St Andrew's and Kosova

Where is Kosova?

The following map shows the position of Kosova (coloured red) relative to the Adriatic, Albania and the other Balkan states.

It is a very small country with a population of about 2 million and an area of just under 11,000 square kilometres (a bit larger than Yorkshire). 90% of the population is ethnic Albanian. In addition to the Albanian majority, there are minority groups of Turks, Serbs, Roma (Gypsy), Bosniaks and Gorani. The predominant religion is Islam, although only a minority actively practice their religion. Click on the following map to see the country in more detail.

Background

The Balkans have a history of ethnic tension stretching back hundreds of years. These tensions continued during and after the Second World War as some ethnic groups collaborated with the German occupation, while other groups joined the partisans. When the war ended and Marshall Tito took over, many old scores were settled and there were some appalling massacres. Tito was himself of mixed parentage, with a Croatian father and Slovenian mother, and his ambition was to build a united Yugoslavia with equal citizenship for all ethnic groups, with regions like Kosova having a significant degree of autonomy. This he succeeded in doing, and he held the country together, partly with an iron fist, but also by his strength of character and charisma, until his death in 1980.

When Milosovič came to power, he maintained that Kosova had always been part of Serbia and that it should continue to be so. (Actually a very weak claim, since prior to 1913 Kosova had been part of the old Ottoman Empire). Martial law was declared in 1991, there was vigorous opposition and there were a number of atrocities committed by the Serbs. As a result NATO intervened and in 1999 the Serbian armed forces were driven out of Kosova, although it continued to be administered as a Serbian province from Belgrade.

On 17th February 2008 Kosova formally declared its independence. This move was supported by Britain, France and Germany, but opposed by former eastern bloc countries, by Spain and by some others. Since the declaration of independence we use the Albanian spelling Kosova rather than the Serbian spelling of Kosovo, but the old spelling will persist in many places (including the above map!)

St Andrew's involvement

Kosova is a poor country and years of fighting had seriously damaged the infrastructure. As a result of his experience in Bosnia, one of our members was asked in August 1999, immediately following the Serb withdrawal, to accompany Roger Casale MP to Kosova to advise on the provision of aid. Following this visit ‘LASEDAK’ (London and South-East Direct Aid to Kosova) was set up to work in conjunction with Edinburgh Direct Aid in assessing and meeting reconstruction needs. After helping to meet immediate needs for food, clothing and ‘winterisation’ of property, LASEDAK focused its attention on education, raising over £140,000 in cash as well as gifts in kind to repair, equip and build schools.

St. Andrew’s Youth (SAY) raised funds by car-washing, coffee mornings and various other means to pay for the lighting in the school built in Krasmirofc and to buy books and a computer for schools in Kopiliq and Gjakova, including a school for Roma children. They also acquired pen friends (or rather ‘email friends’) in these schools.

The relationship has continued, and in 2007 a group of five teenagers visited England with two of their teachers. They stayed with their hosts' families, spent two days touring London, and rounded off their visit with a Beetle Drive and a fish and chip supper in Church Gate House Centre. (We felt it important to expose our visitors to the finer points of British culture.)

2008 Visit to Kosova

In March a party of 18 people from St Andrew's and from Esher Rotary Club paid a return trip to Gjakova in Kosova. We were very generously treated by our hosts and we were shown a number of local projects.
Click on any of the following pictures to see an enlargement

Our first visit was to a site near Skenderaj where 52 members of the family of Adem Jashari had been massacred by the Serbs. The victims had ranged in age from over 80 down to 6. Just one little girl survived by hiding under a low table. This picture shows the 52 graves, which now constitute a war memorial.

In the next picture we see the two houses in which the extended family lived, heavily pock-marked with bullet holes and also preserved as a national monument.

One project with which St Andrew's has been involved was the refurbishment of a "dormitory" in Gjakova (we would probably prefer to call it a student hostel). This building, which dates from the 1940s had fallen into severe disrepair during the Serbian occupation, but it is now being brought back into use largely with Italian help. A donation of £1500 from St Andrew's, augmented by a further £400 from Esher Rotary Club, has provided two commercial-size cooking stoves for the student restaurant. The new stoves are shown in the picture on the left, and the following pictures show the current decrepit state of the kitchen and the existing equipment.

  

Out of date equipment and rotting woodwork

Another project that we visited was a nursery/kindergarten in Gjakova, for which St Andrew's had provided the small chairs. Here the little children entertained us (unseasonally) by singing a version of "Jingle Bells", in Albanian. We were very impressed by the loving care with which all the children were treated.

  

St Andrew's has also supported Roma (Gypsy) children by providing clothes and computers. A brief visit was paid to the Roma camp just outside Gjakova, where our Bethan was immediately seized by two old friends.