovich.   I asked her how poverty affects the lives and education of young children in her country.  She explained some of the recent history of Serbia and the devastating affects on families and children.

Formerly, Serbia was a part of communist Yugoslavia.  While the communist party was oppressive in many ways, all people had jobs, homes, food, and equal education opportunities for all children.  In the early 90's, the Bosnian war hit its peak, and the communist government was overthrown.  Yugoslavia was dismantled, and split into several independent countries - one of these being Serbia.  Serbia is now a democratic state.

Unfortunately, the loss of communism created a huge social gap between the rich and the poor, and an unprecedented problem with poverty.  The majority of the citizens of Serbia are extremely poor, and there are almost no social reform movements in place.  Additionally, many children were orphaned during the war, putting a great financial burden onto the state.

Many many children go hungry, work at a young age, are in orphanages or homeless, and do not have the means to a good education.  school is still publicly funded, but children must have a means of transportation that is not available to poor children in order to have access to school.

Disease and malnutrition are becoming huge problems for Serbian children - and there are currently no strong programs working towards relief.    While Serbia has a very old, traditional culture, they are a young country due to their former dependence on the Yugoslav government.  It may be a long time before they find a way to equalize opportunities and health for their children.

Learning about the plight of children in Serbia was very difficult for me emotionally, but it also made me thankful for the types of programs that are available for American children.  While we are far from perfection, we have much to be thankful for.