CRY Christian charity assists Kosovan refugees

CRY KOSOVA

HISTORICAL REPORT ONLY
The CRY Kosovo Appeal was launched in early April 1999 when we heard that there were then 5000 Kosovar refugees in the Elbasan area of Albania. Our aim was to collect both aid items and money to help these refugees, working in conjunction with Mission Joshua in Elbasan, a church we knew very well, led by a British couple Nick and Sar Wakeley from Fareham.

The church was already in contact with the Kosovar refugees, having immediately volunteered to help run centres set up by the Elbasan City Council. They were able to provide us with an accurate assessment of the items of aid most urgently required which we set about collecting.

These included: blankets, sheets, clothes, shoes, beds, tents, nappies, towels, sanitary towels, medicines, hygiene products, disinfectant, Savlon, children's paracetemol, Calpol, dried baby food, other dried foods, sugar, flour, oil, rice, pasta etc.

LOCAL SUPPORT
Striking yellow on black posters were printed, free of charge, and very quickly, by Technart, of Southampton. Local churches in the Southampton area were also contacted. Hedge End Community Church (now known as Kings Church) members began spreading the word to local schools, their places of work, friends in other voluntary organisations, business contacts etc. The CRY charity shops advertised the venture and soon things began to mushroom. We received the support of Hedge End Town Council. Various local newspapers including The Portsmouth Journal and The Winchester Way ran articles on the Appeal and covered the story over several weeks.

Kosovo

LOGISTICS
The small CRY staff began to work overtime in order to deal with the hundreds of calls that began to come in daily. The church opened up its unfinished new building to initially gather, sort, pack and label donated items in its large hall area. Church members worked night after night, often 30 to 40 people for several hours. National Packaging Southampton, Eurographics Romsey and Abbey Polythene Botley donated over 1000 large cardboard boxes which were all tightly packed, together with several thousand plastic bags. Pallets loaded with food, medicines, hygiene products began to arrive there, donated by companies such as J Sainsbury, Parke-Davis, Eastleigh Domestic Appliances, Amway and Manor Bakeries.

Storage space was donated, free of charge, by Applied Logistics in their massive warehouse in Hilsea, Portsmouth. The first 45 ft articulated lorry was quickly sponsored by friends and partners of Graham Richmond of Richmond Transport Ltd, a freight haulage company which had already worked with CRY in the past. It was clear that one lorry would not be enough and a second one was arranged. The plan was to load the two lorries together on 27 April. Over 80 volunteers arrived for this massive task which took from about 6.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. that Tuesday evening. Boxes were palletted and Graham Richmond, the driver of one of the lorries, operated the fork lift truck to load on this and all the subsequent occasions. The lorries drove down through France and Italy to the port of Bari, then crossed by ferry to Durres, Albania, from where it took another 5 hours drive to Elbasan. Two Hedge End church members flew down to Bari and met up with the lorries there to provide extra security. They continued with them to Elbasan where they helped unload and also did several practical tasks where assistance was requested.

The journey from Durres to Elbasan was painfully slow

We were aware that many lorries had been stuck for days in the docks at Durres because of insufficient documentation for the obstructive customs officials. In addition, many loads had been rifled through and stolen by local Mafia gangs. In close liaison with Nick and his helpers in Albania, we were kept up to date with documentation requirements which changed several times. It was a tedious and painstaking task to get this right, including manifests itemising the contents of each box and bag together with its weight and value. This required lots of ingenious guestimates and was most time consuming! The lorries thankfully (and amazingly) got through customs within hours and their loads were safely delivered to the secure warehouse in Elbasan which Nick had arranged. Distribution started immediately.

Having loaded these first two lorries, it was clear that hardly a dent had been made in the mountain of donated goods and it was still coming in. A further three 45 ft articulated trucks were loaded on the evening of Tuesday 11 May. One of these was sponsored by B & Q and another by the Community Church in Southampton. These also got through to Elbasan safely although this time it took over a day to get through Albanian customs. A further two lorries were loaded and sent on Monday 24 May - these got through very quickly and easily.

By this time, the number of Kosovar refugees in the Elbasan area had risen to 20,000+ and it was clear that the goods we had sent would be most useful. They were already being carefully distributed to some of the neediest folk imaginable, many of whom were missing out in the general large scale distribution of larger agencies.

Altogether:

Over 100 tonnes of goods were donated
7 x 45 foot articulated lorries were dispatched
The cost of each lorry was approx. £4,000
Money donated totalled over £60,000

INDIGENOUS FOLLOW UP
Shortly after the war ended, CRY's local directors in Kosovo, Tomor and Miranda Ajeti based in Pristina, administered a CRY Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme - carefully assessing individual and family needs, distributing the pension and basic aid. Providing general family support, trauma counselling and practical help. Situations were closely monitored with regular reporting back to the UK.

