People We Help

Sister Muriel describes the people her volunteers help

One particular sad case was a Dragicia. She was partially bedridden. She lived in a one room stone hut, no water, not even a wood burning stove, a dirt floor, and just one light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The door was open all the time. As you entered the door, there she was lying on a bed with an old wooden bench along side the bed. As I entered, my feet slid on human waste. She kept a bedpan under her bed. The neighbor came with meals. What Dragicia didn’t eat, they just pitched it out the door. She would lay there with a long wooden stick she used to chase the rats. All day long she would scream out. When we visited she cried for us to take her out of this situation. It became a difficult, discouraging process. There is only one home locally in Mostar with over 1,000 people on the waiting list. We were given one rate then the amount increased and then we were informed we probably would obtain a room for her but we would have to pay 6 to 12 months in advance and sign papers we would be responsible for her expense. We were willing but it was too late. We placed her in a mentally handicapped hospital at Bakovici. We have agreed to pay for the cost of her stay there. The last report was she is doing fine and is very happy.

On another occasion we went to visit an elderly woman. The glass windowpane on the door was broken. We hollered in and heard a groan. We opened the door and walked in. There was Vita wrapped up in a blanket with a gash on her forehead. While we were there a neighbor came and said that she was sick and fell against the door and broke the glass. They were going to take her to the hospital the following day. What bothered me was they let her sleep there during the cold nights with the broken windowpane. When she is released from the hospital we fear she will return back to her one room house.

In Visici, we deliver assistance to a 78 year-old widow and her retarded daughter (50 years old) who are refugees that now must move but have nowhere to go.