........... ........................................ not know where to start. Our goal was to help get things going. We listen to needs and send requests to organizations, individuals, and governments, by fax, phone, letter, computer networks and the media. When we tell people what’s needed right now, the response is immediate. I think no big centralized organization could do this. The other day we asked for some supplies for the Sarajevo hospital, and within 24 hours we got a call from Finland: “we started a campaign with the information you sent and we have three truckloads to send to you.’’ We also get many surprises, like the truck full of chocolate a German factory donated for children in refugee camps; or the Berliners who brought tools, parts and refurbished bikes to refugee kids so they could set up a bike rent/repair center. All through Europe people want to help. For example from my country, the Netherlands, we get calls all the time: construction groups offering to build shelters and schools, neighborhoods collecting money for medicine, cities wanting to adopt a building project in a sister city, people offering their homes to refugees. All this is wonderful, but it takes a great deal of time and energy to coordinate such things. So we have volunteers. Many, like me, are foreign and have a hard time adjusting to the guns, soldiers, refugees and horrible stories, though Zagreb is relatively peaceful. Volunteers must bring their own resources, because we have no budget. But there is a freedom for people who come to work here in ex- Yugoslavia, with loads of enthusiasm and ideas for all kinds of projects. When they come with great suggestions, we say -—n Li f terrific, do it! Despite everything this is really the land of a thousand possibilities. Without the local volunteers and organizers, nothing would get done. Not all Croats support the war. This is true too in Serbia, Slovenia, etc. and of course in Bosnia- Herzegovina. You can find projects, centers and volunteers everywhere. With their help we avoid most laws: we would have accomplished maybe 10% of what we’ve done if we always tried to be legal. The local people know all the backdoors and alleys of their communities. Sometimes our peace projects even get housing and materials from the military, through connections and tricks by the local activists. We help local groups put together publications, protests, meetings, raise funds, find supplies and organize workcamps. We work with many kinds of groups: women, students, workers, refugees, ex-soldiers, and on and on. We put together workcamps for helping refugee kids. We helped organize a tour of Bosnian rock musicians in refugee camps. From here a solidarity peace workgroup of 500 people went to Sarajevo without escort — the hardest part of the trip was getting over an unattended UN border barrier. The centers provide a mad, open experience. We deal with rivers of people, sometimes war tourists (who we try to turn into relief workers), reporters, and politicians. We get all kinds of volunteers: Greens, Quakers, Mennonites, Buddhists, psychologists, doctors, mediators, construction workers. One of our places can bed and feed maybe 40 guests, and we have several centers now so that we can get more work done and not just manage a hostel. People come RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Numbers Page 11
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