Maria from North Macedonia: Caring for animals and cultivating a circular economy

Maria cares for rescued horses, donkeys, goats, storks, dogs, and cats who faced difficulties and often need special treatment. Every day, she feeds them, takes care of their needs and does chores on the farmhouse. She manages all the work by herself with smile, joy, and contagious energy.

From a big city to the countryside

Maria has never been a farm girl; she learned everything on her own. She lived in Skopje and later moved to New York to volunteer. After 14 years, she decided to return to her homeland. 

She established a farm which would serve as a pleasant place both for people and animals. Because Maria’s mission is to support local community, she established the very first non-governmental organisation in the area. Pink Support provides a space where everyone can connect with nature and animals. Maria organises events and workshops for local women and single parents. She welcomes visitors from other places to experience hippotherapy sessions and spend time with the animals.

“I was just crying”

Besides organising events, running her own organisation, and taking care of the farm, Maria has saved the lives of hundreds of animals. As she mentions, some of the rescues were very traumatic.

Unfortunately, this is not the only traumatic experience Maria has endured during her rescues. As she mentions, people do not hesitate to throw the animals onto the streets. Horses and donkeys are often sent to slaughter if they have some health issues or are old. As Maria mentions, the protection of animals needs to be systemically changed.

But Maria has a plenty of funny stories as well—for example when she went to a factory to rescue a flock of storks with her bird phobia.

Reusing waste from the farm

We are glad that we can support Maria’s farm and organisation. Maria devised a plan to reuse the organic waste from the farm to create organic pellets for the animals.

Maria attended a training with professionals, which helped her to design and improve her project. Like Maria, what the organisations have learnt will help them to design similar projects in the future. Maria’s organisation was one of those which were also awarded with a grant to realize their project.

Civil Society actors are key in both humanitarian response and development programming, we work to empower them with skills, resources, and networks to effectively fulfil their role. We are privileged to cooperate with people like Maria and to contribute to enhancing circular economy practices in North Macedonia.

The project "Civil Society and Youth for Inclusive and Sustainable Development through Circular Economy in North Macedonia" is funded by the European Union. The project leader is People in Need (PIN), with members of consortium ARNO, LEAD, and Ekovita. 
‘This publication was funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of People in Need and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.’