UMCOR wraps up 13 years of work in Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
A UMNS file photo by Pat McNichols The
Rev. Amy Gregory of East Avenue United Methodist Church, Norwalk,
Conn., visits with village children in Gubin, Bosnia, during a 2004
mission trip.
|
The
Rev. Amy Gregory of Norwalk, Conn., visits with village children in
Gubin, Bosnia, during a mission trip to the area in 2004. After 13 years
in the country, the United Methodist Committee on Relief has officially
closed its project there. Over the years, UMCOR has staffed and funded
more than 140 projects totaling $133 million to rebuild communities,
benefiting more than 100,000 people. A UMNS file photo by Pat McNichols.
Photo #06361. Accompanies UMNS story #207. 4/11/06. |
April 11, 2006
By Linda Bloom*
STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) — After the 16th-century bridge in Mostar was destroyed
by Croatians during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Methodist Committee
on Relief oversaw construction of a temporary footbridge to reconnect the two
sides of the devastated city.
The bridge — a symbol of reunification and healing between Bosnian Croatians
and Muslims — has since been rebuilt and UMCOR, after 13 years in the
country, has officially closed its project there.
Bishop Edward Paup, UMCOR’s president, and
the Rev. Paul Dirdak, chief executive, toured some of the work areas and
took part
in closing ceremonies
there in mid-January.
United Methodists will continue to be involved in the region through volunteer
teams and financial support for projects, such as the youth houses.
The horror of a war that included ethnic cleansing
was all too evident to Paup when they visited a cemetery “that contains the bodies of thousands
of Muslim men and boys massacred by the Serbs,” he told UMCOR directors
during their April 4 meeting. The bodies were being identified and reburied,
and the cemetery is now considered a “sacred space,” he added.
The three-year war ended with the Dayton peace accords in 1995, which divided
the Balkan country into a Muslim-Croatian federation and a separate Serb republic.
Over the years, UMCOR donors, representing both church and government sources,
funded programs costing $133 million to help restore households and rebuild
communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The effort of UMCOR is not only about assisting individuals, but also
trying to provide communities that work,” Paup said.
100,000 people benefited
|
A UMNS file photo by Bill Phillips United Methodist volunteers mix concrete for living quarters and a barn in Gubin, Bosnia.
|
United
Methodist volunteers mix concrete for living quarters and a barn that
they are building for two elderly women in Gubin, Bosnia. They were part
of a team from East Avenue United Methodist Church in Norwalk, Conn.,
that made a mission trip to the area in 2004. After 13 years in the
country, the United Methodist Committee on Relief has officially closed
its project there. A UMNS file photo by Bill Phillips. Photo #06362.
Accompanies UMNS story #207. 4/11/06 |
Work began in Zenica, and the office there became
the agency’s
first permanent in-country operational office outside the United States.
Activities
included the distribution of hygiene kits and blankets and the creation of
small-scale rehabilitation projects. After the Dayton agreement, UMCOR shifted
its focus to helping displaced people return home.
“Returning people to a home without holistic support was seen as counterproductive,” noted
the 2006
Bosnia and Herzegovina Final Report. “So UMCOR support for returnees
began with housing unit and infrastructure reconstruction but moved on to income-generation
assistance to improve sustainability prospects for beneficiaries. Community
development focused on peace building and reconciliation, youth and strengthening
the viability of civil society.”
In total, UMCOR staff designed and managed 140 different programs, benefiting
both individuals and communities. An estimated 100,000 people benefited from
those programs.
For example, Sakib and Jasmina Maljisevoc and their two children were among
the minority population returning to the village of Hrastovac. Sakib received
a grant for one milking cow and 10 sheep, and the family was selected for housing
reconstruction assistance. The family repaid their grant by giving a 4-month-old
calf to another family and also gained an additional 10 lambs and a new house.
Grants also went to micro-credit organizations serving vulnerable households
in the poorest communities and to associations and cooperatives involved in
group efforts at income production.
A place for healing
Youth houses — designed to help protect children, provide a healthy
environment and increase the engagement of youth in community life — have
been an important part of UMCOR’s work in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
|
A UMNS file photo by Bill Phillips Dosta Pajcin helps United Methodist volunteers rebuild her home in Gubin, Bosnia.
|
Dosta Pajcin helps United Methodist volunteers rebuild her home in Gubin, Bosnia. Volunteers
from East Avenue United Methodist Church in Norwalk, Conn., spent nine
days working in the village during a 2004 mission trip. After 13 years
in the country, the United Methodist Committee on Relief has officially
closed its project there. Through the years, UMCOR has staffed and
funded more than 140 projects totaling $133 million to rebuild
communities, benefiting more than 100,000 people. A UMNS file photo by
Bill Phillips. Photo #06363. Accompanies UMNS story #207. 4/11/06 |
In Gornji Vakuf-UJskopolje, the youth house helped heal a community where
the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Catholic communities had fought each other across
the town center for two years. In 2003, the thriving center negotiated a 33-year
free lease from the municipality.
That youth house will host future United Methodist Volunteers in Mission,
who have worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1996 on a diverse range of
projects.
For the last three years, UMCOR has focused on
improving the sustainability of civil society organizations “by developing
their capacity to raise funds domestically rather than rely on external or
international
support.”
Major donors to UMCOR’s programs over 13
years were the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Royal Netherlands
Government,
U.S. Agency for
International Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration, Action by Churches Together International/World Council
of Churches, UMCOR and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, Office
of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance/Canadian Military Disaster Assistance Response
Team and Hilfswerk der Evangelischen Kirchen der Schweiz.
Other donors included the Swiss government, Interchurch Organization for Development
Co-operation, United States Institute of Peace, Christian Aid, Methodist Relief
and Development Fund, Conference des Eglises and the United Nations Development
Programme.
Donations to support the youth houses can be designated to UMCOR Advance No.
333640 and mailed to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Credit-card
donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
|
|