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Source: Pakrac Project

"How can we expect them to love each other? Is that our goal? How do we do that? By rebuilding their homes? For me, the building work is on the outside, the rebuilding work we do is on the inside, the place that I hope we often touch but seldom see. We do the work not with our hands or tools but with our hearts and our words, which are stronger than the sledge hammer that knocks down a wall or the wheelbarrow that carries the heaviest loads."

"The work we do is the hardest of jobs, harder than any physical work. It takes longer hours, working, talking, listening and just being with people. It takes strength; not a physical strength but a strength of will to listen to hate words, to walk with one's head up past the sometimes hostile stares and to voice opinions that may be difficult for others to listen to or accept. Above all, it takes perseverance; pushing ahead even if it means with only small steps, continuing on when the goal seems so far away..."

Lynette Larsen, Social Worker and
Former Volunteer

INTERIM REPORT
January 1996 - June 1996

"If we are aware of our lifestyle,...our way of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Brief History
The Volunteer Project Pakrac has been working in the area since July 1993. The Project was initiated by Croatian peace activists from the Anti War Campaign in Zagreb and comprised of international volunteers and locals. The aims of the project were initially to work in a town thatwas divided by a cease-fire line, and to begin the peace process through activities that would start to bring normalization to the area. This has meant many hours of work on reconstruction, both physical and social. Our present work spans from the reconstruction of buildings to social reconciliation through activities, seminars, workshops, the establishment of a youth club, community visits to the elderly and disadvantaged, and ongoing training for volunteers and community members in trauma healing and conflict resolution. We are now conducting e-mail lessons, initiating a small repairs program including a Tools Library, a bi-weekly photo group, and organizing a puppet theater workshop for children. The project works on both sides of the former cease-fire line to address the population of Croatian and Serbian people divided by war. Although the normalization and peace process has not been allowed to happen at an equal rate on both sides due to the political situation, it has progressed positively and the project continues to address these issues in the area.

Due to the events of May 1st, 1995, our present work in Pakrac continues with an even stronger emphasis on the peace and reconciliation process. Although much of the physical reconstruction we were doing has lessened, (as private firms are becoming more active) our social reconstruction projects are expanding to address the current situation.

Situation in the region
After Operation "Flash" on May 1st, 1995 during which the Croatian police and the Croatian Armed Forces regained control of the whole region, the situation in Pakrac has changed dramatically. The majority of the Serbian population has left the region and is now living in exile in Serbian parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, East Slavonia and Serbia. Though a significant number of people from the Serbian community still remain and some who fled are interested in eventually returning to their homes, many of those who did not flee Pakrac directly after the action are slowly and silently leaving the area now. Actual repatriation of refugees remains difficult to implement due to the lack of normalization in Pakrac. A fear of residual ethnic discrimination remains as well as the influx of refugees of Croatian nationality from the Banja Luke region and the Vojvodina (the northern part of Serbia) who are presently "squatting" in the unclaimed houses of refugees from Pakrac. At the present time, according to the Human Rights Center, Gavrinica, approximately 900 Serbs live in the Pakrac municipality.

Although it was proclaimed by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development that the reconstruction of Western Slavonia (where Pakrac is located) is complete, work still continues in and around the town. Destroyed houses are numerous and visible, causing intense dissatisfaction on the part of the inhabitants of Pakrac. They are keenly aware of the corruption, governmental insensitivity and ethnic discrimination regarding the needs and complaints of the population.

The post-war economic infrastructure is almost non-existent in Pakrac. Even those areas that were not destroyed during the fighting are presently in the process of re-privatization with all the "usual" consequences. So, in addition to the expected effects of a post war situation, the inhabitants of Pakrac must also endure a huge unemployment rate, as well as the resultant uncertainty and bitterness regarding the lack of opportunities. For example, in February, 1996, 600 men were demobilized from certain Special Units of the Police Force. Though we considered this a positive sign of decreased tension and normalization, the economic repercussions are substantial on these families as in many cases, their sole income came from these men's salaries.

Numerous psychological problems have been noted recently. Alcoholism has become a significant problem as unemployment rises. Violence has been witnessed sporadically and appears to contain ethnic undertones. In addition, teenage pregnancies have become a more frequent occurrence in Pakrac and the surrounding areas.

The reconciliation process has not yet begun in earnest due to the enormous residual mistrust and fear in both communities. This renders our work even more important as our activities provide both discrete and overt methods of bringing members of the two communities together to play, work and dialogue.

SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION

"If we are to have peace we must begin with the children" -
Gandhi

E-mail Project
The E-mail Sub-project began its implementation in January, 1996 after a full year of preparation and fundraising. In conjunction with the Pakrac Secondary School and skilled local individuals, Volunteer Project Pakrac has provided modems and e-mail software for schools in the Western Slavonia region of Croatia and has set up a Bulletin Board System (BBS) in Pakrac itself. The e-mail lessons began with a core group of 25 students but have now grown to 55 students and 10 teachers taught during weekly classes. The interest is growing quickly and more teachers and students are showing interest in participation.

The aim of the project is to provide local youth with the opportunity and skills to contact young people from other areas of Former Yugoslavia as well as individuals from other countries around the world. By establishing open lines of communication in a neutral forum (i.e. e-mail), it was hoped that discussion would replace stereotypes and common interests would replace surface differences. If children communicate with youth from other areas of the Former Yugoslavia, they can transcend their ethnic, religious, gender related or socio-economic differences and begin the process of healing. By initiating open conferences on Music, Sports and Games, it was anticipated that youth would discover these common interests in a non-threatening way. The students discuss these themes with other students on-line and via this medium find others, regardless of their background, who share similar interests. For example, one of our students has been regularly corresponding with a student in Tuzla over the Music Conference as they both perform in bands. As evidenced by this incident, the conferences perform the function of a neutral playing field or meeting place where the children are able to disregard stereotypes and ethnic preconceptions.

By encouraging and adhering to on-line netiquette as well as providing private communication lines students feel safe to express their thoughts and feelings in a constructive way without fear of consequences. Despite initial discussions regarding the importance of on-line etiquette, the Sub-project facilitators encountered some problems during the past few months. One student in the
email classes breached the "netiquette" by sending offensive comments into a variety of conferences. This appeared to many outsiders as a negative signal of the Project's progress. However, after a meeting with the child, the email facilitators, a teacher and the Headmaster of the school, the opportunity was taken to introduce the importance of non violent and positive communication to all of the children. Directly following the incident, the facilitators organized a series of workshops on conflict resolution and non violent communication in all of the email groups.

The project's vision has been expanded recently to include youth from refugee centers. E-mail serves to break up the monotony of refugee camp life as well as provide an opportunity for the refugee youth to meet students from other areas of the country. And as it does for young people in Pakrac, this project introduces a sense of normalization to the children of the camps by showing that there is a life going on outside. The E-Mail Project is also organizing workshops to bring youth from the refugee camps to Pakrac. Pakrac students will be primarily responsible for teaching the fundamentals of e-mail to a core group of young people from the refugee centers who
will then return to the refugee centers and hold their own seminars for the other children.

In addition to the social healing aspects of e-mail, the practical side of e-mail is very important as well. The training in computer skills and the English language (as most of the outside contacts are written in English) are useful for these children as they become older and wish to seek employment either in the Former Yugoslavia or abroad. Writing letters and exchanging thoughts over e-mail
introduces these skills in an enjoyable way. The contacts that these youth can make over e-mail, especially the refugees, some of whom will resettle in other countries, are helpful in alleviating the difficulties of traveling outside the Former Yugoslavia.

As we have already received proposals from other schools inthe area, it is our hope to eventually equip 10 schools,link them to BBS Pakrac and provide training for theirstudents. Our aim to spread e-mail as an alternative form of non-violent communication within and between communities is well on its way to realization. It is our experience that by establishing contacts with people of different ethnic origins, it is possible to promote tolerance and diminish ethnic prejudices.

Youth Development Program
Youth Club
The Youth Club opened its doors to the community in 1994. In a post war region with a severely damaged economic infrastructure, there was no secure or even feasible place where young people could meet and socialize outside of bars or on the streets. The Youth Club was created to provide
such a safe space in a controlled environment to support and foster the self-support of the youth of Pakrac.

In the last six months, one of our main goals was achieved. The administration of the Youth Club has been completely taken over by the youth themselves under the supervision of a local teacher from the Pakrac Secondary School. The young people are now in charge of planning all events (some of which are still sponsored by the Project), but perhaps more importantly, the teenagers have claimed responsibility for the maintenance of the club as well as its security. During these critical formative years, it is vital for teenagers in any setting (but especially in a post-war region) to claim space as their own, over which they can exercise control.

The core group of 25 secondary school students organize and plan all the activities listed below:
open hours for table tennis, listening to music and socializing
young women's group meetings
video nights
celebration of carnival
week-end parties
celebration of the last day of school
occasional workshops

Besides the core group of 25 students, over the last six months the number of beneficiaries has increased significantly. 35 more students are regularly using the Youth Club as a place for socializing, and occasionally up to 100 people attend special gatherings. In addition, we
find that the appearance at the Youth Club of young people who are not regularly attending school is encouraging because they are usually inaccessible due to their invisibility in the community.

