July 24, 2020 - Grew up in SOS Dječje Selo Lekenik, now proud owner of the Hermann Gmeiner Award, a global award for successful ones who have inspired us with their accomplishments and contributions to society. Meet Kristina Ivanuš.

This 21-year-old marketing and communication student once was in the hands of SOS Children's Village. Kristina arrived in Lekenik with just four years, while her sister was eight. From her words, she had an ordinary childhood playing violin, volleyball, and attending acting classes. But her life turned upside down when peripheral nerve disease hit her at the age of six. She wanted to become a cook, but due to her illness, she couldn't stand on her legs for too long. That was the reason why she enrolled in the high school of the economy in Velika Gorica.

When she turned 16 and tried diving for the first time as a kind of therapy, her illness slowly withdrew. Since then, Kristina is very active in raising awareness of the need to preserve the seabed. "Just as diving and nature have helped me heal, I'm now helping nature heal and overcome pollution," said Kristina in HG Award 2020 Finalist video.

Besides diving, she's also in love with underwater photography. Behind her are piles of medals and many visits to SOS Children's Villages, where she talks about her life and success. The children, knowing Kristina was one of them, are listening to every word, which brings them to hope back.

Educators from SOS Children's village applied Kristina to the competition because she overcame the disease and managed to achieve a lot in life. "They wanted to show that we, the children from the SOS village, can do the same," she said.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of May, 2020, INA has made yet another generous donation, following the large donation it gave to various Croatian health institutions a few weeks ago as part of the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19). 

INA has stated that helping out those who are the most in need motives and drives them, and as such, INA has continued its long-term cooperation with SOS Children's Village Croatia (SOS Dječje selo) in these challenging times we're facing. The company donated 130,000 kuna for the project "Our first 10 years - Stay at home in SOS Children's Village Croatia/Naših prvih 10 godina – Ostani doma u SOS Dječjem selu Hrvatska).''

Thanking INA for the generous donation, Mr. Zoran Relic, director of SOS Children's Village Ladimirevci said: "The month of May in our Children's Village in Ladimirevci is the happiest month because we're celebrating a birthday, and none of these birthdays over the last 10 years has passed without our friends from INA. INA's monetary donation, corporate volunteering to help maintain the infrastructure, Christmas gifts for the children of their own choosing, which INA's employees lovingly bought them, make growing up safer and happier for our kids. We'd like to thank you for ten years of loyalty and support. We stayed at home, and thanks to INA for staying with us!''

In addition to financial support, children in the care of the SOS Children's Village Croatia receivedsweets and cotton protective masks sewn by members of the Kamensko association, which has also become a partner of INA during the crisis caused by the pandemic.

INA's CEO Sándor Fasimon said: ''Even in these difficult times, when we're facing a pandemic and we're threatened by an economic crisis, we're not giving up on fulfilling our responsible role in society. We have always been with those who need help the most and we're proud that for many years we've been able to help children from the SOS Children's Village Croatia in order to more easily achieve quality conditions for creating a caring home for every child. At the moment, that is needed more than it ever was before,''

Adapting the daily lives of 240 children and young people in the care of SOS Children's Village Croatia to the situation caused by the coronavirus outbreak requires additional effort and the necessary resources to be made readily available. Hygiene measures for the prevention of the spread of the infection have been increased, and the children receive all the necessary help and support as they need it. All of this will will be easier to organise with the help of INA's kind donation.

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