Together! (logbook-Christmas 2009)

4 vehicles, 56 m3 (1980 cubic feet) of material, 47 computers, 8 French and 1 Italian – here is the logbook of our 10th humanitarian convoy to support the Serbian children of Kosovo-Metochia and their parents.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

After leaving Grenoble at 18:30, we speed to Italy to pick a collection.
Arrived around 9 PM in Turin, we load several cubic meters of clothes and toys stored by an Italian association: this too is European solidarity! Back on the autostrada, we pause to eat a snack and get better acquainted with each other: some already knew some others, but this is the first time we all together.
After eating, conversations go apace in the cabins: studies, comparisons of highway networks, musical tastes, European spirituality... topics are eclectic. But shortly after going back to fifth gear, one of the trucks begins to sway… a flat tire! With resignation we stop on the first emergency area for repair. While changing the tire, we start to doubt the reliability of the rental agency: will the trucks make it to Kosovska Mitrovica?
Finally, after repairing, we head to a quiet place to camp for a few hours: tents rather than a hotel – saving some monies is always a good thing at SK!

Winter sunrise on the road to Kosovo

Sunday

Setting out again at dawn, we drive by Padua at 11 AM. At the pause, someone teasingly points out that we are nine in this mission – nine volunteers for a long trip through regions that are unknown to many of us. Nine volunteers going to bring some assistance to their brothers at the other end of Europe. Our mission is not to save the world, but just to support the Serbs who are resisting; still, we make an interesting parallel with Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring! Boosted with sandwiches and literary references, we get ready to hit the first customs of former Yugoslavia, noted for maintaining Soviet-like formality since 1945…
It’s getting a bit boring in the trucks. Crews rotate and a few CD are passed around at stops. A bit of stimulation is needed to keep sufficient concentration.
Finally, the Croatian border emerges and we prepare to discover the administration, thinking that in France we don’t have the worst in that respect.
Pessimists turn out to be wrong: it takes only one hour before we hit the Zagreb-Belgrade highway. Speaking the language helps!
A few hours later, we leave Croatia, rather easily.
The grand show really starts when entering the territory of the Serbian Republic: a search of the truck cabins, piles of forms to fill out, stamps and counter-stamps, up to seals on the cargo. Phew! A mere five hours…
As night has set in a good while ago, temperatures are harsher and spirits are tired, we choose the motel option to rest a little. A place with heated rooms, and even showers!
Great luxury.
 
Monday

As day of highways. Late in the afternoon, in less than 45 minutes the Serbian customs officers let us leave the territory – that is, the territory under Belgrade’s jurisdiction. A few hundred meters further, the French Gendarmerie (under mandate of EULEX – army going global…) performs a check as we are returning in the “State” of Kosovo. Without problems we arrive at the beginning of the evening in Kosovska Mitrovica, a city split by a bridge, and a symbol of the tenacity and sufferings of the Serbian people.
We settle in a hotel which will be our base camp for the following days. Shortly after, the local managers of charitable organizations join us to organize, in connection with local authorities, the security of our stay. Indeed, trucks containing, amongst other things, computer equipment, can cause envy and interrogations, and the context is tense: the Kosovo police force (KPS) delegates and a half-Albanian, half--Serbian escort.
While we pay tribute to Balkan cuisine, several helpful people level the red tape for us so we won’t have to run into a check at each crossing.
 
