Bratunac got the first soup kitchen for babies. It is a place where parents or guardians will be able to get food for babies.
The project was initiated by the Association Obraduj nekoga, which has been visiting babies from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina for years as part of the Idemo na babine project, bringing them food, clothes and necessary equipment that their parents cannot afford.
As Aida Sadiković Mehonić, president of the Association, told to Faktor, during visits to families with babies, they witnessed that a large number of them do not eat properly, i.e., that they use food that is not appropriate to their age, and that this results in worsened health.
“We have witnessed that many babies have had health problems caused by improper diet. We had a boy who was ill because he consumed pure cow’s milk, then we had cases of children with atopic dermatitis, babies with severe constipation who ended up in clinics and we focused on baby meals, and their quality. During the pandemic, the number of beneficiaries doubled, and then we had to find a way to decrease the number of field visits, and that the baby’s parents or guardians can come to our premises for meals and that is how we came up with the idea of the baby soup kitchen”, explains Sadiković Mehonić.
Sadiković Mehonić says that they already have thirty users in the area of Bratunac and Srebrenica, and that thanks to the funds approved by the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, they can provide healthy and regular meals for the first four months of the soup kitchen.
“Those who are in the city can come for meals, and we will find a way to deliver to those who are far away and in the villages. Given that everything is becoming more expensive and that the situation is quite difficult, we expect a larger number of users. Once a month, they will receive diapers and a hygiene set for babies. This will not be a traditional soup kitchen where meals for the baby will be prepared, but they will get ready-made porridges. One baby meal will consist of one porridge, every day it will be a variety of porridges, vegetables with meat, with cereals and fruit. Babies older than one year will also receive one liter of milk, and those younger will receive an adapted formula. They will also receive home-grown fruits and vegetables that we will buy from domestic producers, as well as polenta, semolina, cocoa, mostly baby food” – said our interviewee.
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She states that we still have stereotypes that previous generations ate everything and they survived. However, she points out that today many have health problems due to such stereotypes and opinions.
“That is the first barrier, to explain that what cows ate 100 years ago is not the same as what they are eating today and that the quality of milk is not the same. The baby who had serious medical condition lives in the countryside and was given home-made cow’s milk, but the child was left without iron in his blood and they had to do a total blood transfusion, and he has to make up for that deficiency by eating quality food. The needs of the baby are often neglected, and it often happens that the importance of breastfeeding is neglected, formulas are recommended, mothers give up breastfeeding and then, as they do not have money for adapted formulas, parents use inadequate replacements“, said Sadiković Mehonić.
She said that many consider this soup kitchen as a project of a humanitarian character, but she points out that they want it to be something that will significantly affect the health of children.
“The families we visit belong to a specific social group. Poverty is not always in question. There are also complex relationships within families. You have cases where parents neglect their children. We also have a barrier in communication with social work institutions where it would be effective that when we provide help, they work on educating parents and creating a healthier atmosphere for children. Sometimes when we bring food to children, the food is not given to children in an adequate way. It hurts us when we come to the house and find a child that no one bathes or takes care of. We have an example of a family where the parents are both mentally ill, but their house is so neat and clean and the child is always bathed, but they have no means of subsistence. They feed the children what they eat. They are often users of soup kitchens, so they share the meals they receive there with the baby, sometimes they feed beans to a two-month-old baby, whose digestive tract cannot process at all“, stated Sadiković Mehonić.
She concludes that this is a struggle, and that the difficulties in the work are present because of the system, institutions and cooperation with families and users.
