wfn.org | His family plans return to Kosovo, but this teen stays to finish school

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

For more information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

99-179b

His family plans return to Kosovo, but this teen stays to finish school

     Flamur Statovci has seen more pain and trauma than most 18-year-olds. 
The day after NATO began its bombing campaign in Kosovo, armed Serbian 
soldiers entered his family's home in Pristina and forced them to leave. After
five weeks in a refugee camp, they found themselves in America, living in an 
apartment in Clearwater, Florida.
     The family was to return to Kosovo by the end of November. Flamur wants 
to stay--but his reasons are anything but selfish, according to Carolyn Monroe, 
coordinator for Episcopal Migration Ministries in Southwest Florida.
     "He told me, 'If I go back now, I'll be a nobody,'" she said. Flamur told
 her he wants to finish high school and attend college in the U.S., so "'I can go 
back and help my people,'" she said. 
     Through his own tenacity and the generosity of a couple in the area, 
Flamur has gotten his wish.
     Over the summer, Monroe accompanied him to nearby Pinellas Park 
High School to discuss enrolling. After completing necessary paperwork, 
but without his official transcripts, school officials were not encouraging, Monroe 
recalled. Even though Flamur is fluent in English and had completed his junior
year of high school in Kosovo, school administrators were adamant he repeat 
the 11th grade. 
     Undaunted, Flamur later went to Clearwater High School by himself and
asked to speak to administrators. By the time he left, he had convinced officials 
to enroll him as a senior, with the understanding that his parents will send his 
records to the U.S. after they return to Kosovo. He began classes this fall and
is doing well--his first-quarter report card shows As and Bs.
     That left the teen with one problem. When his family returns to Kosovo, 
where would he live? "He told me he wouldn't need much … that he'll get a job 
while going to school," Monroe recalled. "He said, 'All I need is a place to stay, 
Miss Carolyn,'" she said.
     After reading about Flamur in their diocesan newsmagazine, Susan 
and Bob Guise, who attend St. Anne of Grace Church in Seminole, Florida, 
decided to help.
     Flamur's room in the Guises' Reddington Shores home is ready and waiting
for him. "It's been a couple of years since we've done the teenage parenting 
thing," said Mrs. Guise, but "we're very excited. It's going to be a good experience.
     "I feel real good about that fact he's as motivated as he is, and his grades 
seem to be awfully good for only five months in this county."
     The Guises said their family as well as parishioners at St. Anne's are looking 
forward to including Flamur in their lives. "The Christian witness of living side 
by side may be of some good value, on a one-to-on basis," she said.--Jim De La