Vushtrri--Day 9: "News at Eleven..."

One thing I´ve learned after several trips to Kosova is the art of being flexible.  This is an absolute necessity, as plans often change and change often.  Today was one of those days.

Last evening, the plan was to leave later this morning for Vushtrri, allowing enough time to get the food parcels from one of the local markets and have them delivered to the ministry center before the families started arriving at 1:00 p.m.  There was a little change in plans, in that the local TV station had heard about our meeting with the head of the municipality two days before and wanted to do a news story on our food parcel distribution today.  Frankly, I´m getting a bit tired of being in the public eye.  I prefer to keep a low profile, and do better working behind the scenes.

The news team arrived before the grocery truck, so we had a chance to explain to them what was our purpose (to meet physical needs for the short-term) , why we were doing this (on behalf of Word NGO as a humanitarian project), who would this benefit (those truly in need, and who were pre-determined by HandiKOS), and if we had other projects planned in the future (we would continue to provide humanitarian aid through Word NGO and partner with the municipality as we are able).  The truck from the local market arrived with the food parcels, and there were plenty of hands around to do the unloading.

Funding for this was made possible from caring folks from Rochester and points beyond.  This doesn´t seem like a lot, but the recipients can make one of these boxes last for a month or more.  One by one, the families came at their appointed time.  I had a chance to talk to a few of them, and hear their stories.

• One man was so appreciative that he was selected to receive another food parcel this year, as he and his family (including an invalid son) had received a food parcel from our team last year.  This was especially helpful, given their hard winter last year.

• One young girl came alone, since her mother and older sister were too embarrassed to come to the center with her because they were so poor (plus, the TV camera was still around, which didn´t help).  The father was paralyzed and couldn´t work, and most likely the mother didn´t work outside the home, so their only assistance was a small pension from the government.  The older sister did arrive later, but only to help carry the box to their home.  I helped them carry the box into their home, and saw that these people were truly in need.  The mother was so appreciative and couldn´t stop saying "falemnderit, falemnderit" (thank you! thank you!).

• A mother came to the center with her children.  During the war, she and her husband and children were fleeing their village late at night, knowing the enemy was not far behind.  Her husband sent her and the children in one direction and he in another direction, promising to meet up further down the road.  She never saw her husband after that.  

This is life for so many here in Kosova.  Everyone has a war story to tell, and how the war impacted them directly.  So many people in this city continue to suffer physically, mentally, socially and spiritually.  Unfortunately, it takes a lot longer to repair than to destroy, and meeting physical needs is a good place to start.

The news team interviewed the first recipients of the food boxes, who said how appreciative they were to receive this and how it would benefit their families, if even for the short-term.

One gentleman came by who demanded a food parcel because he had a handicapped and felt entitled to one.  Unfortunately, he was not "on the list."  Since we purchased enough for those who met certain criteria by the HandiKOS office beforehand, one was not available for him.  Of course, he raised a ruckus, and of course, he raised a ruckus right in front of the TV camera, saying he was being denied a food box and was being starved by those who didn´t care about him.  We found out later that of course, that segment made the evening newscast.  What they failed to report that in the end, we had two boxes left over, and he actually did receive a food parcel after all.  This is the messy and difficult part of doing humanitarian work--sometimes helping hurts.

For me, this was a very sobering day.  I hope you didn´t find most of this too disturbing...but then again, maybe I do.  It´s only when we are jarred from our comfort zones and see the real world through a different lens, a different perspective, that we are spurred to action, and hopefully it´s being done for the right reasons.

I want to end this post like I ended the first post:

"Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine and injustice in the world, when He could do something about it...but I´m afraid He might ask me the same question."

Count your blessings,
Les

P.S.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!