Winter 2009 Kosovo Convoy

Being my second trip with HaAD I felt I had more of an idea this time of what would happen and think generally felt more at ease with the way of working so this was an easier trip for me in some ways but not all. The two extra days that the aircrew had were beneficial in gelling as a team and it was so nice not to be a newbie! There is much that could be written about but my emphasis for this report is primarily on the deliveries made.

Once we arrived in Pristina and during our drive to Gjakove it was obvious that much work is happening to improve the infrastructure of roads and housing stock which was good to see. However, our trips out into the villages and generally off the beaten track show that the gap is only widening further between the few "have's" and the many "have nots". This leads to a concern that some will view the apparent improvement (which there certainly is) and assume the rest of the country is in a similar condition....oh no it isn't...

As well as my share of the warehouse work, I was able to go out on four days of drops with the 7.5 tonner's. Poor John - what did you do to deserve me on three days?! I also enjoyed a day out with Graham and Jeff although enjoyed is not the word for all parts as you will read later.
The first trip out with John and Anthony in "Sea Dog" can only be described as a delight. The weather was gorgeous, the company good and the scenery beautiful. We visited two Serbian villages near Peya, Brestovik and Vmi Crh. The dry sunny weather allowed us to unload onto the ground and make up piles of goods for each of the 20 plus families gathered on a plot of land in the village. Why was it a delight? Well, the reception we got from the villagers was so friendly, they helped by distributing the items and at the end, they brought us a welcome glass of squash, served up on a tray with much pride, shook our hands and seemed not just grateful (which sometimes can become awkward) but happy that they had been visited and not forgotten and that there were items that would ease conditions for them just a little over the next few weeks/ months. There was laughter during the distribution and during the "Opticians session" when we were able to provide many of them with reading glasses much to their delight. There was time to spend a little while with the children and also to help some bundle up their items to take away. They weren't the poorest people the teams would deliver to I am sure but there was obvious need. They had retained their dignity and although some maybe could have made use of more, I was  touched when they brought back boxes to the tailgate of the lorry (after putting out for example, two children's clothing items per family) and the box would  still contain leftover items as they knew, via our translator, that we were going to deliver to another village after visiting them. I am sure they must have been tempted to share it all out as it would have made a further difference. Does it sound odd to say how pleasurable it was? Maybe, they were certainly in need but I think we all felt welcome and that we had made a small difference. The second village we visited was a similar scenario although not quite as ordered as people seemed to come from further afield. The refreshments this time were only for Anthony as one villager lured him away with a glass of the local Slivovitz equivalent! As we drove away we all felt it had been a good and useful day. I am sure this was in some considerable part due to the friendly and relaxed air that our translator had, he always seemed ready with a kind word and a smile for all he spoke to and that must have  undoubtedly enhanced the smoothness of our visit and its success.

The next day was a trip out with Graham and Jeff to a Roma "drop" in a side street in Prizren. A wet and rainy day and the muddy wasteland area we had to park on meant it was impossible to do anything other than distribute from the tailgate of the lorry. Our interpreter was obviously stressed by it all, especially as the noise level rose and the crowds become more "lively"! Our student from Gjakove was brilliant at controlling the crowds and keeping as much order as possible. I found the noise level quite overwhelming and pleaded with the crowd that I had a headache and managed to get the sympathy and support of some of the women when I asked them to shush but it didn't last for long! The food was distributed reasonably well due to good team work in making up three piles of all the individual items and moving them forward to the tailgate and then the next three and the next... for over 70 families. The attempted allocation of the clothing and shoes soon deteriorated into mayhem and, despite Graham's heroic ventures into the crowd to take the pressure off us working at the tailgate, we reluctantly decided that for the safety of the young and the elderly who were being pushed and crushed in the crowd, we would have to abandon the distribution. Getting down from the lorry and going through the crowd to the cab was one of the worst parts of the trip. They were showing me their torn thin clothes, their broken down and holey shoes and every hand that grasped my arm was cold. Knowing there were clothes etc in the lorry that they could have had was a horrible feeling. Even though it was some consolation knowing the items were going to be taken to the MTS office and be distributed later to the families, I hated having to drive away. Frequently since that drop I have wondered how much was our British cultural difference? Certainly no queues for the aid here - any we tried to organise failed miserably. The volume of noise sounded out of control to us but seeing other local people at different times, is it just a different way of responding? More excitable and voluble and we misread it as getting uncontrolled? I still think, after much reflection, that it was the right choice to leave as, aside from the noise and apparent lack of control, there was a real risk someone would end up injured in the crush. The rain and the drop dampened our spirits and we headed back to the warehouse. In a situation like this, I think there were too many families to try and distribute to but I don't know the answer to that as, in an urban setting, I doubt it would be possible to split the delivery to the group into two in any realistic way.

I have no pictures of the actual drop as the thought of taking them went out of my mind in the concern to complete as much as we could but have a picture of our driver and of some of the buildings in this city which is apparently one of the oldest in the country.

My next days trip out was back with the Southampton crew of John and Anthony and I looked forward to  a different day and hopefully a more successful one. Our planned drop was changed and rather than going to an Albanian group as I think was first intended - our drop was to a Roma camp  at Feraj, east of Peya. My heart sunk when I heard it was to be another Roma camp and I thought it might be a repeat of the day before although the weather was better and this camp was more out in the countryside so I decided to try and be positive...   