Tuesday

First day of distribution in the enclaves.
Whereas we had in our minds the images of previous missions carried out in the snow, the weather this remains mild and sunny.
“Have a hearty lunch – We don’t know when the next meal will be”, the mission leader advises us. Got the point! We scrupulously take the advice, as we trust his experience of the field (Note: The author does not have anything to be forgiven for, not is he squinting at a position in the association).
Our convoy gets under way, and downtown we join the patrol of the KPS which will accompany us through the day. The first enclave we visit is that of Banja, where we are accommodated by a Serbian Friend. This Friend will accompany us during two days, during which his knowledge of the places and his good mood will be strongly appreciated.
After the coffee and the welcome shlivo, we proceed to the beginning of the distribution. The villagers are happy over the presents that we progressively unload from the trucks. Soon it is time to drive to another enclave nearby, Ćrkolez, where we leave ten of our computers at the school. We know Ćrkolez well, as we have been going there each year for four years. It is a pleasure to recognize the faces of the children and of being recognized ourselves.
As our convoy is larger this year, we visit new enclaves, the first of which being Suvo Grlo. The three enclaves of Banja, Ćrkolez and Suvo Grlo are the last Serbian mountainside villages remaining in the vicinity of Srbića, at the limit between Kosovo and Metochia.
We then start out towards a sadly famous village: Gorazdevać. This sizable enclave of almost 2000 people made headlines in 2003 when two children were assassinated with automatic weapons while bathing in the river bordering the Serbian village. It is the fourth time that we go here since 2004. It’s a long way; we arrive around 4 PM and have to finish the distribution with torch lights. We leave twenty computers for the school and communities. In this enclave with a mix of generations, our sport balls are appreciated. Lets us note that Serbia is runs high in basketball: who knows, a player from Gorazdevać could, some day, be selected in the national team. This dream is still allowed in Metochia, and we are glad to share in it.
Electricity supply is irregular; in the light of torch lamps and candle, those among us who won’t be driving have a taste of rakija (a kind of grappa) offered by seniors of Gorazdevać. We have an interview with journalists of a Serbian radio.

Distribution in serb's enclave

We speed on to Visoki Dećani, an orthodox monastery which is a masterpiece of architecture, protected by Italian soldiers. The KPS escort leaves us at the checkpoint and its members return to their respective quarters.
The monks’ welcome is quite cordial. We leave material which will be redistributed with other Serbian enclaves that unfortunately we do not have enough time to visit on our short mission. Since the forced withdrawal of the Serbian administration from Kosovo, the Church has been playing a great part in the collection and distribution of humanitarian aid, and we take advantage of this solid network. After an appreciated dinner, we discuss with English-speaking friars, an opportunity for everyone to brush up one’s English – and talking about the geopolitical situation, the spiritual dimension and the anecdotes of the community of Dećani is far more interesting than exchanging commonplaces like “Brian is in the kitchen” and “I forgot my umbrella”…

Visoki Decani monastery

Wednesday

Our early risers begin the day at 6:45 AM with the sung morning service. Then we all attend an orthodox mass. Believers or not, all the members of our ephemeral group are all touched by the beauty of the hymns of the perennial monastic community. After the service, a priest offers us cherry brandy, and we discuss, this time in Serbian, with the assistance of those of us who are attuned to its subtleties.
Breakfast (still applying the previous advice about eating plenty!) is followed by a visit of the church and cloister. After looking at the farm – a guarantee of quasi self-sufficiency for food for the monks – we tour the workshops where friars produce icons, a must-see of any visit to an orthodox monastery. This cultural/artistic experience impresses us, both for the icons themselves and for the dedication and patience which we observe in each painter.
We leave the friars several cubic meters of clothing and computers, for distribution in the neighbouring Serb villages.
It is already time to move on to Orahovać, an enclave partly located in the higher portion of the otherwise completely albanized city of the same name. From there we scrutate the city and its huge Wahhabi minarets, an ostentatious sign of the presence of the new masters of the province. The vineyards on the nearby slopes are a stunning contrast. We entrust in good hands the equipment for the soccer team and at lot of school material and clothing. The expression of the children receiving these modest gifts is very moving. In their eyes and their smiles, we find the reason of our trip, and the motivation to proceed to the next Serbian village. In fact, the core of it all is not the books or sports shirts; more crucially, the support from some young French, on behalf of all the givers, is what counts for these Serbs engaged in everyday resistance in a very concrete sense: a few yards from a disfigured church, we see several lines of burned houses. In this street leading down towards the city centre, the houses of Serbian families were plundered and burnt down by the “liberators” of the UCK or their henchmen. Collateral damage, probably...

