December 29th, 2020 marked a crucial moment for millions of people in the area around Glina and Sisak. Thus, few minutes after midday an earthquake hit the two towns as well as the the surrounding territory of epicentre, which was only 5 Km from Petrinja.
Being Sisak, the one of first seeds of the Association, the news left everybody speechless. In 1996, in fact, the third Local Democracy Agency (LDA) opened in the city, years before the creation of ALDA itself. It comes with itself that astonishment, disorentiation, and a sense of helplessness spread around ALDA’s offices soon after having received the news.
Yet, one question remains. How is the situation after 9 months?
Unfortunately, much is still to be done, the going is heavy and reconstruction is far from being completed. Sadly, several buildings and Municipal premises are unsafe for normal use, leading to a shortage of working spaces. More concrete, it took 4 months for LDA Sisak, and other organisations, to find suitable offices.
LDA Sisak launched a dedicated crowdfunding campaign in order to raise funds to be invested in the development of the two centers
From a general perspective, emergency measures are still in place and the situation is chaotic. Nonetheless, with a great spirit of solidarity and initiative, LDA Sisak with other organisations started a joint campaign to build a new Social-cultural Centres. Similarly, this initiative is also replicated in Petrinja.
While waiting for fundings, containers have been placed in each town, serving as a temporary spot for the Social-cultural Centres. A dedicated crowdfunding campaign has been launched in order to raise funds to be invested in the development of the two centers. Why social-cultural centres, then? Besides primary needs, it is essential to provide meeting spaces, allowing people to gather, to talk, to engage in volunteering activities and much more. Considering the circumstances it is believed that supporting citizens and local realities with cultural initiatives is essential for the well-being of the communities.
ALDA is very much committed to concretely support this initiative, and invites everyone to take part in it too. For any further information please read the LDA Sisak article
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Useful information:
- Projects dealing with the social-cultural center
- Campaign Facebook Page
- Link with the instructions how to donate, including bank transfers