Activism

Keeping tabs on Kosovo

by Mike Miliard

It's cold out there. But with "1-877-JOE-4-OIL" ads blanketing billboards and the Massachusetts congressional delegation helping to release federal emergency funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, at least it's clear that people are working to keep Bay Staters warm. Other places aren't so lucky. In Kosovo, the brutal winter has compounded the problems brought by the recent conflicts, and most homes and schools are being heated only a few hours each day.

"It's as if they've suffered the worst case of Y2K," says Glen Ruga, director of Boston-based Friends of Bosnia, who has just returned from the region. Most of the heat in urban centers such as Pristina is provided by electricity, and years of Serb neglect have left the area's two major power plants barely functioning. Says Ruga: "Basically, the entire infrastructure of Kosovo needs to be re-created. For good or bad, Yugoslavia and Serbia provided all the services in the region up to now." So the international community, specifically the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), has taken on the responsibility of running the region's utilities.

With UNMIK working to restore heat and power, Ruga has just announced an aid drive, his sixth to the region since 1993, to provide medical equipment for a hospital in the town of Glogovc. "Many of the hospital's supplies were destroyed or stolen by the Serbs before they left," he says. Specifically, because of the voltage differences between Europe and the US, Friends of Bosnia is looking for non-electric equipment. Computers, because of their built-in converters, are an exception. Also, says Ruga, "a key need right now is donated warehouse space within the city of Boston."

Friends of Bosnia will hold two meetings at the Arlington Street Church in the coming weeks. The first, on February 10, will feature a slide show from Ruga's recent trip to Kosovo. The second, on February 17, will be for people interested in helping with the aid drive. Both are at 7:30 p.m. "There isn't a lot of information about the Balkans in the media these days," Ruga says. "It's Friends of Bosnia's mission to educate people about the situation there."

For more information, contact Friends of Bosnia at (617) 424-6906 or visit http://www.crocker.com/~fob.