Opterushe village near Prizren undergoing building reconstruction

Prizren area map

Prizren/ Pristina area map

Some of the 50 or so families we supported, mostly lived in small rural / farming villages: Lajthishte, Studime, Vushtri, Dardhishte, Vushtria, Novosella, Fortesa, Duze, and Opterushe near Prizren. Most of these people, including young children and babies, witnessed horrific war atrocities and lost close friends, immediate family members and other loved ones. In many cases, their homes were completely destroyed, razed to the ground - victims of evil and systematic ethnic cleansing by the Serbs. With so many fathers/husbands killed in the war, remaining family members initially found it very hard to support themselves financially. In Kosovan culture and tradition, it is very difficult for women to find work. Local ethnic tensions still run very high.

PICTURE GALLERY

Friendly reception at Macedonia border		War damaged building in Pristina
Pristina with mosques in background		Mass war graves in Kosova
Martyn Dunsford and Nick Wakeley with KFOR mine clearance team		KFOR vehicle in Kosova
Martyn Dunsford and tanks in Pristina		Kosovan refugee camp - Elbasan, Albania

These were just a few of the many traumatised ethnic Albanian families we were able to help after the war - "The massacre that forced the West to act". The systematic targeting of the "battle-age" male population for mass execution, detention, and torture - CIAONet.org

Gllareva family		Gerxhaliu family
Islami family		Kabashi family
Kabashi family with Tomor and Miranda		Pllana family
Uka family		Grajcevci family

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Richmond Transport Ltd, Horndean, Nr. Portsmouth.
Graham Richmond not only obtained sponsorship to cover the transport costs of the first load to Elbasan (Graham also drove) but also collected the larger loads of donated goods for us. He also allowed his depot to be used as a drop off point, helped with loading and also provided a huge amount of transport advice - a real star! www.richmondtransport.com Tel: (023) 9259 1330.

Applied Logistics Ltd, Hilsea, Nr. Portsmouth.
Applied Logistics provided a massive amount of free storage space at their Hilsea depot, provided free labour to help with sorting and loading, allowed us to use their fork lift truck and dealt with numerous phone calls and visitors.

ALSO THANKS TO:
B&Q plc - sponsored transport costs for one complete 45' load
R. Francis Transport Ltd - provided free drivers for his load to Elbasan
Manor Bakeries, Eastleigh - supplied free flour, etc
Pitters Commercials, Southampton - free use of vehicle for local aid transportation
J Sainsbury (Basingstoke) - supplied pallet loads of food items free of charge
Effast (UK) Ltd, Totton - free local aid transport
Eurographics, Romsey - free packing boxes
Colour Processing Laboratories Ltd (CPL), Chandlers Ford - free film processing
National Packaging, Southampton - free packing boxes
Abbey Polythene, Botley - free polythene sacks
Harbour Shipping - free Frejus tunnel passes and forwarded on driver paperwork
Technart Ltd, Southampton - free printing of appeal posters
P&O Ferries - supplied free channel crossing ticket
Eastleigh Domestic Appliances - supplied two free washing machines and dryer
The Master Copy, Hedge End - supplied some free photocopying
Freelance Driving Services (IOW) - supplied free driver to Elbasan
Willowmede House, Hedge End - supplied some free cardboard boxes
Parke-Davis, Pontypool - supplied childrens medicines
Martins Commercials, Portsmouth - financial contribution
Jordans Toolmakers Ltd, Horndean - financial contribution
Amway - supplied vitamins and food supplements
Chris Allaway - supplied medical equipment
Abundant Life Ministries, Wickford, Essex - financial contribution

Christian Churches
King's Community Church, Hedge End
Winchester Family Church
The Parish of St Peter's Titchfield, Lee On Solent
Fareham Community Church
Southampton Christian Fellowship
Southampton Community Church
Sidcup Community Church
City Gate Church, Southampton
Hook New Covenant Church
United Reformed Church, Hedge End
Swanmore Methodist Church
Talbot Community Church, Bournemouth
Thurrock Community Church, Essex
New Frontiers International
Kings Church Uckfield
Beacon Church, Camberley
Citygate Church, Newcastle
St Nicholas Church, Bedhampton
Kings Church, Ringwood
Vine Christian Fellowship, Poole
Abundant Life Ministries
Kings Church, Haywards Heath
Alton Evangelical Church
Emmanuel Church, Winchester
Stoke Road Baptist Church, Gosport

Schools
Berrywood Primary School, Hedge End
Wildern School, Hedge End
Barncroft Way First School, Leigh Park
Bitterne C of E Infant School
Warblington School, Havant
Titchfield Primary School
Crofton School
Henry Cort School
Princes Mead School, Winchester
Wyvern Community School, Fair Oak

Banks
Barclays Bank plc, Hedge End

Media Support
The Winchester Way
The Portsmouth and Southsea Journal
BBC Radio Solent
Ocean FM
Southern Evening Echo

Hospitals
Royal Hampshire County Hospital - Support from Laundry textile services, Breast Screening, Housekeeping residencies, Occupational Health, Post Room, and other departments

Charities
CRY Charity Shops
CRY JERSEY
Ichthus Charity, Rumbridge Street, Totton
Southampton City Mission
Portsmouth Dog Rescue

Local Councils and Parishes
Hedge End Town Council
Upham Parish Community