Nachricht Nummer : 152 Übertragungszeit : 4 min 43 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ZER.sub.org Betrifft : Zagreb Diary 12 June, 1993 Erstellungsdatum : 14.06.1993 07:09:00 S+2 Realname: Wam Kat Zagreb Diary 12 June, 1993 Dobar dan, Today I have been abroad, the last time is already at least 6 months maybe even more ago, together with two Dutch journalist I went to Slovenia. They are planning to go to Bihac and needed to rent a car, somebody told them that it is not such a good idea to drive around in the Krajina region, which you have to pass if you go from Zagreb to Bihac, with a car with Croatian numberplates, but that Slovenian numberplates are considered as being rather neutral. And indeed Slovenia is not really a party in this war anymore since their 10 day war nearly 2 years ago. So I went with them to show the way from Ljubljana to Savudrija, since like all journalists, Caroline wanted to see at least one Muslims refugee camp, she already visit a Croats refugee centre, hotel Lagoon in Zagreb, where there are displaced people from Vukovar. And since Savudrija is still one of the biggest, only Gasinci is bigger, this was a nice opportunity to combine all kind of things, I had to see Savudrija anyway and bring some stuff down there, we could have a nice talk on the way and Teun could make his photo's. We arrived early in Ljubljana, and started to hunt for a car, a totally disinterested women at the take in the tourist office showed us, after she finished some rather important work (the newspaper), which took about 10 minutes and a part of our nerves, a rent-a-car in the Kompas hotel (Kompas is the state tourist organisation from Slovenia, which had tourist centres all over former Yugoslavia (most of them now taken over by the new governments), they owned f.e. also the bungalow park in Medjugorje, which is now been used by the Spanish UNPROFOR, who rent it from HVO). In the Kompas Hotel we had to wait at least 20 minutes before the one who is responsible for the car renting appeared, and the only thing he could give us was the address of the next rent-a-car service. Caroline went there, I went back into the Kompas hotel in order to change some money and Teun looked for a place we could have coffee. The exchange rate was about 7000 Tolar for 100 DEM, which shows that the Slovenes don't have much inflation, since a year ago it wasn't much different, but at that moment you could get one Tolar for two Croatian Dinar, if you could buy Tolars with Croatian Dinar, you should pay now at least 25 of them for one Tolar. They have however beautiful money in Slovenia, when we where drinking, no coffee available (something un imaginable in a pub in Croatia), I mentioned that I remind me on the Dutch money. Caroline reacted that that wasn't a big wonder since it has been designed by the same Dutch guy which designed the Dutch money. She met him about in '91 when she was here during the Slovenian war, at that moment he was in the middle of a political discussion with the Slovenian parliament, since of course all kind of symbols and persons he used were not expectable. Anyway it looks he managed to solve all problems and is responsible for really fantastic banknotes. In order to make a long story short, the fourth rent-a-car service could rent us a car of we showed that we were really desperate, and an one hour later we stood with an over heated motor between the two border posts at the famous border of Boje, the Slovenes said the Croats took 50 more meters Slovenia than was rightfully theirs, the river there is the border and the river replace his stream a little up north in the last 40 years. I am glad that the Croats took that 50 meters, since if they hadn't we had to push the car 50 meter more and in that case up hill. The motor was overheated since we in the middle of a traffic jam, full with Hungarian, Techian, Slovakian (the both of them still with the old CS stickers on their trabants, wartburgers, old skodas and huge buses), German, Italian and Slovenian people on their way to cheap holiday places in Istria, further in Istria we saw a lot more Tech buses full of happy people, holiday in the sun on the sea, without driving all the way to the black sea as they use to do. After we passed the containers of the Croatian border post we started the motor again and had no problems with the motor again, we joked saying that if that happens in Krajina they should phone the renting service in Ljubljana and tell that they were lost, since we rented the car for driving in Slovenia and Austria, you hardly can tell that you are going into the warzone with it, nobody would rent you a car, only a tank if they had it. Savudrija was a beautiful as always in the summer, the tents (most of them are brought to Gasinci) and the mud is gone now and it has again that look of a giant holiday camp. The SunCokret activities are going fantastic, they hardly don't need any foreign volunteers anymore, since most of the work is now organised by the people in the camp themselves. All over the place you saw people on the bikes, which the German brought, and which were repaired in no-time. And further in and around most of the cabins you see chairs, tables and other wood work, which were made in the carpenter workshop. Chelsea, the co-leader responsible for this success, showed us full pride all the different SunCokret activities. In the sewing workshop a dozen or more women were busy to make short pants for all the people in the camp, the school was closed, since it was Saturday, but the sport activities went on, outside one of the television cabin a chess competition took place and in front of the SunCokret office (a colourful painted bus, which is a gift from Terre des hommes) girls were practising for the dancing contest, which will take place in two weeks. We look how the raft was brought to the swimming pool in sea (they have put ropes and warning signs for the boats around it). Chelsea is by far the most known person in the camp, you have the feeling that even the babies are greeting her and every where she introduced me as the founder of SunCokret, what of course led to big Hvala and Allah bless you reactions. With one of the local SunCokret volunteers (there are about 50 now, who are all very proud on their new status) we visit the cabin, which is the mosque, but really explaining how many people there are coming there he couldn't since he never ever went there himself at the praying hours, but it can't be many since inside the cabin there is maybe place for 25 persons and outside maybe the same amount more. There are now a little bit more than 2000 refugees in Savudrija, last week they closed down one of the hotels nearby in which most of the invalids were settled, they are brought to the camp and from the camp about 300 refugees are brought to Gasinci. Most people really protested when they had to go, they rather would have liked to go back to BiH, even now, than to Gasinci, were they are ending up in tents again. The SunCokret volunteers had the nasty job to accompany the buses to Gasinci in order to keep the children busy during the long drive. Teun took a picture from one of the man who lost his both hands, but when we asked that person later how it happened he told us that it happened before the war in a factory, he was the only invalid in the camp, who wasn't invalid because of grenades and landmine, like the others without hands and legs. Bok I Mir from Zagreb, Wam ------------------------------------------------------ Zagreb Diary can be found on a lot of different electronic networks, it is copyright free and can be ported to any network or other means of communication you like, but please drop my a line, you can reach by sending a message to wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de or wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org. Zagreb Diary is dedicated to Tyche, Pjort and Rik, so that they found out what there father have been doing all that time in Zagreb. Financial support for Grassroot relief work in Croatia or BiH can be send to Kollektief Rampenplan (atn. Lylette, Postbox 780, 6130 AN Sittard, Netherlands, tel:. +31-46-524803 and fax: +31-46-516460 or to Zagrebacka Banka, Zagreb, accountnr.: 2440291594, to Kat, Pieter Jan Herman Fredrik, Brace Domany 6 6fl nr3, 41000 Zagreb. Please notify me if you send or have send any donations. ## CrossPoint v2.1 ##