“My first time visiting energy impoverished homes in Sisak-Moslavina county was in the Roma settlement Capraška poljana where we met a population which has a very specific culture. Apart from energy poverty, we encountered a plethora of other problems which aroused my interest as a sociologist. At the end of the energy visits and during the period of compiling energy efficient measures I decided to write my master’s thesis on the following topic:  „Quality of life in energy impoverished households“. Seeing the situation on the ground and the often inhumane conditions under which people live spurred me to tell the stories of  people from this area through my master’s thesis. For me the entire project was one huge experience and motivation to work in the field of energy poverty.” Daria Štrobilius

“My journey started even before I began volunteering. My grandmother lives in the area so the situation was already known to me, though not the breadth of the problem. The reality of life in Sisak-Moslavina county is easy to forget when you live in Zagreb buried in your own problems. Although the main goal was energy poverty, energy poverty is only a side product of general disorganization on the national level. Sisak-Moslavina county is only a taste of what awaits us if we continue in our present direction. More than the small amount of help which we were in a position to offer to these people, it was important to talk with them, to give the feeling that at least someone still cared at all. These people still have their fighting spirit and it would be a shame if everything stopped here, if everything stopped only with this project. The situation isn’t hopeless, and with a few good intentions great things can be achieved, step by step. I want to thank everyone with whom I had the opportunity to work on this project, the team was awesome!”  Alen Hodžić

“The visits to Sisak-Moslavina county within the REACH project transformed into a strange mix of immense sadness and the need to come over and over; contradictorally, not without the happiness and joy of the smiles recieved during unexpected visits. On our maps and lists we had addresses of energy-socially-life impoverished people, people on the margins, who have in a way been written off…. Their hopes and hopelessness, joy for life and perspectivelessness in equal measure, though different, give meaning and purpose to this project. We counted the age of houses and stoves, boilers and refridgerators, light bulbs and heaters. We counted children, (un)heated spaces, doors and windows, uninsulated walls… we didn’t count life stories, we just carried them with us for a moment, fighting again with that mixture of hope and the intrinsic feeling that we aren’t doing enough. That is why this project has meaning. Because the other part of this project, the part concerned with regulating energy poverty/energy efficiency on the national level, whatever that means, that part matters. Because all of these people who we visited are important, the most important, as are those who we weren’t able to visit due to lack of funds – who are without number. This is important because of climate’s complicated nuances, for children in Colombian coal mines, because nothing in this world exists completely apart and independent from (everything, everyone) others, and most of all it is important for our sense of humanity.”  Lasta Slaviček