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Newsletter of August 1, 1998
©
Assisting Refugees Throughout the World
Click on a specific topic or just read on.
This may be a very difficult year for refugee families in Bosnia who, during the war, had found shelter by settling into abandoned houses. There are a lot of them, entire villages, like the people in Gradska, who could be on the move again. During the war, many families left their homes because the area they lived in was overtaken or predominantly inhabited by people of another ethnic background. A Croatian family, for example, which lived in an area that was predominantly Muslim or Serbian, would flee for their safety to an area that was predominantly Croatian. The same was true for Muslem and Serbian families. When they arrived in the new area, if they were fortunate enough to find an abandoned house that was still intact, they would move in for shelter. In the village of Gradska, the homes were occupied by Muslim families before the war. Now they are occupied by Croatian refugees. This is the same all over Bosnia. It is estimated that there are still 1.1 million Bosnian refugees, many living outside the borders of Bosnia. For these 1.1 million people, their existence is temporary. In order for this country to get back on it’s own feet, this is one of the issues that has to be addressed. The U.N. is pushing for this to get resolved, for everyone to get back to their homes, rebuild if necessary, and to resume productive lives. This year the other countries will stop supporting the refugee families to encourage them to return home. This means that many of these families will be on the move again, moving to an uncertain future, home to an area where they may no longer be accepted and to a house that may no longer exist. This will be a difficult year for them. Please remember them in your prayers.
"Teaching the children to accept each other is our number one goal" says the principal of St. Joseph’s School in Sarejevo. The school was started two years ago in an old three story building amid the reminders of the horrors that took place in this beautiful city. It is providing a source of healing. Over 1,100 students from all three major ethnic backgrounds are enrolled in grades K to 12 and there is a long waiting list to get in. Children learn English in the first grade and are given a choice of French or German in the fifth grade. Religion classes are taught by representatives from the Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox faiths. Students can choose which class they want to attend. There is no tuition and no help from the government. The school exists entirely on donations. It is clean, freshly painted and the classrooms are neat. The principal says it has been built on love and that is obvious just by watching the children interact with each other We were there thanks to the generosity of St. Catherine’s School in Morgan Hill and several people who donated money to purchase supplies and teaching aids for them. It was our privilege to be there, to represent you to them and deliver your gifts. Thank you for this opportunity!!!
There’s improvement! While signs of the war are still everywhere, we’ve seen improvement especially in Croatia where the tourists have returned to spend time on the beautiful coast. With the tourists comes much needed money to help them rebuild. Bosnia will take longer, but there still is a lot of reconstruction taking place. As we drove past Mostar to Sarejevo, a number of the homes we saw from the highway now have roofs, some bridges are back up and roads have been repaired. The rebuilding is starting.
Left Oakland 12/15/97 and arrived in Ljubuski, Bosnia 2/2/98 Packing this container was a completely new experience for us. Thanks to Heart-to-Heart (an organization based in Oakland that is providing care for children in Russia who suffer from heart disease and ships medical supplies to many needy countries) we had warehouse space, a loading dock, pallets and a fork lift to work with this time. They also provided medical supplies for us to send to hospitals in Bosnia. This time we didn’t have to collect, sort and load in a weekend. and we didn’t have to lift the boxes one at a time up from the ground into the container for packing. We were able to collect and sort over a longer period of time and stack the finished boxes on pallets to be put into the container. When we were sure that we had enough pallets to fill a container, we ordered one and loaded it using a forklift. This was so much easier on us and, most importantly, it resulted in a much better shipment in quality and quantity.
You did it again! You filled another container - this time to the brim. The following are the items you sent in December:
On the left Scott is maneuvering a pallet onto the container with a fork lift. On the right we’re squeezing in a baby bed along the roof on top of the bicycles and examination tables.
We can never thank our volunteers enough for the hours they put in sorting and packing. Its hard work and long days in warehouse conditions but they are there working with us smiling and enjoying the opportunity to make a difference. They are an inspiration as are our children, the younger members of One Family who have put in many hours packing and loading all seven of these shipments without any complaints. The night we loaded this container we finished just after midnight tired and happy and celebrated with dinner at a restaurant in Walnut Creek. You are all examples of what One Family is all about. Thank you all for being there with us.