How different this was! We drove out to a piece of grassland in front of a new school (maybe one for the "School in a box" project as it was a nice new but very empty building) and parked up in front of our waiting families. After some discussion between us, the obvious heads of the group and our lovely interpreter, we enlisted the help of some of the men to lay out the food piles on the paved area and then they added the clothing with Anthony's help as John and I moved items from the back of the lorry to the tailgate. There was laughter - much caused by Anthony joking with the ladies and games with an empty cardboard box, someone waving those "Malteser knickers" and even when one of the main village men picked up a pink knitted hat that had fallen on the floor and, pulling it on his head, posed for a picture with a grin on his face. Although a very different group, there was the same friendliness here as on our first day and it was a pleasure to work with them. Not only did we have the same lovely interpreter today but we had the same student as before and he was excellent. It was his turn to be Optician and he did a great job and, I am sure, doesn't realise how much he and his fellow students helped and added to the success of our drops. Pictures were taken,

the area tidied up  and soon we were waving good bye and heading down the road.

Anthony and I broached the possibility of stopping for lunch with our student and translator as our guests and John seemed in agreement - woo hoo! (Lunch seemed to have been a mirage most days!) Our hopes were dashed when we got the call that "Alvan" had broken down and the rest of the day was devoted to returning to get Anthony's overalls, toolbox, trying to track down a filter etc etc. A dismal end to a lovely day for us, much harder still for Vanessa and Alan parked up some miles away waiting for the arrival of help. What would the teams do without the help of our very own AA man? Aided and abetted by Nibsy in this instance - but such vital skills to have on a convoy trip like this.

Our Sunday deliveries were to be in the Mitrovica area to two collective centres. This seemed a considerable distance to travel from the south west of the country to the north east but the emphasis for this trip was to be on the most needy groups so a long drive was started in heavy rain. The roads were not wonderful and in places deteriorated to absolutely awful. Craters, mud...and in one place the road was departing down the mountainside....
Hats off to John in "Sea Dog" and whoever was driving in "Men r from Mars" for their skilful driving in such horrible conditions.

We arrived at Mitrovica and met up with the area organiser for MTS. Leaving Graham and Jeff to do a delivery to a group of families at their warehouse, we set off to a collective in the centre. Here we were to deliver to 24 families who lived in very poor and cramped conditions having presumably lost their own housing during the war. Again they helped us with the unloading and distribution - despite the pouring rain and a gutter that leaked a torrential flow just near the end of the path where we were able to park the lorry! This time we had Vanessa join John and I as Anthony had gone down to sort Alvan's problems again as they had been unable to "bleed through" (excuse the technical term - means nothing to me!) the lorry when it was dark. There were moments of pleasure such as when one elderly gent, who seemed somewhat vague and lost, was fitted with a new pair of shoes and he gladly abandoned the slipper type holey ones he had had on previously. It was good to see how the younger menfolk there looked out for him and encouraged him. Time didn't allow us the chance to go into the accommodation but I would imagine it was much as other collectives had been described to me as the whole building looked in a very run down condition

Our next delivery took us up the mountains and as we drove, the snow began to fall and the drop in the temperature was noticeable. The windy road led us up to Tunneli Pare, an area John had visited before and where we were to deliver to a similar number of families in a long building where I think most lived as one family to a room. People came out on to the main street to meet us and it soon became obvious that the person in control and who had some understanding of English was a woman. This was a great surprise as invariably in Kosovo it seems that the head person or whoever does the organising is male but she did an excellent job both at ensuring the piles were fairly made and in calling the people to collect their items. We had one gentleman from the collective who climbed in with John to help with moving the boxes and, not unreasonably, to see what we had! Fun was had at the end sharing out some toys and some tennis balls much to the delight of adults and children alike. Vanessa and I stood in the rain, shivered and remarked how much colder it was - yet I was very conscious of the fact that I had on warm clothes and waterproof boots and many of those around me had skimpy tops and leaking shoes. Had they understood what we were saying, I am sure they would have said "Cold? Call this cold? Come back when its winter!" and as we drove away I was conscious yet again of the difference in our lifestyles and possessions even whilst we were in their country, let alone with all the extra "luxuries" and things we consider basic when at home.

It was sad to think this was the last drop I was going to be involved in as although some of the road crew would be doing last minute drops on the Monday, the aircrew were clearing up the warehouse before heading off to the airport for our flight home. After delivering the remaining items on our lorry into the MTS warehouse for later distribution, "Sea Dog" and "Men r from Mars" lorries and their crews set off down the rutted windy mountain roads back to Gjakove, tired but generally pleased with the days work. 

My thoughts on the trip overall? It really is amazing how so many very diverse people (many of whom are used to being "in charge" and making the decisions) manage to fit together and work well with relatively few moans and groans. Yes, there will always be those whose company you enjoy more than others and those who have something about them that irritates but the general level of teamwork and support is heartening.

The logistics of the trip both beforehand and in country are huge and it is a great credit to Chas and Steve (with Hilary's help) and Mirlinda and her colleagues from MTS that it goes as well as it does. Yes there are things that frustrate that we could all complain about but to be honest, with a few exceptions (yes John, they will be in my report!) although there are complaints, I doubt that any of us have the perfect answer as there are so many variables to affect each and every decision.

I certainly feel that it was a worthwhile trip and those that received the aid were definitely in need of it. This was the first time I had seen the logistics of the "School in a box" project so ably run by Nice Norman and Nibsy. I would love to get involved with this and, should I have the opportunity to go on a trip next year, would relish the opportunity to go on one of the school drops. Whilst the physical drops of food, clothing and bedding are still very much needed, I think there needs to be an increasing emphasis on projects like the "School in a box", the  Chicken Project at Ferizaj and the new project providing village cows that is gradually getting underway. These types of projects are a different way to give hope and will be a way forward for many.

Thank you to all who worked so hard before, during and no doubt after the trip too. It was a pleasure to spend the time with all of you, both the team members from the UK and our friends and colleagues in country.