Sponsored child dreams of running with her friends

Day in school

The best days of my childhood,

I spend in school.

Reading, Calculating,

Everything goes well,

For me, there are no obstacles.

I draw, count, multiply and divide,

Nothing scares me.

When physical education

Classes come, I can’t run,

But I can create rhyme.

I watch my friends run after ball,

With hope that one day,

I will run with them too.

“Day in school” is one of many poems 9-year old Džejna has written. It is a poem that shows all the school joys children have. But, it also reveals a little girl’s big wish: to be able to run.

Džejna can’t run; even walking is troublesome for her. Taking one simple step requires much effort and time. As a result, she spends most of her days sitting. When it is time to go to school, her mother carries her.

Džejna suffers from Muscular Dystrophy, a disease that weakens musculoskeletal system, Džejna and her parents have spent the last three years visiting different doctors looking for a way to ease the disease. The family’s lack of financial resources, however, limits their efforts. Her mother is unemployed. Her father was forced to leave their area for a different region for a job in construction. They have not seen him in more than a month.

As the days pass by, the muscles in Džejna’s legs grow weaker and weaker. “I can hardly walk,” says Džejna, sitting on a sofa. She then stands up, putting on her pink rubber slippers, and tries to walk a bit, as to confirm her words. She quickly sits back down on the sofa, adding that, when she trains a lot, she can make it all by herself until the entrance door of the building where she lives in.

But, Džejna is a fighter as well as talented poet and the author of a book of poems, published this year.  The money she earns from the book, which costs 3 EUROs, goes to fund her treatment.

“I mostly get inspired when I play. Sometimes, inspiration comes and when it starts I can’t stop it,” explains Džejna, who plays a lot with her sister, Ajna, vivacious 3-year old with big blue eyes, who is joyfully running around. “There are papers with poems everywhere” says Alma, Džejna’s mother, as Džejna rushes to stop her mum’s words, “Mom, don’t embarrass me!” she says.

Džejna is also an excellent student. Alma, proudly points out that Džejna never got any incentives due to her illness. “I came to school and I told her teacher: ‘don’t give her good marks because she is sick. She is smart and is able (to get good marks by herself)’,” remembers Džejna’s mother.

Living in World Vision’s Krivaja Area Development Program, Džejna is part of the sponsorship program. She corresponds with her sponsor, their letters open new horizons for little girl. And, recently she received some money (collected during a fundraising campaign) to help pay for her ongoing treatments.

Although, there is no cure for Muscular Dystrophy, Džejna and her family stay positive. They have heard about different recoveries and they keep their hopes up. “Pain and sorrow happen to me; I wish I was someone else: someone happy and carefree. But, I have lots of hope. In life, everyone deserves a grain of happiness,” writes Džejna in her poem.

Maybe one day, Džejna’s dream about running with her friends will come true.