I recently got to spend a day with Serbia’s Ambassador to the World, Karl Haudbourg, and his 7-year-old daughter, Luna. I knew that this single father worked very hard for Serbia, but I had no idea the sacrifice he makes on a daily basis to try and make a better life for Serbs, while at the same time provide the very best life possible for his Luna. I’m not a professional writer, or journalist; in fact, I don’t even have a blog, but I felt the need to try and write something that might help the thousands of Karl’s Facebook followers understand exactly what a day in his life looks like…

Let me just preface this by saying I began my time with Karl and Luna around 3:00 PM, so the first part of the day that I’ll write about is what Karl shared with me…

Luna wakes up around 9:00 AM, and she’s full of energy and curiosity, just like any 7 year-old child. She makes coffee for her Dad and she sits with him and plays while he sips his coffee and contemplates the upcoming day…

Karl and Luna live in a modest flat in Zeleni Venac, which overlooks the Sava River. Karl spends quite a lot of time in the early part of the day straightening the flat and cleaning up toys, doing laundry, etc. Then, he and Luna go to the green market at Zeleni Venac, where they buy carrots and cucumbers and strawberries for the day …All the while, little Luna rides around on her scooter, while Karl follows behind. As I walked around with them, I realized that Karl has to always be on guard due to all the crazy traffic in Belgrade. I did notice that the drivers in Belgrade didn’t seem to follow too many precautions on the road, so of course, parents must always be “on guard”…And Karl has such a gift for being a Dad; he’s always so calm and kind with Luna; he’s so patient with her…Even though he has so many things on his mind (such as being Serbia’s Ambassador to the World), you would never know that he’s thinking of anything except being the very best father to his little girl. This really affected me when I saw this with my own eyes…I wasn’t sure that there were too many people left like this in our crazy world…

Later in the afternoon, Karl opens his computer and reads any posts that people might send, searches for videos about Serbia, reads and tries to respond to the hundred’s of daily emails he receives, all while Luna is playing and chatting with her father. Sometimes, she’ll go over and sit next to him and try to help him with his work. It’s so sweet the way he interacts with her, so kind and loving; something we don’t see enough of in this busy world! He also tries to schedule meetings with various institutions that might assist in helping Serbia. When he has a meeting, he puts on his suit, and he and Luna head out together to the meeting! Yes, this is true, Luna goes everywhere with Karl, and I found this to be so wonderful!!! I come from the United States, where parents are often looking for a reason to find a sitter for their children so they can go about their busy lives, but Karl’s first focus is that of being a father…

Then around 6:00 PM, Karl and Luna head out to one of Belgrade’s parks so Luna can play. Before they leave the flat, he gently brushes her hair and irons her clothes so that she looks her best! On the way to the park, they stop and Luna gets an ice cream, and then they head to the park where Karl sits on a bench and watches her play for about 2 hours. After the park, sometimes they will go to a restaurant and listen to the beautiful Serbian music, while Luna eats a bowl of cucumbers and carrots! Yes, cucumbers and carrots!! Sometimes, she even puts the carrots in a glass of water and then drinks it .

After a couple of hours, Karl and Luna start to head home so Luna can go to sleep and Karl can work…Yes, work, and it’s late, and I know he must be exhausted after such a full day, but after Luna goes to sleep, he opens his computer and searches for ways to help Serbia’s image in the world. You see, this is very important to Karl; his purpose when he came to Serbia was to make a difference in the life of Serbs, and this is what he continues to do on a daily basis, even though he’s barely able to survive monetarily. After he writes his blog and continues to respond to all of the emails and Facebook comments, he finally goes to sleep around 3:00 AM…Yes, 3:00 AM, which means, he’s lucky to even get 6 hours of sleep each night!

To conclude, I want to say that spending this day with Karl and Luna changed my life. I saw a man who’s been mourning the death of his wife (Luna’s mother), raising Luna in the best possible way, trying to make a living, and trying to change the world’s view of Serbia. I never once heard Karl say he wanted anything for himself; I know that this is a man who truly is trying to make a difference in the lives of others. Karl is one of the kindest men I’ve ever met…Even though he has so many worries and obligations, he carries himself with such grace and dignity…and honor! Karl is an honorable man, and I feel truly blessed to have spent time with both he and Luna.

Karl needs the help of his Facebook and blog followers to survive…I would just like to ask everyone reading this, if you’ve benefited by what Karl has done for Serbia, could you try to help him out with a small donation? He dedicates his life to others, but he can’t keep doing this without money…

My hope is that you’ll help Karl to realize his dream…And as I mentioned previously, I never heard Karl one time talk about anything for himself…This is a man just trying to survive in the world and make a difference in the life of his daughter, Serbia, and the world!!!

Thank you for reading this…
Leslie Jones (Prague, Czech Republic)
I live in Prague, Czech Republic as an English teacher (I’m originally from the United States).