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 | | Two of the many people displaced by the fighting. |
In June, 1999, I became CARE USA's coordinator for emergency relief in the Balkans, an area that included not only Kosovo, but Albania, Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. All these areas were considerably disrupted by the Kosovo crisis, which erupted in March 1999. I had been preparing for my assignment for some time -- reading background documents, helping to send relief experts and resources into the area, watching closely the developments on the evening news. The conflict in the former province of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the ensuing displacement of almost 1 million people had filled the headlines for months. The accounts of violence, the flux of refugees out of Kosovo and then their massive return, the tense and fragile security situation, and the overwhelming need for reconstruction assistance occupied my thoughts and directed my immediate work.
In early August -- just six weeks after the cease-fire -- I learned that for two months, I would be deployed as a member of CARE's team on the ground in the provincial capital of Pristina. At the time, the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees was well under way. NATO troops had fully occupied the territory. The United Nations was mounting a huge relief  | | Loading commodities at the CARE distribution warehouse in Ferizaj. |
effort, and the international humanitarian community was throwing its complete support into helping the people of Kosovo rebuild their shattered communities. CARE was an important participant in this effort and I was to discover in the next two months just how vital the emergency assistance programs were to the reconstruction of Kosovo and how wrenching and personal my odyssey would become.
This was a rare assignment in my CARE career; to be sent alone, away from my family, and with a strict mandate to work, work, and work. And that's what it was, continuously. As one of my Australian colleagues pointed out: "There are only so many hours of daylight left until the snow flies, and we have a huge task ahead of us…" But in spite of those obligations, I did manage to sit quietly for moments and record some thoughts, note some nuances of my surroundings, and think a bit about what was unfolding. The descriptions that follow are gleaned from my journal and notebooks kept for my work. They helped me then, are useful to me still, and serve as the basis for the virtual tour here.
Day 1
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