Help People with Intellectual Disabilities -Serbia

Summer is here! For most of us this season evokes happy memories. Memories of time spent away from home, school, stress and the iconic family vacation! The family vacation means exploring new places, learning new skills, experiencing new cuisine and languages. Let’s be honest there are also the less romantic aspects like being stuck in the backseat of the car with annoying siblings on the long drive to that destination. But when we look back at the photos or recall the memories we remember the good things. How we learned to swim in that glistening cove with our dad bobbing up and down a few meters away encouraging us to go a bit further. Or, the first time we saw an ancient building that we had learned about in school. In hindsight even the long rides with the annoying siblings are remembered fondly. Maybe you are even reading this in one of these coves or in one of those small cobbled-stoned towns with an ancient building in the square.

As the summer progressed, the KEC center grew quieter. Beneficiaries with families left for holidays, while those without family remained behind. It was then we realized: some of our young people had never experienced a vacation. Not once. No long drives, no salty sea air, no ancient landmarks seen in person. So we set out to give them that experience.

We secured passports, obtained suitcases, recruited chaperones, and planned a trip. Djulja, Anica, Marija, and Zorka boarded a bus to a seaside town near Thessaloniki, Greece—for their first-ever family vacation. After the long hot bus ride (some parts of the family vacation can’t be spared) they entered the small rented apartment, opened the window to see a tiny dot of the sea in the distance and filled their lungs with their first breath of sea air. They spent the next ten days tasting new foods, exploring new sites, learning new skills and generally just taking in the pleasures of the family vacation. Marija learned to swim, Djulja used foreign currency for the first time, Zorka tried her first shellfish and Anica went to services in a Greek church.

Even while abroad, they stayed connected—calling into KEC programming each afternoon, sharing stories, and reminding us all that family is something we build together.

Your support to KEC helped make this possible. You didn't just fund a trip—you filled a lifelong gap. For these young women, it wasn’t a luxury. It was a moment of healing, joy, and belonging.

From all of us at KEC, thank you for helping us create a family that extends beyond the center's walls.

We hope your summer has been filled with the same warmth and connection you’ve helped bring to others.