DUŠAN
I AM READY FOR A NEW, BETTER LIFE
My name is Dusan Novakovic. I’m 31 and I live in Futog. I grew up with my mother and father as an
only child. I had enough of everything that was needed for a happy childhood. I did sports and I
was a good kid. However, I wasn’t satisfied. I strongly wanted to have a brother or a sister. As the only boy I felt lonely, empty and it bothered me more and more. That’s why I started to search for people in order to change the condition. I spent more and more time in my neighborhood where the drugs had already been present. As one of the youngest in the company I had the need to prove myself, to be accepted and therefore I agreed on everything. At the age of 14 I meet drugs and everything that goes with it. Consuming heroin I realized that it was a solution for every problem in my life. However, everything changed shortly. Everything started to fall apart, to disappear. I lost my friends and close people. The relationships in the family worsened. Simply, life started to lose sense. I have been trying to free myself from heroin for ten years. I went to many kinds of rehab to many facilities but without success. My parents have been trying to help me in any way possible. They heard of Crossroads from a girl who finished the program. That was when I decided to give myself another chance to get out of the addiction.
I came to the Men’s center and noticed that the guys were cheerful, smiling and friendly. I listened to the staff s and other guys life stories, similar to mine. It gave me the strength not to give up. Counseling with the staff helped me a lot. When I met God, everything was given another sense. My life started changing. I was freed from the slavery I had lived in, I felt real freedom and I got a reason to live. I was given hope. I finished the program ready for a new, better life. Now I try to live my life according to God’s principles, I volunteer and I want to show by my life that with God there is a way out from any slavery. My life has a sense now and it is full of joy and God’s blessings.
Before and after
