The story of a BUDDY pair: Braňo and Dávid
When BUDDY volunteer Braňo and Dávid, who grew up in a children’s home, first met, they were separated by a significant age gap and two very different life experiences. Braňo therefore entered their relationship with respect and a question: would he be able to earn the trust of the then 13-year-old boy? Today, they are not only good friends, but also colleagues during the cycling season. And over more than seven years, their BUDDY relationship has grown into a friendship that both describe as something that has greatly enriched their lives.
The interview that kept him sitting in his car
Braňo is 54 today. He works in market research and, together with friends, also opened the K3 cycling café on the Bratislava riverbank.
He came across the BUDDY programme by chance.
On his way to work, he heard a radio interview with BUDDY programme founder Laci Kossár. He had just parked, but the conversation caught his attention so much that he did not get out of the car. He stayed seated and listened to it all the way to the end.
Afterwards, he started finding out more about BUDDY volunteering. Eventually, he applied.
He did not enter the programme with a precise idea of what his future BUDDY relationship would look like. He approached it with respect. He knew that earning the trust of a teenager who had already been through difficult life experiences might not be easy at all.
He also wondered whether he would be able to find common ground with a 13-year-old boy several decades younger than him.
They clicked right away, but the relationship needed time
When Braňo met Dávid, he says they liked each other almost immediately.
But that did not mean their relationship was complete from day one.
They too had to gradually find their way to each other: getting to know one another, finding out what they enjoyed, talking and spending time together. The larger age gap, which Braňo had been slightly worried about at the beginning, gradually became far less important than how they felt when they were together.
Today, Dávid describes Braňo as a pleasant and funny person and says they got along from the very beginning.
Sport became one of their favourite things to do together. Braňo started taking Dávid to play darts, billiards or bowling; they tried new things and gradually built up a collection of shared experiences.
Dávid recalls that he did not use to go out very much. It was with Braňo that he began discovering new activities and places that had not previously been a regular part of his life.
Over time, the time they spent together also created space for something even more important: trust.
“He puts me on the right path.”
When Dávid talks about Braňo, he does not speak only about having fun together, work or new experiences.
Above all, he describes him as someone he can turn to when he needs help, advice or simply a different perspective on a situation.
“Braňo has been helping me with everything for a long time. He puts me on the right path,” Dávid says.
He recalls, for example, that he used to be quite impulsive and reacted aggressively in many situations. Braňo would talk them through with him, help him think about what had happened, and show him other ways of looking at things and responding to them.
That is something Dávid is grateful for today.
Over the years, Braňo’s support has taken many forms. When Dávid needed help with school, he explained the material, tutored him, helped with homework or English. Later, when Dávid was looking for a part-time job, Braňo offered him work at K3.
That is why Dávid describes Braňo not only as a good friend, but also as a good boss. He especially enjoys being with him at K3 because, as he says, they can get some work done and have fun at the same time.
Braňo also spoke about BUDDY for Aktuality.sk
Braňo also talked about his beginnings as a volunteer, his relationship with Dávid, and what BUDDY volunteering looks like in practice on the Aktuality.sk programme Na tému.
In the interview, he speaks about the respect with which he entered the BUDDY relationship, the gradual process of building trust, and the qualities and readiness he believes long-term volunteering requires.
“Above all, the BUDDY programme gave me him.”
When you ask Braňo today what BUDDY has given him, his first answer is simple.
Dávid.
A friend who, in his words, will now be part of his life forever.
Through him, Braňo also met many other people: other BUDDY volunteers and people working in the programme.
And he also talks about something less visible.
BUDDY gave him a new perspective on himself and on his own life. It brought him into situations and environments he had not known before and gave him the opportunity to look at some things from a different angle.
Braňo says that this experience also makes a person start noticing things they may previously have taken for granted. That is one of the reasons he feels BUDDY has enriched him greatly as a person.
And if he had to make the decision again, he would do it all over again.
Dávid speaks about their relationship in a similar way. He is glad to have someone by his side with whom he has experienced many new things, who helped him with school and gave him a job opportunity, but above all, who was and still is his good friend.
The BUDDY relationship has affected each of them in a slightly different way, but through it, both gained a person they would never have met without the programme.
BUDDY is a long-distance journey
That is why Braňo does not simply tell people considering BUDDY volunteering: “Go for it.”
First, he advises them to learn as much as they can, think through what such a relationship involves, and honestly ask themselves whether they have the time, stability, patience and readiness to stay by a child’s side long term.
Because BUDDY is not one-off help or a short-term volunteering activity.
It is a long-distance journey.
When an adult builds a relationship with a child who learns to rely on them, the decision to stay matters.
Braňo made his decision more than seven years ago.
Thanks to it, he met Dávid.
And Dávid met Braňo.
Today, neither of them speaks only of a “BUDDY volunteer” and a “BUDDY child”.
They both talk about a friend.
Around 1,000 children in Slovakia are waiting for a BUDDY. If you are considering volunteering, learn more ou our website and consider whether it is the right path for you now.
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