SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

A storm was really brewing. We hurried to tidy up the chairs, cushions and flowers in pots so that the rain and wind wouldn't damage them.

The wind was raging in the house, moving the curtains and whistling through the open windows. I hurried to close them to calm the room. It was raining so hard that I could no longer see what was going on outside, only the sound of the rain pounding on the windows. But it was not hail, the wind that came with such force carried the raindrops that hit the glass.

I looked out of the window but saw nothing. The foggy image from the window was slowly receding, as were the rain and the wind, which had been very fierce just a moment before. I slowly opened the door to the courtyard and could not believe my eyes. There were fallen trees everywhere. My neighbour's spruce, which measured about five metres in height, lay broken in two parts on the ground. The neighbour's woodshed was facing the house, the wind having uprooted it from its foundations. The woods that were above the house had disappeared, and everything was lying on the ground. The roofs, which had been scorched by the trees, were damaged, but fortunately the trees did not fall on the houses.

The two neighbours, who were already in their nineties, looked sadly and worriedly at the roof, which was missing quite a lot of tiles, as it had been framed by three beech trees that had swept the tiles off the roof with their branches. As befits neighbourhood help, we organised and helped. Our neighbour Igor, who is a mountain rescuer, brought his colleagues, members of the Mountain Rescue Service (GRS) , who worked to restore the entire roof. Other neighbours Stanka, Marta and Miro also pitched in and helped in any way we could.

As two neighbours wrote at the end of our Neighbourhood Action: today, 31 July, everything is cleaned and repaired by GRS members and our neighbours Stanka, Igor, Marta and Miro.

Human virtues are far more important in individual and community life than the most expensive intellectual services, and far more important than political decisions. So guys, you are great, thank you a thousand times.

I would like to conclude my story in this section and give it to the readers who will read it to think about. Sometimes it does not take much to help, but it is also important how we approach and offer our help.

Marta Smodiš, 16. 3. 2025