SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

My father was the only one who went to work, and my mother worked every day - first at home in the fields, and then with neighbours and farmers in the village who hired her out for daily rent. The work was hard, but my mother never complained. So from a very young age, children have learned that every contribution, no matter how small, is important.

That summer I was six years old and my older sister Marjana was thirteen. She was a quiet and calm girl, but always ready to help. One day she had the idea of collecting snails and snail houses together, because at that time they were starting to buy them for a few dinars a kilo. At first I thought it was a game, but I soon understood that it was serious work. Together we walked through the groves and meadows, the dewy ditches and the shady edges of the fields, where these tiny and sluggish denizens of nature were hiding.

Marjana was able to find them incredibly quickly. Her basket filled up three times faster than mine. I often looked for them with childlike enthusiasm, admiring the flowers, butterflies and clouds in between. I was slow, but persistent. At the end of the day, when we got home, tired and muddy, I looked proudly at my meagre proceeds. I had earned a little and Marjana a lot more, but for both of us it was money that we had earned ourselves; through effort and sweat.

The last time we sold everything we had collected, my sister asked me, "What would you like to buy with your money?" I looked at her and said, a little embarrassed, "A first reader... And a doll." Then I quickly added, "But I don't have enough." 

Marjana said nothing. She just nodded with that serious face of hers that never showed much emotion. We went home and I thought that was the end of the story. 

The next morning, a surprise was waiting for me on my doorstep. There was a doll - real, beautiful, with a colourful wing, and next to it a book entitled First Reading. My heart almost jumped out of my chest. I stood as if dug in; my mouth open and sparkles in my eyes. Marjana stood silently behind me, watching my reaction.

"But ... This ... How?", I managed to blurt out.

"Now you can learn to read," she said, stroking my hair. "Next year you will go to school. The important thing is that you are ready."

I couldn't believe it. Marjana spent almost all the money she earned to buy me what I wanted. She didn't even think about herself for a moment. That summer I learned more than just how to look for snails. I learned what selfless love means, what it means to have someone who gives you everything they have just so you can fulfil your dreams.

I kept this Reader as a treasure for many years. And the little girl? She was my most precious toy. Marjana gave me more than a gift that day - she gave me the feeling that I was worthy, that someone loved me and that I would never be alone.

                                                                 Justina Strašek, 28. 4. 2025