When words aren’t needed: Children from Kovačići find special friends

DONATE（https://second.ba/en/donate）

Select your language

📞 Call & Donate 2 KM: 17077 | 17078

Latest News & Impact Stories from Second Foundation

Explore powerful stories and updates from our work with orphans, children with special needs, single parents, domestic violence survivors, at-risk families, and the animals we protect at our Cat Residence. Learn how Second Foundation is creating change through humanitarian programs like Abu Huraira Haven and joyful community events across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

0 Shares

Love

Copy Link

Like what you see?

Hit the buttons below to follow us, you won't regret it...

Like us on Facebook（https://www.facebook.com/foundation.second）

0 Shares

Love

Copy Link

0 Shares

When words aren’t needed: Children from Kovačići find special friends in Ledići

Details

Category: Ledići（https://second.ba/en/news/ledici）

Published: 26 October 2026

Small Family Home Ledići（https://second.ba/en/component/tags/tag/small-family-home-ledići）

Small Family Home Kovačići（https://second.ba/en/component/tags/tag/small-family-home-kovačići）

During October, our Small Family Home in Ledići welcomed seven children from the Kovačići Small Family Home, which operates as part of the Sarajevo Home for Children without Parental Care（https://www.dombjelave.ba） . Three educators accompanied the children to Ledići, where they stayed for three days.

The Small Family Home in Ledići is run jointly by Foundation Second and the Sarajevo Home for Children without Parental Care , with whom we have been working for years to provide children with additional opportunities for rest, socialising, time in nature and experiences outside their everyday environment.

This October, that cooperation brought us another beautiful story – a story about children, nature and the special bond that developed between our young guests and the cats of Ledići.

Among the children were two girls with developmental disabilities. The girls do not speak, but they understand people and the world around them very well. And in Ledići, we were reminded that words are not always necessary for some of the most beautiful forms of communication.

It was these two girls who formed an especially close bond with our cats.

First, we learned how to love gently

On the first day of their stay, the educators devoted a great deal of attention to teaching the children how to approach the cats properly, how to touch and pet them gently, when to let them walk away, and how to recognise when an animal needs some space.

For the children, it was a small lesson in responsibility, patience and consideration for another living being.

At first, they needed reminders and guidance. The children were excited and wanted to pick up the cats, pet them and play with them. But they quickly learned that a cat is not a toy and that animals have boundaries too.

By the end of their stay, almost all of the children were able to play with the cats independently, carefully and gently, without the concern that they might accidentally hurt them.

And the cats returned their trust.

A special bond that needs no words

What touched us most was the bond that developed between the two girls with developmental disabilities and the cats that live around our home.

They may not be able to express in words how they feel, but their reactions to the cats said more than enough.

They followed them with their eyes, approached them, touched them and spent long periods of time beside them. In those moments, it did not matter who could speak and who could not. There was touch, eye contact, closeness and a sense of security.

second.ba的其他相关信息