Serbia: Said’s Personal Testimony and Journey

Said is only 14, but has experienced hardships that no child should face. In Serbia, he shared his family’s story:

“Mom and dad told us that we are going to Europe. We did not took anything with us, except of one spare clothe for each of us. They did not tell us how will we travel and for how long. I did not took any toy.

I remember the strong hug of my grandmother who said that will pray for us every day. I don’t know for how long we were traveling. I think it was very long trip. We traveled by trucks. We couldn’t breathe. People cried.

Truck driver yelled at us. My mom tried to put us to sleep so we wouldn’t see and remember a bad things happening around us.

I do not want to remember a lot of the scenes I saw.

We talk sometimes about past – our house, grandmother and nice memories we took with us. The war and traveling we have left behind us. We shouldn’t talk about that.

I like to go to school and play in the park. It isn’t fair if someone is left to be illiterate. I feel sorry for my mother who doesn’t know to write her name. She can’t read a newspaper. She never went to school. I will be a doctor. I will help sick children. When they are sad, I will ask them why they are sad.
Nobody asked me why I am crying, why I am sad.

Children shouldn’t be a victims. Children shouldn’t watch how people drown as they couldn’t get in the boat. They shouldn’t walk for days, not being showered. They shouldn’t be hungry and wear just one pair of shoes and one garment all time. I dream of my house where I can sleep in my bed and attend school. “