SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

He is the kind of person who is always the first to help, even if he has to put his own problems aside to do so. That's the way he was brought up - to help when someone needs help, even if it means "coming up empty-handed".

It wasn't a desire for a bigger city or better opportunities that brought him to Slovenske Konjice, a city of wine and flowers, but love. It was love for a girl who promised him a future, but who also opened the door to someone else's story who (also) needed his selfless heart.

After much deliberation, his friend sold the family house in Slovenska Bistrica. Her past was intertwined with pain and misunderstanding. Her relationship with her mother had long been slipping out of her hands, every word a "knife", every look a "battle". After years of internal struggle, she knew she had to walk away - away from the memories that suffocated her and away from a place where she no longer felt at home.

She found a modest flat in Konjice. It was empty, in fact "dead". The walls were faded, the old electrical wiring threatened to spark and the wooden floors "creaked" like an echo of the past. But this was her new opportunity - she just lacked the funds to renovate.

When Elvis found out about her problems, he didn't hesitate. He didn't ask if she needed help - he simply came with his tools and a warm smile. Every day after work, he rolled up his sleeves. In the evenings he "pulled" new cables, and at weekends he whitewashed the walls. He provided some wood to patch up the crumbling floor and even welded a metal frame for a door that had almost fallen off its hinges.

The young woman was initially embarrassed. She was not used to someone helping so selflessly without expecting anything in return. She asked him repeatedly why he was doing it. Each time, he just smiled and replied, "Because I know what it's like to need someone and have no one there."

When the apartment was finally renovated, Elvis' friend felt "at home" for the first time in a long time. The walls were no longer a pale memory, but a new beginning. The electricity worked, the floor was stable and the room "breathed" warmth. All this thanks to a man who selflessly gave his time, energy and effort.

Elvis Debelec is the one who makes his fellow man's world a better place, even if others have not noticed, or have rarely noticed, how much it costs him. But he did not expect gratitude. His greatest reward was the feeling that he had helped someone who really needed it.

That evening, when she slept in her new home for the first time, a friend called him and said, "You know, Elvis, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm somewhere where no one is judging me. And it's (also) because of you."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone, then a quiet reply, "That's what I wanted to achieve. Just that."

Zala Krupljan, 21. 2. 2025