Writing about an institution whose activities include caring for "mentally ill and elderly individuals" is a highly challenging and difficult task. It is easy to list definitions, job descriptions, statistical data, difficulties, and successes in a bureaucratic manner... but to convey the essence of this work on paper requires much more. It is necessary to portray the spirit of our institution through direct experience and practical examples, as unique as all those who live and work here.
This is primarily a story about people and their destinies. About people who stand by each other, whether they are service users or providers. From an internal perspective, it is not merely a service job but a mutual, interwoven life from day to day - and it has been like this for 70 years.
After some time of such co-existence, you realize that terms like "mentally ill" or "elderly" are just conditional and administrative. In our institution, there is much more soul and youthfulness than in places where one might more realistically expect it.
Living together and working diligently, we witness true miracles happening within and around us, just as the name of our institution suggests - "St. Basil of Ostrog - the Miracle Worker." In this regard, the way we came to our current name is quite unusual. During a staff meeting in 2005, where discussions included the institution's patron saint, a phone call interrupted the heated debate. The caller identified himself as the secretary of Amfilohije of Montenegro, Mr. Nikčević. To everyone's surprise and disbelief due to this coincidence, after a brief conversation, he proposed that our patron saint be St. Basil, protector of the sick and helpless, which was immediately accepted.
Shortly after, our staff and users visited the Ostrog Monastery. The visit lasted three days, during which services dedicated to the users and the Home were conducted. Soon, we received an icon of the Saint, consecrated during the Easter fast, with the dedication: "In Christ to sister Ljiljana Bognić, the staff and protégés of the Home in Novi Bečej, with blessings and for choosing the heavenly protector and healer St. Basil of Ostrog, the Miracle Worker! Lenten Fast of 2005. Prota Radomir Nikčević."
This is not the first time we have presented ourselves through a monographic publication. Some time ago, it was done through the book "On My Way, Here I Stopped and Stayed" by Dragan Džigurski. Since we believe we have much to boast about from then until now, we decided to promote our Home and its residents in a different way this time.
Thus, the goal of this book is to showcase the diversity and richness of life that exists in our institution, the creativity and joy of living of its users, and the dedication, humanity, and expertise of all employees. The immediate occasion for this was the seventieth anniversary of the existence and operation of such an institution in Novi Bečej.
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