wfn.org | UMCOR covers food, shelter, social needs of Kosovars

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 24, 2000  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10- 71BP{383}

NOTE:  For related coverage, see UMNS stories #384 and #385. Photographs are
available.

By the Rev. Mike Stanton-Rich*

KOSOVO PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (UMNS) - United Methodists have poured untold
millions into rebuilding Kosovo - its agricultural base, its homes
devastated by war, its people.

For United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) staff in the field, much of
the work can be summed up in two words.

"It's all social development," said Nick Gummere, grants coordinator for
UMCOR Kosovo.

Angela Oliver, head of mission for UMCOR in Kosovo, explained further.
"UMCOR's goal in Kosovo since the beginning has been social development. The
shelter and agriculture programs are part of an integrated effort to make a
difference in Kosovo, and they should be considered social development
because they are driven by the concepts of self-sustainability and community
empowerment."

UMCOR works with a wide variety of church and non-governmental agencies to
provide social development projects in Kosovo, which is rebuilding following
the 1999 war. Pristina, the capital of the province, is serving as the base
for the United Methodist relief work.

The coordinated efforts have brought Kosovo's food production up to 60
percent of its level in 1989, the last year before Serbian policies in the
country brought industry and agriculture to a near standstill, according to
Oscar Samso, agriculture director for UMCOR Kosovo.

Immediately after the war, Kosovars received aid primarily through direct
relief with food and shelter. With no time to prepare for crops and
livestock before the winter, agriculture projects were focused on the year
2000.

Samso came to UMCOR in October 1999 after working with a relief agency in
Bosnia for two years. With funds from the 1999 ACT (Action by Churches
Together, UMCOR's ecumenical partner) Balkans Emergency Appeal, UMCOR
staffers procured and distributed seeds, fertilizer and chickens to more
than 2,800 families in 16 villages near Mitrovica and Vushtri in Northern
Kosovo last spring.   

UMCOR procurement specialist Sandra Lukics, who worked closely with Samso,
confirmed the difference the spring emergency program had on the villages.
"It is wonderful to travel to these villages and see that many families have
a flock of chickens and large gardens that would not have been possible
without our help."

"But we are not finished," Samso added. "We are moving from pure relief to
rehabilitation, from distribution to family self-sustainability." 

The war killed 45 percent of the country's livestock, so UMCOR has been
working to raise the livestock numbers in one of the hardest-hit areas.
Since early summer, it has delivered 3,000 sheep to more than 150 families
under contracts that require the recipient to share the first year's
offspring with the neighboring community. By next spring, that will result
in the distribution of more than 7,500 sheep to about 300 families. In July,
Samso negotiated the purchase of 264 milk cows, which will be distributed to
the same number of families. The contract with the owners will result in 200
more families having livestock in 2001.

The Tractor Repair Project is another UMCOR agricultural project that is
making a difference. Already in 2000, UMCOR has assisted with rehabilitating
175 tractors and expects to complete 100 more before winter.  

"In rural Kosovo, the tractor is a must for living," Samso explained. "Not
only does it prepare the fields, but also provides transportation for the
family and a means for rebuilding homes destroyed in the war." The
investment, at a cost of about $500 per tractor, makes a huge difference in
many facets of a family's life.

A trip into the villages of Bare and Bajgora confirmed the impact of the
programs. Flocks of chickens and sheep were seen at many roadside farms,
large gardens were in full production, and tractors were hauling building
materials and children. 

"Nearly every sheep or chicken you see is the work of UMCOR," Lukics said.
"There is not a family in this area that has not been touched by the work of
the agriculture program."

UMCOR's programs go beyond basic needs of food and housing. Examples are the
Educational and Psychological Rehabilitation Program, the Youth Initiatives
and Peacebuilding Program and the Crisis Center for Trafficked Women
Program.

Since summer 1999, UMCOR has been working near Mitrovica, providing access
to educational and psychological support services for women, children and
youth. That work has included developing parent-teacher organizations as a
means of restoring schools in the area. Leadership training for youth began
last January.

Youth groups are preparing proposals for seed grants from UMCOR to develop
community programs and facilities such as youth centers, athletic fields and
sports activities.

The Youth Initiatives Peace Building Program seeks to bring the various
ethnic groups together in Kosovo. By developing networks of relationships
through youth clubs, UMCOR pursues a vision of bringing Kosovar Albanian,
Serb and Roma youth together for leadership training, communication and
mediation skill-building, as well as joint community-building programs.
UMCOR staff is working with youth groups representing those main ethnic
divides in the Mitrovica area.

The Crisis Center for Trafficked Women was started last summer to help women
from Eastern Europe who were kidnapped or tricked into working in the sex
industry. The United Nations police force and KFOR regularly raid brothels
in Kosovo and have discovered a lucrative organized crime industry based on
trafficking women. The crisis shelter provides temporary housing for women
who have been freed from the brothels until safe passage can be arranged for
their return home. The center also provides basic medical and psychological
care. UMCOR is seeking funding to continue operation of the shelter beyond
this year.

The Stabilization through Social Development Project is another program that
has just been funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State. The
effort was announced to UMCOR staff on Aug. 14, and slightly more than $1
million is designated for it.

Between now and August 2001, UMCOR staff and hired consultants will focus on
peaceful conflict-resolution projects among youth (ages 12 to 24) in East
Kosovo, one of the areas with the most tension and the most potential.
United States KFOR secures this area.

The basic plan begins with developing educational and recreational
activities for youth with the broad goal of bringing people of different
ethnic origins together in peaceful coexistence.  Next, groups and
individuals who have potential for peace building and conflict resolution
are identified, and they are given training and funding. The plan also
provides for immediate mediation and conflict resolution for situations that
will one day be handled by people trained in the program.  

"We are breaking new ground here," Oliver said. "UMCOR has never done
anything of this magnitude, and it is the first United States government
initiative of this kind in Kosovo, and they chose UMCOR as a partner to
implement it."

"It's like a dream come true," Gummere added. "If someone were to ask me,
'What would you do with $1 million that would make a difference in Kosovo?'
this program would be it." 

Support for the people of Kosovo can be provided through financial gifts to
several UMCOR Advance numbers: Kosovo Emergency Relief, No. 982450-8;
Mother/Child Survival, No. 982645-1, Kosovo; Youth House, No. 982844-8,
Kosovo. Check donations can be placed in church collection plates or mailed
directly to 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card
donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.
# # #
*Stanton-Rich is pastor of New Covenant United Methodist Church in Mount
Holly, N.C. He was in Kosovo Aug. 7-17 as a volunteer with the United
Methodist Committee on Relief.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org