In early October a World Vision Serbia microfinance program donated a water filter to a primary school in the village of Brestovac, southern Serbia, and financed the construction of a reservoir from which the school can access clean water. The water project not only provided clean drinking water for the school's students, but also reconciled the school to the students' parents, who hold the school's water responsible when their children become sick.

Parents continuously shared their grievances with the school and in some cases, threatened to sue the school when their children developed stomach problems and other health issues. While local authorities committed to provide the school with a decent sanitation system, competing priorities and budget constraints meant the water system remained in disrepair.

'When parents would threaten us, the school could not do much except wait for the authorities to approve the cost of providing a new water system. This was a serious problem since it was our children who were suffering,' said the school Principal, Dragan Stefanovic.

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The school's water contains dangerous amounts of heavy metals, such as zinc and lead.

'Keep away from the taps and water! The water is not good,' said the children unanimously when asked about the school's drinking water.

The school, Branko Radicevic, counting more than 350 students aged 6 –14, has more than just a critical need for sanitary water.

'Our school is in lack of the basic essentials: we do not even have the chalk for the writing boards in our classes. That is how miserable we are. But all we can do is stay calm when these problems arise, and ask for help,' Dragan added.

The lack of a proper sanitation system has disabled the school from being able to provide other basics for its students, such as food in a cafeteria.

Like other schools in the provinces, the primary school in Brestovac waited for years for local authorities to attend to its fundamental needs. Yet local authorities have not invested in the school since it was built in the 1902.


World Vision's microfinance program in Leskovac, a small town in southern Serbia, counting approximately 2100 beneficiaries, supported the water project in Brestovac. Brestovac is one of more than 120 community-based organizations organized by this World Vision program in Serbia.

With World Vision's help, not only do the children of Brestovac have safe drinking water, but their parents are slowly regaining confidence in the school as an institution of trust and care, as well.