Christmas Miracle 2022

SOS. Help for a family in need

The goal of the fundraiser is to help a family in a difficult situation.

Dear friends and strangers.

I am writing this letter/post with a heavy heart and shame, but unfortunately, there is a point where one has to overcome the feeling of humiliation for the sake of one's family.

I decided to ask for help because I had tried everything I could. Long, bitter, difficult years are behind us, but now, instead of moving forward, we are only in even deeper trouble.

I know that I will be judged by, that's why I'm afraid to ask for help, because for years I've seen how people in trouble are scolded and humiliated in the help-seeking groups instead of getting help. However, anyone can find themselves in a bad, difficult situation. An unexpected illness can come at any time, which makes them unable to earn money to provide for their family...

I am the mother of three little girls, we have been lovingly raising them with their father for 9 years. We lived in Budapest for a long time, but 3 years ago we moved to the countryside. Since then, everything has become more and more difficult.

The house where we live is a very old family house in poor condition, which is difficult to live in during the winter. The old windows and doors are more than 60 years old, the house was not insulated properly, so it is impossible to heat it, it is a suffering to live here in the cold months, especially with small children.

In the last 3 years, there have been several problems with the house, e.g. the water system failed, which caused a huge water and gas bill, because the hot water leaked inside the wall and kept turning on the gas boiler. We repaired the fault and paid the water bill, but there is still more than HUF 180,000 debtl, which the service provider is now asking for in one sum. We cannot solve this at this time. We pay the debts of old bills every month and also the current invoices. We are lucky to be able to pay school fees and buy food for ourselves, we absolutely cannot save money.

Over the past 3 years, our health condition has completely deteriorated, obviously stress and deprivation also took a toll on it. My husband was born with an open spine, so he shouldn't be carrying heavy weights, yet he practically carries all the needs of 5 people home from the shops in the neighboring town on foot. We don't have a car because we can't save up, and we don't have any relatives who can help or lend us money. We can't even take out a loan, since the bank doesn't give loans for party-time jobs. The girls have to be taken to school to the next town in the neighbourhood by Volán bus. 4 hours (!) are lost each day due to taking them to and from school. Of course, all this would only take max. 30 minutes/day by car.

Of course, the girls regularly catch colds on the way to the bus, or catch something on the crowded bus, and they often get sick. (In the past week, we all had a vomiting-diarrhea virus and we also managed to catch a cold, all three girls are at home.) The school is having a hard time tolerating so many absences. They are at a disadvantage compared to other small students who are local and/or go to school by car. A week of school is very stressful, painful for them, especially in winter.

Unfortunately, due to this situation, my partner cannot take on a normal job, as no employer is flexible enough to allow him to miss work for four hours a day because of school.

I take the little one to kindergarten in the mornings, and I have to go pick her up at half past one.

Due to our logistical problems caused by the lack of a car, we could only get more flexible online jobs. But these do not bring enough for the kitchen, we barely stay alive and always having trouble with the bills.

If we had a car, we could take the girls to kindergarten and school early in the morning and it wouldn't take hours to get home in the afternoon. Many places in the area are looking for car couriers (with a vehicle owned), so finally the work situation would be solved, we would finally be able to move forward, there would be money for the bills and none of the children would lack anything. But now we have no chance to buy a used car without help.

The car would also be important because there would be a lot of medical examinations waiting for us.

In September, I was hospitalized and everything was left to my partner. Unfortunately, several problems were revealed, and surgery would be necessary. Now I am at a point where my weight is around 40 kg compared to the average of 50-55 kg and I can hardly carry out my tasks. Since then, I have been released from the hospital and sent for quite a few tests, but I am in such a bad condition that I cannot go to these on foot, by bus, or by public transport, without help. Medicines are holding me together somewhat, but I can't do even a fraction of the housework. I would like to take a job, but I can't, I'm not on sick pay, since I wasn't registered anywhere, I could only take on occasional online jobs. After all, who would want to employ a mother of three whose children are constantly sick? I wake up crying every day, I'm scraping by so that I can somehow provide for the family and I don't know how we're going to get out of this.

My husband also has serious problems with his spine and legs, often he can hardly stand, yet somehow he carries the girls, does the shopping, carries them home and takes care of everything he can. But I'm afraid he'll call one day to say he can't go any further and his legs will give out. He should also go to the doctors, but since he spends 4 hours a day on the bus with the Girls and even works alongside them, he doesn't even have time to go to the doctor. He stays up at night to make up for the time lost from work, but even that is not enough, he is only more exhausted due to lack of sleep.

The girls should also be taken for various tests. The eldest daughter will need glasses, she should be taken to the ophthalmologist, dentist, allergy test, dermatology, and there is also a chance that the middle daughter has ADHD, so she will have to be taken to a lot of tests, to a family caregiver, to a neurologist and who knows what other therapies will be recommended to improve her condition. There is too much to list.

We should solve the above problems within weeks, because the Child Welfare Service will probably review our case in December and we are afraid that they may remove the children from the family, since now we are not only struggling with financial problems, but also physically we are in such a state that it is increasingly difficult to care for them.

The reason I want to call on the power of the community is because I want to collect at least a few hundred thousand forints, with which we could pay the bills and buy a cheap used car. That way, we would finally not waste time taking them to school and kindergarten, we would be able to get to the many medical examinations, and my husband would finally be able to take on a courier job in the area. When I get to the tests and get a little stronger, I want to go to work too.

Christmas is coming soon, but according to the current situation, we are happy if the electricity and gas are not turned off by then and we have something to eat.

I know that people all over the country are facing similar problems right now, but I don't know of a family that has so many problems at the same time.

It took a lot of courage and desperation to write this, especially since we are already in a very unpleasant situation. We live in a small village and the neighborhood city is not that big either, it's hard to bear the hurtful looks, while everyone is hundred times better than us. The children also feel this, sometimes they are made to feel at school that they come from different financial circumstances.

We just need a little push to change that.

I ask everyone who took the trouble to read this long article to be kind and help as much as you can. After all, a lot of small things go a long way. If only 1,000 of the tens of thousands of people who will see this would send HUF 500 or 1,000, we would be out of the trouble.

I don't ask for anything else for Christmas, just that it comes together and I can tell my little girls at Christmas that everything will be much better next year.

If you have any doubts about the authenticity of the story, write to me privately, or you can also send a letter to [email protected].

Those who decide to help can transfer money based on the data below or via Paypal.

OTP bank

László Zita Boglárka

117 73425 01811243 00000000

or

paypal.me/weneedmiracle

If you want to help even more, please share our fundraiser with your friends and family, even abroad. Help us make our Christmas miracle come true.

Thank you to everyone and I wish you a blessed and peaceful Christmas.

Zita