Kosovo Refugee Report - April 22, 1999
NOTE: These reports will be sent periodically, but we will try to keep the web site updated at www.wfrchurch.org. Contributions to help reduce human suffering in this war may be sent to:
White's Ferry Road Church of Christ (War Relief)
3201 North Seventh Street
West Monroe, Louisiana 71291
Don Yelton
Tirana, Albania - April 21, 1999
Dear Brethren, Family, and Friends,
Greetings in the loving name of Jesus our savior. First and foremost, thank you for your prayers, encouraging e-mails, and support. Last Sunday night some of the men of the church met and formed a refugee crisis team. The committee consists of Artan Samara, Tom Panidha, Artan Xhaferi, and me. I was asked to be the leader of the team. At the time of the meeting we decided that we would try to minister to the needs of the refugees in homes and apartments who have fallen through the cracks of the large humanitarian organizations. Wow! Did we ever find a need!
Monday, we went to an apartment where there had been 17 people living as of Saturday. Between Saturday and Monday, the number grew from 17 to about 40. In this group there was a 3 week old baby who was born by candle light in a hospital in Kosovo. She and her mother started the journey to Tirana when she was only 3 days old. Soap, diapers, and some food items were provided for their immediate needs. While there we learned about a house that had 18 people so we went to ask about their needs. When we arrived we found not only the 18, but another 19 in the house next door. A neighbor from up the road saw us and told us of another 8 in his apartment. I think this is the proverbial snowball. We went back to the WEI facility to discuss exactly what and how much of each thing we could provide to these families. When our team returned to the school, we were told about another 80 people living in one house; more about that later. Our heads were spinning as we sat down to figure out our next move; the numbers had us wondering if we had the manpower to handle this situation but we hope to involve more of the church as we get better organized.
Tuesday started with a call about an urgent need for diapers in the camp of 1,800 people in Kavaja. We had been to this camp and helped with food and sanitary needs two weeks ago. Again, we were just filling in until the big relief services got involved. Artan Xh. and I rode to the camp in a dilapidated van whose driver had a death wish or something. It was without a doubt the wildest ride I've had in many years. While at the camp, we met a man whose wife had been pulled out of his arms by the Serbs and shot to death right in front of him and their children. I think he was still in shock and no amount of counseling will ever remove the scars of his trauma. While at the camp we surveyed the situation and found that the needs of the people were being taken care of fairly well. Unfortunately, they still didn't have adequate toilet or shower facilities even though one of the organizations started construction but never finished the job. The camp manager was very frustrated by this. Late in the day, we picked up 100 blankets from "MEDAIR". These were available for free, it just takes some calls and connections with the right people.
Today was a brighter day. Our team of wholesale shoppers procured a large van for the day, loaded the blankets and hit the road for the first round of buying. We bought about 1/2 ton of flour, 300 pounds of dried beans, 300 pounds of oranges, a couple hundred pounds of rice, sugar, and many pounds of cheap cheese. We also bought some hard candy and little cakes for the children. When we arrived at the first apartments, we found that the men were out looking for work but the women and children greeted us with many thanks and smiles. All the time, our brother Tom was telling them that it was God not us who deserves the thanks. Well, I think that is what he was telling them; my Albanian still isn't that great so that is a very loose interpretation. Some of the teenagers at these first places said they want to come and participate in the teen fellowship on Friday afternoon. Every place we went, we gave Bibles and Bible correspondence courses and other literature. We also encouraged all to join us for worship on Sunday.
We were surprised by the number of people and the conditions the Kosovars were living in at our afternoon stop. One house had 96 people, no finished toilet facilities, no beds to speak of and nothing to cook with except a couple of single gas burners similar to backpack stoves. There was an extension cord going to another building which provided a little light but not enough energy to do much else with. By the time we were done with this stop, we found about 140 people who had nothing but a temporary roof over their heads.
While at this stop we found people in at least three houses, all of which were unfinished. There we found a man with tuberculosis. This house also had a number of small children making a potentially dangerous situation. Another house had a young lady who was still recovering from being wounded by the Serbs. We had a doctor with us who was getting together a list of medical needs which we will be sending to Partners in Progress and Relief Ministries.
A correspondent from Odyssey News in Nashville will be here this weekend to film our worship service and interview some of the refugees at the camps.
One of the congregations in the States has pledged funds for us to buy a van. At this point, we are hiring drivers and trucks each day to carry out our ministry. We will have to get one from Italy to be sure that it is legal and we are told that we will get a better deal there even with customs and transportation costs.
The church in Tirana and in the other cities is grateful for the generous response that is coming from the brotherhood all over Europe and America. In the States, Partners in Progress, Relief Ministries, Mana International, and World English Institute are all soliciting donations for the Kosovar refugees. They are all funneling the funds to our account in Tirana. We in turn put it directly into the relief effort by the church. If you send funds directly to us please let us know by e-mail if possible. It makes it much easier to acknowledge your generosity. Thanks.
Again, we thank you for your partnership in the Kosovar refugee work. And we praise God for your generosity.
In Christian love,
Randy, Pam, and Amber Richards