In May, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been hit  by, as some say, the worst floods in its history. The rain poured incessantly for a whole month and the result was that rivers Sava, Bosna, Vrbas and others overflowed and inundated many villages and towns. Towns of Doboj and Maglaj, in Central Bosnia, were completely under water.

The situation was extremely dangerous in certain cases. People were evacuated by helicopters of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina andmilitary forces of the European Union. In some places whole families were stranded on rooftops of their houses. In others, water cut off all roads and food and potable water was not coming in. Parents despaired and cried for help, saying they had no food left to feed their children.

First figures said that 10,000 families had lost their homes.

Vaishnava is para-duhkha-duhkhi. He is unhappy to see conditioned souls in misery. Seeing such extraordinary suffering of people and animals, ISKCON devotees in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, decided to do something. With such shortage of food and water, what better way to help them than by distributing prasadam, sanctified vegetarian food?

It all happened pretty quickly. On Saturday, 17 May, a meeting was held at the Sarajevo Temple, at which devotees agreed on a plan of action. In cooperation with the Civil Protection Agency Crisis Headquarters we found flood victims closest to us. They are temporarily accommodated in Vogosca, a Sarajevo suburb, having left their houses that either collapsed due to landslides or were about to.

The Sarajevo ISKCON community is small in number, but has sincere souls. Devotees were informed about this action and started giving their donations either in bhoga (food) or money. A small team cooked a vegetable stew, salad, bread and sweets. All of this was offered with love to Sri Gaura Nitai deities and on Monday, 19 May, and devotees distributed prasadam to flood victims on three separate locations in Vogosca.

Devotees were not just filling the victims’ bellies, but giving them spiritual solace. In the first week of our action, the Bosnian devotees distributed prasadam to 73 people every day. Sometimes not just lunch, but dinner as well. However, not being satisfied with these numbers they a desire to expand.

And Lord Gauranga, the most merciful as He is, heard their prayers.

After posting first photos of their activities on Facebook and asking for help through an article on Dandavats.com, ISKCON News and other ISKCON sites, help started coming their way. Vaishnavas around the globe started wiring their donations and the Bosnian devotees’ enthusiasm grew.

However, nothing prepared them for what came from Hungary. Led by Sivarama Swami, the Hungarian National Council decided to send not just a donation, but four devotees experienced in Food for Life and disaster relief operations, and a vehicle as well.

The Bosnian devotees were full of joy! They thought, Lord Gauranga saw their ant-like, but sincere endeavors, and was sending them reinforcement!

The Hungarian devotees arrived in late afternoon on Friday, 23^rd of May, and were eager to start the mission.

With their help the local devotees were able to give prasadam to more people.

On Saturday, 24 May, they went to Olovo, a small town 55 km East of Sarajevo and distributed 250 plates of hot meal. Next was Vares, a small, sleepy town, 45 North-West of the capital. There, they gave out the remaining prasadam on the premises of the local Red Cross toworkers cleaning mud from streets; and later they went from door to door and distributed it to families also.

The next day they set out to Begov Han, a new location 100 km North of Sarajevo. There people from Topčić polje, Željezno polje and Šerići were dislocated and were accommodated by the authorities as their houses were completely filled with mud and waste waters, up to the roofs.

The devotees distributed 300 hot meals. On 26^th of May they went again to the same place anddistributed 300 hot meals, and additional 300 apples and sweets.

With the help of the local imam (Muslim priest), devotees went to the village of Topčić polje. It is one of the most flood devastated places in Bosnia. The desolation that they saw there shocked them. As the waters receded, houses were left full of mud and waste, an outdoor basketball court covered by sludge almost to the rim, unbearable stench everywhere! What horror! This prompted devotees to distribute even more.

It fueled everyone involved in this action to cut more vegetables, cook more beans, make more sandwiches. More devotees from congregation participated. The atmosphere in the ISKCON temple, the headquarters, was fantastic. The devotees and the volunteers all bursting with enthusiasm. And so, on 27^th of May, they distributed 600 meals in Begov Han, Topčić polje and Nemila. Then the next day, even more, 900 plates of hot meals!

People were so thankful, they picked flowers in places that were left dry and gave them as a present to devotees.

Again, on May 29^thand 30^th, devotees we gave out 900 meals each day in Nemila.

One young representative of the local municipality, Kerim, was assigned to guide the devotees while in the area. He led them to Orahovica, another village in the area of Nemila. He told them how in the first days of floods he would found whole families hiding in the woods. He was very grateful to devotees for their help and even distributed prasadam himself.

Seeing his affection to devotees, they invited Kerim to the ISKCON temple in Sarajevo, for a Sunday Feast. He was very happy to accept the invitation.

During the two-week operation, with the help of the local ISKCON community, the ISKCON worldwide, especially the Hungarian devotees, there were 6,000 meals of prasadam distributed in Bosnia. Experiencing this wonderful cooperation, the local devotees truly felt that Srila Prabhupada built an international family, a spiritual “United Nations.”

This operation completely enthused the Bosnian ISKCON community and inspired them to continue distributing prasadam to flood victims who will need food for a long time. However, they lack resources for a large-scale prasadam distribution operation. They are asking the devotee communities and individual devotees around the world to help them with kitchen pots, new or second-hand, other utensils such as machines for dough mixing. If anyone wishes them to help the Bosnian devotees’ endeavors by sending donations, please use one of the following methods:

PayPal: dhiraprasanta@gmail.com

By wire transfer:

Bank name: Raiffeisen bank dd, Bosna i Hercegovina

Swift: RZBABA2S

Bank Address: Zmaja od Bosne bb, Sarajevo BiH

Account holder details:

IBAN Code BA391612000006309761

Full name of account holder: Darko Bartula

Full address: Vitkovac 109, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Purpose: FFL flood relief in Bosnia

Contact: Dhira-prasanta das, Tel: +38761150115, Email: dhiraprasanta@gmail.com

Every single donor will receive a receipt and a report about the use of their donation.

For regular updates of the activities on ISKCON Sarajevo check out: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.670604476359415.1073741880.100002296054234&type=1&l=2f92d257c7