Help People with Intellectual Disabilities -Serbia

As we have said many times in this space, KEC is committed to being part of the larger community. In addition, we are always looking for ways to expose our beneficiaries to cultural events and happenings around the city. This time we went a step further and brought the community and the cultural events to KEC.

It is hard being a young musician in Belgrade. You want a chance to share your art with the public but there is never enough room to practice. You can fight for practice space at the university, beg the old music school to let you use their concert hall, maybe if you have the nicest neighbors in the world practice at home (but who has a home big enough to squeeze in a whole orchestra). This was the Belgrade Youth Orchestra’s problem.

When KEC heard about this situation, we welcomed conductor Vuk Volkov Popovic and his orchestra (all students at the Belgrade Faculty of Music) to use our facility to practice. For many months after the KEC beneficiaries went home the musicians piled into our space. After months of this arrangement, we decided it was time for both sides to meet.  

One afternoon the KEC beneficiaries preformed a new play with jokes, dances, songs and original poetry for the musicians, our parents and friends of the organization. And, the Belgrade Youth Orchestra prepared a concert for us (Sibelius, Vivaldi, and Bartok).

The afternoon was full of amazing music, smiles, and hopefully new friendships. What was especially meaningful, however, was the interaction that everyone had over cookies and drinks after the event. The beneficiaries had a chance to talk to the young music students, take photos with them and ask questions about their instruments. The horn was particularly fascinating! Each musician also left with a small token of our appreciation. The experience was one-of-a-kind and extremely meaningful to everyone who attended.

We wish our young musician friends all the best in their careers and hope they will come back again for another afternoon of music. KEC’s cooperation with the Belgrade Youth Orchestra, is one more example of its ongoing commitment to finding creative ways to achieve a more inclusive society.

We are deeply grateful for all your continued support that allows us to provide an inspirational and comforting haven for our beneficiaries.

One more year has finished and a new one has begun. Once again we want to thank all of you for sticking with us and continuing to ensure that KEC is a warm and welcoming place for our beneficiaries and their families. The holiday season in Serbia is always a busy one. Not only because Serbs love a chance to celebrate but because we have more opportunities to be joyous during this time of year than in most other countries. We had our holiday cheer with us through the celebrations of St. Nikola’s Day, Catholic Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Serbian Christmas and the Serbian New Year. Celebrating all these holidays in one month was hard work but we did it! We decorated our tree, welcomed Santa Claus (and his bag full of presents), hosted a priest and put on a very entertaining holiday program for our friends and families.

KEC is a very close community despite the fact that there are many differences among our members. Differences exist in nationalities, religions, socio-economic levels and issues concerning disabilities. While most of our members are Serbs, we also have Croats, Bosnian, Montenegrins, Albanians, Roma and Macedonians. The majority of beneficiaries are Serbian Orthodox but we also have Catholics, Jews and Muslims in our community. With respect to socio-economic levels most of our beneficiaries come from socially endangered populations: recipients of social support, homeless, former residents of homes for children without parental care. A smaller number of beneficiaries live in families earning average income levels. Our beneficiaries have a wide range of developmental and intellectual issues as well as physical disabilities and mental health issues. Regardless of all these differences, the KEC community is a family. Like any family at the holiday we like nothing more than spending time together laughing, sharing, and being grateful for each other.

We are grateful to each of you for choosing to join the KEC family. And we wish you a new year full of many opportunities to celebrate like they do in Serbia!!