By renovating the community center after more than seven decades, the residents of Gornja Lepenica near Srbac, a village on the southern slopes of Motajica known for its preserved nature, breathed new life into their community and laid the foundation for future development.<\/p>\n
The value of the works that took almost three years amounted to around 300,000 BAM, of which two-thirds were provided by the locals and donors, and the remainder by the municipality of Srbac and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Srpska.<\/p>\n
One of the main drivers of this initiative was Miroslav Brezovac, a Lepenica native currently living and working in Germany.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Since childhood, I have dreamed of helping my native village. I first received support from my family, and then from the wider community. A total of 150 individuals took part in donations or works, and each contribution was equally important. My eight grandchildren, including the youngest, who was only six at the time, also set aside some money from their piggy banks for this project. I cannot fail to mention a young man from Modri\u010da whom I met in Germany. He first donated 50 euros, and after that we met 14 times and each time he contributed equal amount. Such a gesture cannot be forgotten \u2013 says Brezovac with gratitude.<\/p>\n
Friends of the village from all over Europe also provided support, including Sven Lutz from Germany, who did not hide his delight with the natural beauty and the locals\u2019 warmth.<\/p>\n
Bogdana Brezovac, originally from Lepenica, currently lives in Stuttgart, where she serves as the president of the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society Prosvjeta for German territory. She speaks with great emotion about the increasing number of Lepenica natives who are returning to their roots.<\/p>\n
\u2013 We are striving to preserve what we inherited from our ancestors and to pass it on to younger generations. Through the Serbian Orthodox school and supplementary classes throughout Germany, we preserve national identity and culture. We are always ready to return and engage in the life of our community \u2013 said Brezovac.<\/p>\n
The mayor of the municipality of Srbac, Mla\u0111an Dragosavljevi\u0107, expressed his satisfaction with the local government\u2019s support to the construction and renovation of many community centers in recent years, but, according to him, the center in Gornja Lepenica is one of the most successful examples.<\/p>\n
\u2013 The locals can be proud because they have invested effort, will and love in this magnificent facility. Not only have they solved an important infrastructure assignment, but they have also demonstrated the strength of unity at a time when we need it most \u2013 said Dragosavljevi\u0107.<\/p>\n
Source and photo: Glas Srpske<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By renovating the community center after more than seven decades, the residents of Gornja Lepenica near Srbac, a village on the southern slopes of Motajica known for its preserved nature, breathed new life into their community and laid the foundation for future development. The value of the works that took almost three years amounted to around 300,000 BAM, of which two-thirds were provided by the locals and<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vijesti","category-vijesti-republika-srpska"],"yoast_head":"\n