wfn.org | UMCOR worker sees similarities between Bosnia, Afghanistan

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

March 26, 2002        News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New
York     10-21-71B{132}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - As an experienced relief worker, Guy Hovey finds many
similarities between Bosnia and Afghanistan.

When it comes to returning a displaced population to a devastated land, to
tackling the issues of shelter, food and being able to earn a living again,
"people's concerns are basically all the same," he explained.

Currently head of mission for Bosnia for the United Methodist Committee on
Relief (UMCOR), Hovey was in Afghanistan from Feb. 28 to March 21 to assess
the possibility of future projects in a country rendered desolate by some 23
years of war. 

"The range of needs in Afghanistan covers all of UMCOR's programmatic
experience and covers all regions of the country," he reported.

The agency has already conducted an emergency shelter project in northern
Afghanistan, in partnership with Mercy Corps. The staff at UMCOR's
headquarters in New York will use Hovey's assessment as they prepare plans
for further projects in Afghanistan, according to the Rev. Paul Dirdak, the
agency's chief executive. A funding proposal for that work will be presented
to UMCOR's board of directors when the agency's parent body, the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries, meets April 15-18 in Stamford, Conn.

While the exact conditions are different, Hovey believes the solution to
years of war damage in Afghanistan is similar to what UMCOR has accomplished
in Bosnia. "We try to rehabilitate homes in communities in a sustainable
manner," he said.

A more dangerous similarity is the proliferation of land mines in both
countries. The people who suffer the most, he noted, are the children who
accidentally detonate the mines and the farmers who face the choice of
either tilling the mine-laden fields or starving.

The word "community" is central to UMCOR's approach. Instead of trying to
assist a limited number of families in a wide geographical area, Hovey
prefers to focus holistically on a large number of families in a small
geographic area. The reason, he explained, is that "the community is key to
a normal and sustainable lifestyle."

One possible area that UMCOR could concentrate on in Afghanistan is Robut,
composed of eight villages in the Bagram district of the Shomali plain,
Hovey said. "This was a very, very prosperous area before the war," he
added.

But along with other areas north of Kabul, the strategic area was laid to
waste, first through successive war offensives and then through deliberate
destruction by the now-deposed Taliban government. About 1,200 of the
pre-war population of 2,200 families have returned there "to a dire
situation" with no homes, little food and destroyed fields.

In his assessment, Hovey suggested UMCOR could assist 200 families at the
beginning, coordinating with other members of Action By Churches Together
(ACT), the government, nongovernmental organizations, de-mining teams and
donors. The home rehabilitation project could include a "food for work"
component, and assistance also could be provided for reviving agriculture,
drilling wells and repairing the irrigation system, promoting
income-generation projects and working on other forms of community
development.  

The issue of "return" is paramount in Afghanistan. In addition to those who
fled to neighboring countries, camps of internally displaced people are
scattered throughout Afghanistan, some with populations of 100,000 or more.
With little in the way of sanitation, water and even shelter, "conditions
are pretty rough in the camps," Hovey said. 

He noted that returning Afghans used the same expressions he had heard from
returnees in Bosnia and Kosovo, referring to feelings of being born again or
having a second life. "They want to get back to the land," he explained.
"Some people have been displaced for 23 years."

 Despite the obstacles ahead, he does not believe the tremendous needs in
Afghanistan are too overwhelming for the international community to handle. 

"I do fear there's not going to be enough money to respond to it," he added.
"In all these situations, there's never enough to go around."
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United Methodist News Service
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