Bosnian Humanitarian Projects

Tuzla 

Hrasno hillside

On Monday we went to Hrasno Village, a community that needed a better water supply.  They had no water during summer months on most days and water was only on from 6 to 10am and from 6 to 10 pm.  We had approved a spring clean capture project months ago and went to see how it was progressing.  

Barn and haystack up on top of the hill by the spring.

 We met the assistant mayor and some engineers and hiked up onto the mountain until we came to the spring.

Randy checking the pipes

We found this Lego on a remote hillside of Bosnia : what really unites us all over the world!

They had built a concrete catch basin (much like a septic tank) around the spring and, in the process of digging they had found two more springs that they had been unaware of.  So, on their own initiative they built basins around the other two springs and will also connect them into the system.

Getting the excavator up here will be a challenge!

L to R : mayor and engineer, Red Cross guy, Elder and Sister Winters; Stays in back.

They were ready to dig the trench to put the pipe in to carry the water down the hill to an existent storage tank so the town could have a steady water supply.  That is one place where your Humanitarian dollars are going.

Elder and Sister Winters resting in the shade : HOT days in Bosnia.  They are doing an awesome job!

Delicious wild blackberries are everywhere, just like in the fairy tales.

At the foot of the hill was this Muslim cemetery, a reminder of the war.  

This sign was there as well: "In honor of the victims (in) Majevica.  Our Martyrs." "Hrasno: 08.11.1998" (put up by) Kalesija 2nd Corps, VFBiH (Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina)".  Nermin's brother, only 18 yrs old at the time, was one of the martyrs. On the day Serbian forces entered their village, Nermin's dad and brother got out their guns and joined their neighbors in trying to defend their homes.  His brother left to scout out what was going on. He never came back; his body was never found.

Next, on our way to a school, we stopped to see some greenhouses we had funded. 







All the produce - tomatoes, sweet peppers and cucumbers- are donated to the local orphanage, soup kitchen and home for the elderly.   The local agricultural school in Kalesija planted the plants and did some of the care, but they are gone in the summer months so the local Red Cross cares for the plants.

Elder Winters and Nermin

  What that really means is that the Winter's excellent translator, Nermin Hujsejnovic, who works part time for the Red Cross, HANDWATERS all the plants in the two greenhouses! 

View from the greenhouses.

Our next stop was lunch.  



We had several traditional foods, including shopka salad, made with those tomatoes, sweet peppers and cukes - and topped with a lot of grated mild semi-soft cheese, and Bosnian chevapcici, mixed meats formed like sausages and served with potatoes and in or with pita bread.  Golash is also available at every restaurant.

I also did some shopping: 3/4 of the building the restaurant was in was a store a lot like a Ben Franklin or Woolworth: some of just about everything.  Since Bosnia is mostly Muslim and we were there during Ramadan, I bought a prayer rug.

Mosques are as common as churches in Ohio

Then we traveled to a hilltop school in Sapna. 

View from the school (left)

 Nice building, full of light and color and the staff who were there to meet and talk with us were obviously interested in creating a pleasant learning environment for the kids. 

Just one problem: the bathrooms - squat toilets - had been plumbed cheaply without P-traps to keep sewer gases and smells from leaking back up. The smell was so bad they had to close the kitchen - which was next door - and have the kids eat in their classrooms.



The Church has offered to replumb the toilets to remove the smell.  Everyone is happy.


That evening, the Winters took us to dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking a large lake.