Nachricht Nummer : 260 Übertragungszeit : 3 min 40 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ZER.sub.org Betrifft : Zagreb Diary 4 September, 1993 Erstellungsdatum : 13.09.1993 10:38:00 S+2 Realname: Wam Kat Zagreb Diary 4 September, 1993 Dobar dan, Yesterday evening I spend some time whit one of those characters, who you only can find in this war area. This guy is a nearly 55 years old truck driver, who arrived here a couple of days ago with a truckload (20 tons) full of material, which he dedicated to the "other side". For some or another reason something in his papers has to be cleared and he is not allowed to move from Pakrac, his papers lays in the police station and without them he can be arrested when he drives around. He is a colourful figure, been soldiers in the UK army, a kind of protection agents for Arabian oil people and half his body seems to be replace with metal, at least when he walk you hear him moving him iron bones in his leg. This is his 9th tour to Croatia since Christmas last year, some church father in his home town asked him last year to bring a load of Christmas presents to Lipik and since then he is hooked on it. Now he is running his own relief organisation, every time he comes back he makes the local and national newspapers and radio and that's the way he collect enough materials and money to make another tour. Talking on I realise that he is responsible for the "Ghostbuster" cans and the other conserves stuff from the UK, which our volunteers are eating now for months. After 5 loads to Pakrac and Lipik (and a few to Dubrovnik) he wants now to go over the checkpoint and deliver the material at the "other side", suddenly it is not that easy anymore as the five time before. After driving down from the UK in 2 days he stands now already waiting for 3 days to drive the last 3 kilometres. I leave him promising that I will try to get him tomorrow at least with the front-(engine)-part of his truck over to visit the people on the "other side". When I left Djakula yesterday I promised him to try to be back this morning at 8.30 with the Red Cross people of the UK. which are involved with the rebuilding of that school in the Croatian part of Pakrac. But of course they can't be here in Pakrac before 12 o'clock. So I decided to follow Mr. Plazter, which is going to visit the officials in Okucani in order to show that they are doing there best to get Simo out of jail. I follow him high above all the normal people in the truck of this English guy, maybe this is the most powerful entrance I ever have made in the Serbian part of Pakrac. Nevertheless the fact that we had to leave all the food and material behind in the Croatian part the people stand on both sides of the road waving and shouting. Suddenly it is clear what the difference is, on this side they are not used to the truck rolling in, like at the Croatian side. They are surprised, happy and some old women come to me when I went out of the truck and kiss my hands. Unbelievable and not particular what I would have dream off. When we arrive at Djakula's home and let the horn blow I can see from the distance that the lights are back into his eyes. We talk a bit in the living room and the first glasses of rakija are been shared. We make an appointment that we go back to the Croatian part in order to find the red cross people and return with them to join the baptise ceremony from one of the friends of Djakula, he, Djakula will be the one who will held the child. At the checkpoint lives a family, who my truckdriver knows from his last trip (he went over after delivering the material on the Croatian side to see the possibilities). The people also know me, it seems that the Danas article has been spread around the town. We get coffee and of course the next rounds of rakija. Back in the Croatian part, the Red Cross officials already have left to Okucani to see the big boss of the official authorities. The two red cross officials who stayed behind in the Croatian part complain about the fact that the truck driver has put two big red crosses on his truck. The women says even that she personal will take them off if she sees him driving ones more with them. I don't say anything, but my head wonders away and in my mind I see all those red crosses on all those trucks and vans, which came to Croatia and BiH in the last year, never realised that most of them weren't allowed to use the cross. I went to a wedding and a funeral on the Croatian side of Pakrac, now I am standing in the corridor in a small Slavonian house and look into the eating room at the back of Djakula and see how he holds a small baby in his big hands and tries gently to calm it down from crying, after a while this gentle movement ends up in a kind of "roller coaster", the big guy swings the child in his arms a little rougher than I would have done, but the child stops crying and Djakula's face tells the story about his memories of his own children, who live now in Beograd, he haven't seen them since the beginning of the war. The orthodox ceremony takes about a hour and in that time we stand, with a rakija in our hands watching it all. After that it is party time, the Priest can't resist to tell the whole story of the orthodox church in this area under dinner and rakija's, but suddenly the man start to sing. The next four hours we listening and try to hum alone the dark voices around us, I am impressed by the power of the songs. When we decided that we have had food, pivo and rakija enough we jump back in the truck and at the Serbian checkpoint we see the school on the Croatian side in sea of light, they have started the rebuilding. 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 ##