While some argue over whose fault the water in Gostivar is, Prilep collected over 6,000 litres of bottled water and sent it where it is needed most. Sometimes solidarity is faster than the institutions.

The mayor of Prilep, Dejan Prodanoski, announced that the town, in a joint action, collected and sent more than 6,000 litres of bottled water as aid to the residents of Gostivar, who have been facing water-supply problems these days.

A large number of residents took part in the action, along with the Red Cross - Prilep Municipal Organisation, socially responsible companies, associations, institutions, political actors and many people who wanted to help. „In moments of challenge, our town has once again proved that it knows how to be a shoulder of support, to bring people together and to act as one,” Prodanoski said.

The gesture deserves respect and needs no further analysis. But behind the warm story sits one cold truth: residents of one town are collecting bottled water for residents of another, in a country where the water supply should be the basic job of the institutions, not of charity drives. Prilep did its part. The question is why anyone had to at all.