Nachricht Nummer : 453 Übertragungszeit : 3 min 36 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.zer.de (Wam) Betrifft : Zagreb Diary on 22 March, 1994 Kopienempfänger : /REG/NEWS/DIARY/WAM, /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN, /SOC/CULTURE/BOSNA-HERZGVNA, /SOC/CULTURE/CROATIA, /SOC/CULTURE/YUGOSLAVIA Erstellungsdatum : 22.03.1994 16:02:00 W+1 Zagreb Diary 22 March, 1994 Dobar dan, I am sitting in one of the "schools" on the "other side" of Pakrac, this is the building which use to be one of the supermarkets of the "Buducnost" (future) company, which had about 36 supermarkets in this area. In the corner the wood stove is burning and although it is rather not so warm outside the temperature in the room is okay, but I am not envy the children who has been here during the winter, since I hardly can imagine that the stove was able to heat up the whole place. The "classroom" looks better than last summer, there are now at least 3 lights working and tables for most of the children, last year some of the kids had to sit on wooden boxes instead. But the school furniture is not particular the newest equipment, it probably has been laying in some basement for year until somebody dig it up to be used again. The room is about 10 by 6 meters and must host normally about 48 children. In this building there are 3 of this room, from which only two have windows. All in all around 120 kids go to this place and some days ago the teachers of this schools got their first payments in 5 months, each of them got 20 Dinar, that is about the same as 20 DEM at the moment. This morning we brought a small keyboard, cheap synthesiser to the school, their first musical instrument for the 480 kids who are getting their primary education here. Over the last weeks the volunteers have been bringing more and more to this schools, the most elementary things like pencils, notebooks, study books, paper was missing already since the beginning. Of course UNICEF (the electronic clock above the blackboard has their name on it) and UNHCR have been doing their part as well, but for some or another reason it never worked out totally as it should be. The kids maybe eat notebooks, or what ever, but when we came there never was enough material to really do some teaching. Lynette is teaching english in this and the other buildings and some of the Austrian volunteers are doing the German lessons. Thanks to friends all over the world we receive most of the time enough material to be able to give the school their basic needs when the teachers really don't know anymore how they have to continue. But my biggest hope is that one of the coming months we will be able to build with their fathers and mothers a real school (if needed from wood) for them, or even better, that they are able to go to the school on the "other side", where they use to go and their teachers use to teach. Last summer that sounded realistic, the last winter that was further away than ever since the war stopped, now with the new wind in the air, who knows. At this moment there are about 50 kids in the room, the two new volunteers from Beograd and Stephan from Poland are playing with them. Every time when I see this happening I am surprised again. This kids, who have been going to some rough periods and from whom most of them stayed here during the war. And who are now living under situations we haven't been seeing in my country since the beginning of this century, suddenly change from a wild screaming bunch in to small little mouse's. A small guy dressed up in clothes his mother or grand mother has made out of the uniform of his father and on his black half long hair a huge camouflage cowboy hat, with a giant sheriff star on it, in his jacket pocket a package of cigarettes (although he is probably only 10 years old), is colouring a picture in a children colouring book, his tongue follows the movements of his hands and he is full concentrated in his doing. Just a hour ago I saw the same guy together with some older men from the red barrettes standing in front of the bar (just on the upperside of the school). That moment he was a little warrior, now he looks like my oldest son. If you look at this kids you hardly can imagine what they must have seen in the last two years. But some days ago I read translations from theirs stories and poems, the school has made a kind of book from their experiences in the last years. I know that the small girl which is sitting near the door has lost her parents and is now living with her grandparents. She saw it happening, their house was hit by a small rocket during the night and both parents where in the sleeping room, when the grenade came in through the window. She heard it and went into the room and saw what has happened. That happened when the family was still living on the "other side" (seen from here), the projectile probably has been fired from what is now "this side". Some way or another the grandparents were able to get out of the town later and ended up on "this side", the rest of family and her sisters are somewhere at "the other side". It is just a story, not to say that most children went through simular experiences, but their must be a few more among them. But how hard this experiences maybe may sounds the "war" is by far not over for them. In front of their school is the pub were most of the militia men are sitting and drinking all the time. They can't leave their town and from up here they see their "former" friends playing at the "other side". Mir from somewhere in Hrvatska, 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.ztn.zer.de . 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 (postbox 33), 41000 Zagreb. Please notify me if you send or have send any donations. Old numbers can be found by sending a message's with as subject "FILES" to pakrac.info@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.zer.de, to order a file send a message with subject "SEND " to same address. ## CrossPoint v2.93 ##