While the Montenegrin bureaucracy measures paragraphs, in the very center of Bijelo Polje, across from the Municipality building, one family in just 17 square meters is counting difficult diagnoses, days without food and any income.
Single mother Svetlana Scepanovic, a person with a disability and a visually impaired person, with two seriously ill minor children, one of whom has special needs, lives in 17 square meters, and the children need urgent treatment.
Šćepanović lives with her sick mother in a substandard apartment, without basic living conditions, and her every day is a struggle for bare survival and the health of her children.
Left to her own devices, sick and without any income, today she is not begging for administrative mercy, but is crying out for urgent treatment for her children, for which time she is inevitably running out.
Until now, she pointed out, she had sought help through social media, where, instead of adequate help, she was mostly spat on and ridiculed.
The older daughter (14) is seriously ill with epilepsy and other illnesses, while the younger child (4) with special needs suffers from autism and ADHD.
"My younger daughter doesn't speak yet, she wears diapers and requires special care, which includes special nutrition, and I can't even afford to buy them bread," says the desperate mother.
She explained that with the help of good people, on the recommendation of a doctor, she and her daughter spent three months at the "Đorđe Kostić" Institute in Belgrade, and that their psychiatrist Dr. Ivan Krgović from the Autism Center recommended that they go to the Institute for Speech Pathology in Tuzla as soon as possible.
"I have absolutely no financial means for that trip and treatment," she pointed out.
Šćepanović found herself in an unenviable situation when, in accordance with the law, the care and assistance of others for her older daughter was recently terminated due to the renewal of documentation, while at the same time the state does not offer appointments for a pediatric neurologist, whose report is a requirement for applying for care.
A worthless five-acre plot of land outside the city is a legal obstacle to the family receiving social assistance and escaping the brink of starvation, and the battle over alimony with his ex-wife in the Basic Court in Bijelo Polje has not been legally concluded even after four years (due to various seminars and constant changes in the judges involved, the proceedings are currently before the High Court and a final decision is awaited).
"While I'm waiting for the dates and decisions of the commission, I submitted the disability benefit papers for my younger daughter on May 26th and am waiting for a response. My older daughter's right to care for someone else expired on April 30th. I fell out of the social welfare system after, after my father's death, I inherited some 5-6 acres of land in the town of Rosulja, above the settlement of Potrajci, which I can neither use nor sell," she says.
He shares the right to an apartment of 35 square meters with his sister, who lives in Podgorica, while his mother barely survives on her small pension, but she helps as much as she can.
"I am also a disabled person, I have a 30 percent disability, several co-morbidities and I am visually impaired, and my mother can only look after the children in extremely urgent situations, when I have to run something in the city. The apartment is in a disastrous state, and the bathroom is completely non-functional. My daughters and I sleep together in one bed, while my mother sleeps in the kitchen," she said.
Those interested can help by making a payment to the bank account in the name of Svetlana Šćepanović, Addiko bank: 555-9004110282-92.
Number for payments from abroad: IBAN ME25555000900451876156
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