Girl in Orahovac

Then we go to the village of Velika Hoća, some 10 minutes from Orahovać. There the situation seems quieter. One does not feel in a ghetto as in Orahovać, where the barbed wire is still in place. Velika Hoća is a splendid wine-producing village with 13 churches, traditional houses and a square where tens of children play every day. It is undoubtedly much quieter than certain districts of France, but for the fact that you cannot go outside of this outdoor prison without a military escort. The material is quickly handled with the assistance of the parents and children. The girls of our team chum up with the youngest kids; the boys too are quite moved by them.
It is almost evening when an Austrian soldier opens for us the barrier of the monastery he is watching over: Zociste. There, a monk shows us the church, rebuilt identically after the anti-Serb pogroms of 2004. In the valley below, one can see no church tower, but the elongated, missile-like landmarks of a certain religion of peace and love to showcase its hold on its territory. Kudos, friars – this is mission territory in your own country!
In the evening, we drop our Serb Friend in Banja, with a couple of champagne bottles to thank him.

Any help is welcome !

Thursday

Our morning is devoted to a press conference for several Serb radios and televisions channel. We discover thus that the action of Solidarity-Kosovo – Solidarnost Kosovo – has unquestionably a positive impact on the populations of Kosovo but also of Belgrade.
At mid-day we move on to the area of Gračanića: a canton of 23 000 people, mostly Serbs, with some Gypsies and Albanians (note on which side tolerance is). Life there is organized around the meagre resources.
After a welcome by the local authorities, we visit inhabitants who have been living for ten years in containers. The psychological climate of this shantytown is heavy. We leave toys and clothing, as well as chocolates. After having given some toys to a house for handicapped people, we entrust a municipal association with a cargo of toys, clothing and computers for distribution.

Refugiee camp near Gracanica

In the evening, we are back in Kosovska Mitrovića, where we mix with Serbs in the street for the New Year. Firecrackers and fireworks are de rigueur, but at midnight other sounds are heard on both sides of the famous bridge: skyward shots of kalashnikovs; this seems to be a tradition in the region. Near the bridge, at the feet of a war memorial dedicated to the Serbian defenders of the city, a dozen youth are chanting Srbja, Srbja! Later, we walk into another group of youth, boys and girls singing Serbian patriotic songs.
 
Friday

In the morning we give Spas, a Serbian humanitarian association, school material, clothes, and some games, for the neediest Serbian families of Kosovska Mitrovića.
We drive off around 1 PM after having cheerfully greeted all those which supported us on Kosovska Mitrovića. At the checkpoint upon leaving Kosovo, the officers let us go after checking our passports, but the French police stops us and has us open the vehicles. One hour later, after the search and documentation check, we can move on. The Serbian customs, seeing that the trucks are empty, do not bother us.
We progress at a slow pace in ex-Yugoslavia, as many mechanical problems make us stop regularly. We spend the night in the trucks on a Croatian roadside area.

We change the wheel on the road

Saturday and Sunday

The day proceeds well, with snow around noon, but no damage.
After crossing the Alps, our hired trucks act up again. We lose several hours because the two front wheels of one of our trucks are catching fire. The handbrake cables were seized up so much that with the sudden cold on the French side, the jaws were blocked and the tension disks heated up red!
Finally, after repairing, we arrive at dawn on Sunday, January 3, 2010 in Grenoble, exhausted but happy to have supported materially and morally European people whose spirit of resistance is only matched by the richness of the culture that we had the chance to discover. A little bluesy to be already back in France, we get ready to resume work or exams the day after at 8 AM!
 

In Velika Hoca

This was the logbook of nine young Europeans who decided to dedicate some time and money to go out and help a Serbian population that is abandoned by all. This tenth humanitarian convoy will remain engraved in the short history of Solidarité Kosovo for its scope and intensity. We want to thank all the donators who, since 2004, have been allowing us to bring more material each time.
 
Heartfelt greetings from the nine volunteers of this Winter of 2009!
 

Rémi Chabert