Grassroots Relief in the Balkans Preventative measures should be taken even when it’s too late — often the easiest time to broach the subject. The territorial and nationalist wars in former Yugoslavia might have been prevented, had people taken the warning signs more seriously. But given the war, now is the time to begin repairs. In these impressions of small-scale relief efforts, energetic Dutch activist Warn Kat omits detail about the conflict, concentrating on dealing with it. By Warn Kat Zagreb, Croatia — A friend, who works here with the group Doctors Without Borders, tells me that the best way to deliver aid is to deal directly with border guards. Say “I am a doctor. Please let me help people,” and if that doesn’t work give them some money. It seems that honesty and cash are safer tools than guns for defending humanitarian aid. In fact, the only trucks these doctors ever lost were with a guarded UN convoy. If you want peace you have to pay for it. Some people talk about solving problems with armies, warships and jets. But that money could be better spent on more quiet solutions. Tireless grassroots work in Serbia, done on a shoestring budget, has helped turn many Serbians against the fighting. Perhaps given more support, these small community groups could bring about peace — they have already done well dealing with war. I know two brothers from Tulza in Bosnia who regularly take two trucks from the coast and drive like crazy with their lights off for three nights, hiding during the day, dropping off food and medicine and picking up refugees in Bosnia’s mountain towns. They take along whoever will help, like a German peace activist who spends his money on basic medicines, and goes along to distribute them. They make this trip twice a week. Cowboys like these are just a small part of the loosely connected grassroots relief efforts scattered all over the war zones. If they get caught, they have no guns, so they may lose their cargo, but at least they survive. They run their own show, making decisions as they go. It may seem wild, but it works. Such ad-hoc groups, like the French Equil Libre which drives supplies boldly in huge unarmed convoys with lots of press coverage, have no big organizations behind them. They get through because they are flexible, and because they are not part of the war. Grassroots action spreads when big organizations aren’t meeting pressing needs. I can see this all the time: the work I do at the Centar Za Mir (center for peace) and the Suncokret (or sunflower) Center in Zagreb, helps grassroots groups communicate, and connects those offering help with the people who need it. There are a thousand needs a day, and a thousand potential suppliers, but in tbe middle of war, grassroots organizers haven’t much energy left to make the right connections. Or when someone gets a good idea, they may J Page 10 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
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