During the Bosnian war, we had to leave our home because we were a different ethnicity from our neighbours.
For ten years, we tried to make a home in three different cities, but nowhere was right for us. Eventually we returned to our homeland, where everything was in ruins. Thanks to donations for refugees, we managed to repair our house. I got married, had two beautiful children and worked in construction. It seemed like the perfect life. Then everything turned upside down. On my way home one day, I had a motorcycle accident. I flew 18 metres off the bike and I was seriously injured.
I was in bed for an entire year and during that time, my wife left me, taking our son and daughter, who at that time were only two and three years old. I felt like my life was falling apart.
After I’d recovered from my injuries, Mission Without Borders gave me help to start cultivating the land and working with livestock, things I had learned during my refugee life. I began with 10 sheep and today I have 50 of them. My children live with their grandmother now because her house is closer to their school, but they come to me every holiday and weekend and I visit them other times, too.
It was hard at the beginning, there were many challenges, but now I'm happy because I'm doing what I love.
Nikola, a single father who is part of our family programme in Bosnia-Herzegovina
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