Preface to Absolute Health
by Marta Mratinkovic, B. A.

I will write about this book from a personal perspective, as the book itself is personal. It talks about a girl and her development; a girl who stepped out of her sweet child's world and, as in a fairy tale, entered the adults' world - which is not always sweet, tender, healthy or clean. In this world, the growing man goes through suffering, misfortune, and illnesses.

Gradually, through all his misunderstandings and confusions, he begins slowly to investigate what life is and what it gives. He begins to search for understanding about what it means to be a human.

Vanja started travelling the road to absolute health with illness. Illness startled her and her family and made them learn while searching for a cure. Their difficulties were enormous, and so was the knowledge they achieved.

This book is Vanja's basket full of the fruits of holistic knowledge that she has collected so far.

Now, she is opening her lovely basket by giving us hope, understanding, and help in our own quest for absolute health. This book whispers gently to those who give themselves to it: 'You are not alone in your pain and confusion; all that already happened to many other people. God was good and generous and created cures for each illness. People will help you a lot. Don't give up!'

For many of us, the very foundation of this book is firmly constructed, and it could be the first step out of darkness. I know Vanja and her family. They are persistent and brave people. They do not easily give up.

Oh, no. Not at all.

Through her book we are being taught how to be persistent and brave ourselves. Vanja and her family face their fears without turning around; they continue their search open hearted and with honesty. They are dreamers and optimists, too. Spirits and spirituality are of great importance to them. Their spiritual aura gives a special scent to this book. Enjoy this wonderful scent.

Vanja and her family are very hard-working people. That is why Vanja's lovely basket is full of precious knowledge that cannot be found so well explained in other books dealing with similar matters. My pleasure is even greater because the covers of the book shine with the name of someone coming from this area. She was born, brought up and educated in Serbia. Her name is Vladimirka - Vanja. This book is her gift of gratitude to her people. It proves my belief (I hope yours, too) that all of us, who have stayed in this area of big challenges, have lots of wonderful, precious and true ideas to give. It is not true, as some are prone to say, that all young, healthy, clever, and educated people have left Serbia after the war. Vanja and her book are here with Serbians, but the book is also intended for all people. We are delighted that she was able to remain in Serbia and still work as a cultural ambassador in order to share her knowledge about absolute health with the rest of the world.

I have read many books on similar matters. Foreign authors have written most of them. They are very good books, even excellent ones. Vanja's book is of the same quality. Compared to them, there is nothing Vanja should be ashamed of.

We have been in need of this book for a long time. There are various good books on healthy life and curing in Japanese, Siberian, Peruvian, Tibetan cultures, etc. I, and many others, have had a chance to talk to many others who claimed they needed a book on health written from a Serbian perspective (an Eastern European perspective). This is a book full of foods grown in this soil in the colors of our embroidered carpets, of our dishes made of wood or clay, of our apricots and roses. This is not another book on ume-boshi plums, the sounds of cowbells, or about wells while taking water out of them. Above all, the delicious scent of healing herbs from our everlasting meadows emerges from this wonderful text.

This book has the breath of all these. It brings life.

Marta Mratinkovic, B. A.
psychologist and psychotherapist