| Zarana Papic on Sat, 31 Jul 1999 00:42:45 +0200 |
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| Syndicate: [Fwd: Activities update: BiH Women and Kosovo] |
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Activities update
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 23:47:46 +0100
From: Selma Hadzihalilovic <selma.h@BIH.NET.BA>
Reply-To: Discussions on women in conflict zones <WICZNET@YORKU.CA>
To: WICZNET@YORKU.CA
Sarajevo, 26/07/99
Since the very beginning of the Kosovo crisis, Zene Zenema has
undertaken an active role in the political, humanitarian, and
psychosocial fields. All of our activities have been coordinated with
numerous women’s groups from all over the region. We have
succeeded in maintaining regular contacts and communication with them
throughout the entire period. The women’s networks have proven
once again that it is the only system able to respond to crisis
situations, to fulfill the urgent needs of people on the ground, to
understand and to support, and to go forward. The results of our
activities can be seen through the following report.
Report on the Activities of Zene Zenema concerning Kosovo and Sandzank
refugees
and the Kosovo Crisis.
Psychosocial Report
Since May 1999, Zene Zenema has received financial support from Kvinna
to Kvinna in order to implement psychosocial support for people living
in a transit camp around Sarajevo. The main goal of the project was to
give the strength to women so that they can control their lives for
themselves and take over the responsibilities of their families. The
process of strengthening women will not be possible without overcoming
their primary traumatic experience. Our target groups are women, girls,
and young men. Our team consists of four professionals who, once a week,
visit the transit camps in order to perform group work. Each group
project is made up of twenty members. During the work, we are faced with
different problems, as is always the case in highly visible traumatic
problems. We are also faced with many questions raised by women members
of our group on that are sometimes hard to answer. Many women express
their fear of returning to Kosovo ad Sandzak, fear for the future of
their children, their wish to go to ‘third’ countries,
economic, humanitarian, and identity problems. We often hear many tragic
stories about how these women escaped and we try to fulfill their wishes
of individual psychotherapeutic work. We helped the organization Moj
Prijatelj to organize special groups for small children. Also, we are
presently trying to involve refugee women in our different relaxation
activities, most important in these sessions is the need to treat the
women as our friends, and not a separate category of people. Every smile
on a women’s face is encouraging and the best reward for our work.
Humanitarian Activities
With the help of our numerous friends from all over the world we
succeeded in raising more than 30.000 DM in order to respond to the
direct needs of the people that we are working with. All money was
raised by our friends and supporters. We were able to buy special
medications, milk for small children and women who are breastfeeding
their babies, nutritious food, clothes, etc. With the help of our
friends from Wermsdorf, Germany we will financially support fifty
families that found refuge in private accommodations. We were also able
to work on family reunions. All of our donations are documented.
Political Activities
Zene Zenema is regularly participating in all meetings concerning the
Kosovo crisis and the support offered to the refugees. Through our email
networks with women from all over the region, we are exchanging
information on the aforementioned activities, as well as the following:
tracing people, supporting and encouraging women, and working on the
issue of reconciliation and networking throughout the region. Our
members visited Macedonia twice in order to encourage and support
women’s groups, as well as to create dialogue among women’s
groups of different national backgrounds. Our activists also plan to
visit Albania and Kosovo in the near future.
Zene Zenema, even though recognized as a women’s organization, had
many visits and requests from deserters and conscientious objectors from
many national backgrounds. We have provided them information on their
human rights and supported them to get in touch with safe houses for
deserters and conscientious objection groups in the region.
We would like to express our gratitude to all friends that helped to
support us during this period, especially to Marta Druri –USA; Uwe
D. Wernmsdorf Kirchengemeinde – Germany; Mary Green – USA;
Annie Benson – USA; Richard and Margaret Pickering – USA;
students from the University of George Town Washington D.C. – USA;
Katherine Reid - USA.
Selma Hadzihalilovic
Member of the Management Team*****************************
Zene Zenama Sarajevo
Hamdije Cemerlica 25
71 000 Sarajevo
Bosna i Hercegovina
tel/fax 00 387 71 (0) 524 353******************************
Long Live The Fellowship Of The Ring
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