Refugees planting hope in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mennonite Central Committee
Friday, 6 April 2001

SARAJEVO -- Refugees are returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina after being forced from their homes during the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian war. Signs of their return are evident: vegetables and flowers grow in gardens, yards are free of debris, farm animals roam the fields. With help from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Church World Service (CWS) some of the country's 700,000 displaced people are revitalizing their pre-war farms. But for most returnees, empty fields and homes coupled with few employment opportunities mean their return is only a first step on the long road to a normal life.

People in the small village of Lokve, 120 kilometers (74 miles) south of Sarajevo, once had many farm animals, large garden plots and vineyard. They sold goods to much of the former Yugoslavia.

"This area of Bosnia and Herzegovina can grow almost anything; this is a true Mediterranean climate," Zulfo Rahic, of Lokve, says proudly. "We have three growing seasons outside and also greenhouses. We could provide food for all of Bosnia and Herzegovina if we had a chance!"

Lokve is located near Mostar, an area that saw heavy fighting during the war. Now Serb (mostly Orthodox Christian) and Bosnian Muslim refugees are coming home to live side by side again with Croats, who are predominantly Catholic.

As Lokve's people learn to live in peaceful co-existence, MCC and CWS are helping them rebuild their lives by supplying necessary seeds and machinery. To date, 10,000 kilograms (22,000 pounds) of potatoes and 500 kilograms (11,000 pounds) of onions, along with rotor tillers, water pumps, backpack sprayers and fertilizer have been distributed.

Over the next two years, the beneficiaries in Lokve will give a percentage of their crops to a local soup kitchen as part of a repayment program. The soup kitchen is for all community members registered as living below the poverty line, a group that includes invalids, war veterans, the elderly and large families with little means of income.

"I am happy to be back in my home again," says farmer Ramiz Zaklan. "In Mostar, where I was living as a refugee, I couldn't do anything. Here I won't go hungry. Thanks to this equipment, I can work in the fields and grow crops."

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org