...and Over There!
When a shipment arrives in Bosnia, we get lots of help unloading. It’s like Christmas to the refugee families because they never know what's in the box, but it’s always something they need. Here several boys help unload boxes of food and supplies. These family food boxes are really popular. A family can stretch a box of food, like one of these, to last up to two weeks and it gives them a variety in their meals.
One Family Children in Bosnia*
Occasionally we take our children with us to Croatia and Bosnia so they can see first hand why we are doing this work to send these shipments. They have all been involved collecting, sorting and working late nights on shipping weekends, so seeing the impact of their efforts over there helps them to understand how important it is to continue reaching out to those who are less fortunate. It also helps them to see that the children in other parts of the world are just like them in many ways. They’ve got school and homework, they play the same games and listen to the same music. Unfortunately those that have a chance to see a TV draw their impressions of different parts of the world based on what they see. We had to improve their image of California by letting them know that “Bay Watch” is only a TV program! Next time we’ll take some books with pictures of California.
* Note: All of our administration expense, including travel, is paid by the One Family members - never from donations unless specifically requested by the donor.
You wouldn’t have to stand very long in front of a sporting goods store named Protetika in Split, Croatia to realize that this is a special place. Right away you would notice an unusual number of paraplegic people entering the store along with the regular customers. This might seem unusual until you found out that in the back of this store are five rooms that serve as a manufacturing facility for artificial limbs. In these five rooms new arms and legs are designed, made and fitted on patients and they are taught to use them. The store was set up by an organization named Medjugorje-Mir to help victims of the war. In the past 3 years, over 800 people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds from all over Bosnia and Croatia have received artificial limbs here at little or no cost to them.
Profits from the store help pay the rent and the salaries of the workers. The equipment and materials for making the limbs are donated. We were invited to see this facility at the request of Medjugorje-Mir. There are so many people still on their waiting list they’ve asked us to help them find a source of materials in America so they could increase their production. If you know of a company or organization that would be a potential source for this material, please contact us as soon as possible. We’d like to help them continue working miracles for these unfortunate people.
This 13 year old Croatian girl lost her mother in the war, then 3 months later lost her father and her leg in a land mine explosion. She is just one of many people who are being helped at the Protetika store in Split, Croatia. Here she is learning to walk with her new artificial leg.
We are planning to send two more containers to Bosnia this year. The first one will contain primarily medical equipment and supplies for hospitals in Nova Bila and Mostar, and materials for making artificial limbs for the Protetika store in Split, Croatia
The second container would bring Christmas to refugee families in Gradska and Caplinja, Bosnia from families in the Bay Area. That one would be packed with boxes for families containing food and presents including clothing, bicycles, toys, tools (See our Wish List).
As we prepare for these containers we joined an organization in Virginia called Gifts In Kind that provides surplus goods at a fraction of their retail cost.Through them we just purchased six pallets of very nice ceramic dishes. There are enough dishes for 350 families to each receive a set of 8 dishes. Now we are looking for silverware and glassware to go with them. The containers need to be shipped by late October to arrive in time for us to distribute their contents by Christmas. If you would like to help us, or if you have some extra silverware or glasses in good condition, let us know.
One Family continues to serve as a link between families in Northern California and the most needy refugee families we can find in Bosnia. Everything we’ve delivered has come from donations. We couldn’t do any of this without each of you. We are planning another shipment later this year and hope to send more of the same items. The following are some of the things we are looking for (please don’t limit yourself to this list, they still need so much)
On a Tee Shirt Near you!
You may be seeing our logo on a tee shirt in your area, that’s because we had some made up to give away as a thank you. The person you see wearing it probably put in several hours at the warehouse or has been helping us in some other way for the last two years. If you have a chance, stop them and thank them for the work they are doing to help the refugees in Bosnia.
We are often asked by children in Bosnia for a pen pal. If you know of a child who would be interested, please contact us. The letters they send will most likely be in Croatian so you will need to have a means of translating them.
Stephanie (right), age 13, gets a hug from her pen-pal, a refugee from Zenica, Bosnia now living in Gradska. The two have been writing to each other for over a year and finally got a chance to meet. They were like two old friends getting together