Milica Marković (21) from Belgrade has cerebral palsy. She is cared for by her parents and younger brother. Her mother Zorica had to leave her job because Milica cannot move her legs, and her arms only very little, which is why she needs daily assistance. But money is also needed for Milica’s therapies and medicines, and how to obtain it when only the father works? That is why Zorica advocates for the introduction of a law by which the state would recognize both financially and legally the realistic full-time work that parents dedicate to children with disabilities. Even the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, 12 years ago, when he spoke with Milica, then a little girl, and her mother, said that he would do everything to ensure this law was adopted. But it wasn’t. Milica is now telling him to fulfill his promise and not to forget what he himself said.
“Everything is clear to me. I am sick, but I understand everything. My parents are very great fighters. I don’t know what else to say for them, except – kudos to them. Thank them for that. My mother is a great hero. They both struggle and I would very much like the law for those parents to be adopted and for the president to keep his promise. I remember when we were in his office. He said himself that he would do it, and he didn’t. I am not asking for this just for myself, but for all children whose families are in the same situation. Please, fulfill the promise.”
Milica Marković (21) from Belgrade, who has cerebral palsy and who for years has watched her parents struggle as they try to be with her non-stop and help her perform daily activities. Because they are needed by her. Milica cannot function on her own – she doesn’t move her legs, while her arms have very weak function. Not enough to dress herself, to eat…
And that is why her mother Zorica has been fighting for years for the adoption of the parent-caregiver law, by which the state would recognize both financially and legally the realistic full-time work that parents dedicate to children with disabilities.
Because money is needed for a speech therapist, special educator, check-ups, medicines, and those parents need pension insurance, social protection, years of service, and the right to rest, in order to provide them with security and a dignified life instead of mere survival, because, as they say, love does not pay the bills.
And all of this was promised by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, 12 years ago when he was prime minister. He told Milica, whom he even held in his arms, and her mother, as they state, that the parent-caregiver law would be the “first item” he would put into effect if he became president.
Zorica Marković, Milica’s mother, tells the Nova.rs portal that she is tired of the long-standing struggle, but that she will not give up, especially now when Milica tells her so.
“Milica is a wonderful girl for whom doctors said she would never be able to talk and that she would be a vegetable. However, through persistent work and exercises, we managed to enroll her in regular primary and secondary school. She is smart, speaks English perfectly, but she is not independent. Consequently, I must be with her constantly. Her dad and brother watch over her, but she is a female and it is normal that I perform her hygiene instead of her, since she cannot do it herself. She cannot even eat alone, absolutely nothing,” tells us Zorica, who quit her job to care for her daughter.
She is grateful to God that Milica is communicative and fully aware of everything that is happening.
“She is aware of our struggle, she told you herself. She sees and hears everything. It is clear to her too that I must be with her and I want to be. They told me when she was born: ‘Leave her, she will be a vegetable’. Never!”, she continues.
A few years ago, Milica’s allowance for foreign care and assistance was canceled. Zorica says it was supposedly an error in the system.
“It is very difficult financially to achieve everything. We are constantly in the red. My husband’s company donated money for one of the surgeries. We never asked for anything, we are not in any humanitarian foundation or organization. We managed on our own, took out loans. So we are constantly both in the red and in debt,” she explains.
After five years of being able to be on sick leave because of a child with a disability, she had to leave her job.
“I had the option either to find someone who would help me and care for her while I am not there or to quit. So it was better for me to be with my child and care for her, while my husband worked both jobs. Then our son was born and here he is, today he helps us with Milica. He is there to lift her, carry her…”
The meeting with Vučić 12 years ago
“That day we were in front of Nemanjina 22. They came out of the building and asked for one of us to enter and present the proposals for the Parent-Caregiver Law. I was one of the parents who were there and Milica was with me. Nebojša Stefanović was there, Vučić and some other people. Vučić was already worried then, sad because of all of us, and he picked Milica up and said that he would adopt this law first. I remember his words well. But, well, nothing came of it unfortunately,” she recalls.
She says that she will continue to fight because of all the children and their families who are in a similar situation as they are.
“I want to fight for all of them, since I have already entered all of this, I don’t want to give up. I will push through to the end. No one knows how hard it is for us. All of them, ministers and officials, must come and see live what one of our days with our children looks like. And everything will be clear to them. Enough waiting, we have no more time!”, says Zorica.
She adds that she could have found a foster parent at the very beginning who would care for Milica and whom the state would pay. And that, she emphasizes, is sad, that they won’t pay the parents of the children.
“Is that realistic and fair? It is not. And that is why I am fighting for justice,” she says.
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Source: Nova.rs, Photo: Zorica Marković