As winter slowly settles over the mountain village of Ledići, the Small Family Home once again shows how even the smallest needs are often the most important ones.
This children’s oasis in Ledići, owned by the Home for Children Without Parental Care Sarajevo and operated by Foundation Second, is used for the stay, rehabilitation, and recreation of children without parental care, children from families at risk of separation, children and young people with developmental disabilities, as well as other vulnerable groups in society.
For a long time, there has been a plan to build a large Cat Barn —a dedicated space for cats, but also for therapeutic interaction between children and animals. Despite a clear vision and a genuine need, this project is still waiting its turn. The reason is not a lack of commitment, but rather a series of urgent works and responsibilities that took priority this year: ensuring the safety of the house, providing basic living conditions for the children, improving infrastructure, and protecting the facility.
In the meantime, needs cannot wait.
The cats living in Ledići are local cats, accustomed to this area and to life in the mountains. They cannot be permanently accommodated in the main house, but they have become an inseparable part of the environment and a source of joy for the children. The children love them, look for them as soon as they arrive, care for them, and through this relationship learn gentleness, patience, and responsibility. In harsh mountain conditions, kittens often do not survive the winter due to cold and the lack of safe shelter. At the moment, we have five local cats and two kittens in Ledići who regularly come for meals and who need basic protection from the winter. This quiet, everyday care for animals also has a strong therapeutic and educational effect, as it helps children develop empathy, a sense of responsibility, and a meaningful connection with living beings—further enriching the programs implemented by Foundation Second in cooperation with the Home.
This bond has already found its own quiet and touching expression. During one of the stays, the children made a small house for one of the cats themselves inside the main house, wanting to provide her with a place to sleep while she was with them indoors. This spontaneous act of care and kindness best illustrates how important it is to them that the cats also feel safe and accepted.
That is why the decision was made to create a Mini Cat Barn while the larger project awaits realization—by adapting the existing small building next to the main house and transforming it into a simple, warm, and safe shelter for the cats. There, they will be able to survive the winter, while children, during their stays in Ledići, will be able to visit them, feed them, and spend time with them.
The planned works include basic construction and insulation, adaptation of the interior space, and equipping it for winter conditions. Approximately 1280 EUR is needed to complete this project, and Foundation Second is already in talks with craftsmen who could carry out the works for a symbolic fee.
The Mini Cat Barn is not a large construction project, but its importance is manifold. It provides warmth and safety for animals that have nowhere else to go, while also ensuring continuity of an important therapeutic and educational dimension of children’s stays in Ledići—one in which care for others is learned without words, expectations, or conditions.
This is also the Foundation’s final appeal of the year. We invite everyone who can help—through a donation or by sharing this story—to help us close the year with a quiet yet deeply meaningful act of solidarity.
How to help?
📞 By calling the humanitarian number 17078
One call donates 1 EUR (from Bosnia and Herzegovina)
💳 Donations in BAM
Second Foundation
Nurije Pozderca 8
Account number: 1413115320025053
Purpose of payment (mandatory): Mini Cat Barn
🌍 International donations (EUR / USD)
IBAN: BA391413115310005729
SWIFT: BBIBBA22XXX
Bank: Bosna Bank International d.d. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Beneficiary: Foundation Second,
Nurije Pozderca 8, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
💻 PayPal:
Thank you to everyone who will help ensure that five local cats and two kittens spend the winter in a safe and warm place 🤍
For the children. For the cats. For Ledići.
