Devleta lives with her husband and adopted son, Mirsad, in Krojčica, a suburb of Tuzla, a city in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The 65-year-old works hard to support her family, supplementing the war pension her husband receives with the income from her own small business and a monthly stipend from Islamic Relief’s Orphan Sponsorship Programme.
“I work wherever I can to help support my family. One of the main ways I provide is by selling eggs. We raise chickens and I usually earn around 35 euros (approx. £30.50) a week from that. We also live mostly off what we grow ourselves.
“I live modestly, but I manage,” Devleta explains. “I’ve had many health issues. I have Parkinson’s, angina pectoris, vertigo, high blood pressure, thyroid problems and I had cancer back in 2001. Despite that, I work as much as I can.”
Working with new partners to reach even more people in need
Devleta is among more than 10,600 people in Bosnia who received qurbani meat from Islamic Relief in 2025. Our distribution focused on supporting the most vulnerable in society, including the elderly, war survivors and orphaned children and their families.
Last year saw a change in our approach to qurbani distribution in Bosnia as we worked closely with new partners, including soup kitchens, to reach more people in need.
Worldwide, Islamic Relief’s 2025 qurbani distribution reached more than 3.2 million people in 29 countries, easing the burden on vulnerable families, supporting their nutrition and sharing the joy of Eid.
The best kind of meat
For Devleta, while raising chickens provides some meat for the family, other types are harder to come by.
“Meat is not something we have very often… it’s quite difficult today to buy healthy meat,” she explains.
“The qurbani meat helped us a lot. Right now, I’m about to defrost one part of it and cook it, then I’ll store the rest to use little by little. It means a lot to have meat like this. My father, may he rest in peace, used to love burek [a pastry or pie] made from qurbani meat, not minced, but cut meat. He always said it was the best kind of burek, and I agree.
“I remember telling Jasmina from Islamic Relief about qurbani, ‘Even if it’s only a kilogram of meat, I’ll come for it,’ because even the smallest help means a lot.”
Fulfil your qurbani this Eid. Give generously to our Qurbani Appeal to help us reach even more families like Devleta’s in Bosnia and beyond this year.
