I’m typing this by candlelight in Kelebija, Serbia, while my daughter’s favorite teddy bear—the one she forgot in her rush to leave—stares at me from her empty bed. Four months ago, my wife and I made an impossible choice: with our electricity cut to sporadic hours and winter creeping in, we agreed she’d take our 4-year-old, Aisha, to her parents’ small apartment in Belgrade. At least there, they’d have heat. At least there, she’d stop crying from the cold.

But it was never meant to be forever. ‘Fix the bills, and we’ll come home,’ my wife said. Since then, I’ve sold everything but the essentials. Every dinar I scrape together goes to food for them and payments on this 300,000 RSD debt (€3,000). Now, the power company says I have less than a week to pay—or they’ll disconnect this house, which brings even more fees into reconnecting. If that happens, my daughter loses her home. I lose my last chance to bring her back.

You know what it’s like to love a child. To lie awake wondering if you’re enough. Aisha still asks her mother, ‘When does Daddy’s house get warm again?’ I can’t let her down. But without help, I’ll become just a voice on the phone—a father who couldn’t keep the lights on.

Here’s the truth:

• I’ve ripped out copper pipes from abandoned farms for scrap.
• I’ve skipped meals to send my wife money for Aisha's milk and fruit.
• I’ve begged neighbors for work—anything—but jobs here vanish like summer rain.

My daughter’s laughter used to echo in these halls. With your help, I’ll hear it again.
- Filip, A Father Refusing to Let Go

paypal.me/FilipRud