Transferring the responsibility of the Club over to the youth has proved to be a complete success with no negative side effects. Despite the large parties and the increased use of the club, no unfortunate incidents have taken place and the Club has never been cleaner. With this responsibility has come an increased sense of self reliance and self confidence among the youth and we feel this will accomplish great strides in rebuilding the psyches of these young people. The positive social effects of the Youth Club are apparent now after two years of implementation. This is evidenced in part by the formation of a spontaneous peer group by some of the adolescents that regularly visit the club. We continue to encourage the local teenagers in the positive usage of the Club on their own. However, we are careful not to push them into plans and activities for which they are not ready.

Musical Lessons
Music has been utilized as a successful peacebuilding tool in many different settings. Not only are the sounds of instruments such as the tamborica itself soothing, relaxing and healing in the non verbal movement through trauma, learning to play an instrument brings self confidence and self fulfillment. In addition, music is a non-violent, non- political tool, allowing children and young adults to come together to learn, play and eventually hold "jam" sessions without the need for conversations that might hold controversial topics. This process allows those involved to
become accustomed to meeting and cooperating in a gradual non-threatening way.

The concept of music lessons as a Sub-project was formed six months ago by Zlatko Skenderovic, a native speaker and accomplished tamborica player. He has already begun to hold a group lesson involving 6 individuals. This group lesson is split between individual lessons and joining already
established collective sessions with a folk ensemble. Zlatko Skenderovic is presently working on expanding the network of lessons into the Primary School. Though the headmaster in extremely interested, the school lacks sufficient funding or enough instruments. We initially had the enthusiastic verbal support of the UNOV, however during the recent changes in their office, we can no longer count on this support. We are still contacting various musical organizations for instrument donations and plan to have accumulated enough to begin lessons in the school in
September. We also plan to hold lessons on the Serbian side and have already begun the planning of this parallel endeavor.

Young Women's Group
A Young Women's group was established in Pakrac at the Secondary School in September of 1995. Volunteer Project Pakrac worked to establish this group in cooperation with the Center for Women War Victims, and a local woman who has worked previously with us and the UNOV since March 1995. We facilitated this group together and have conducted weekly meetings with approximately 10 young women between the ages of 16 to 17 years old. Attendance has been consistent and the group is therapy based. All issues involving the interests of the young women are topics of discussion. Issues range from group dynamics, trauma healing, family issues, sexuality, relationships with individuals and groups, substance use and abuse, trust and safety, and conflict resolution. By living in Pakrac, all of these young women have been directly or indirectly affected by the war, so this group is an attempt to form a support network, to strengthen these young women through connection with each other and to begin to heal through discussion and sharing.

Currently the facilitation of this group is done by women from the Center for Women War Victims and the local woman mentioned above. This is especially important as the group is conducted in the local language to establish a comfortable forum for these young women. The group has now
become self-sustaining, needing only external support from the Volunteer Project Pakrac.

The future aims for this group are to begin to train these young women to become co-facilitators and to initiate other groups on their own in Pakrac. We hope to increase the possibility for young women in the area to participate and benefit from such a support group. Eventually, it is hoped
that these groups from Pakrac will join the broadening chain of young women's groups in the Former Yugoslavia and abroad.

Puppet Theater
The Puppet Theater Project began in Pakrac in November 1995 as a non-threatening method of reintegration and reconciliation. After the military action in 1995 children from both sides of the town began attending the same schools in Pakrac. This reintegration process was very difficult for both the children and their parents to cope with after four years of living in essentially separate communities. The puppet theater acted as an important link until the time when families were more comfortable with their children working together in activities supportive of the reconciliation process. The Puppet Theater Group is designed to be entirely
dependant on the children's participation. By encouraging the children to make the puppets, construct the stage and play all the roles in the performances, it was hoped that the children's hidden self-esteem and self-confidence would surface. During the initial months of the Sub-project, it was difficult to engage children from the former Croatian side of Pakrac. However, after persuading some of the Primary School teachers of the value of such an activity, we were
finally able, through their support, to get a core group consisting of 7 children. Under the direction of two international volunteers with knowledge of the local language they prepared the production of a fairy tale called "The Flint." After immense positive feedback
following two performances of this play, we were convinced of the Sub-project's success and began to organize another group.
Two months after the first exhibition, our second group (made up of ten new children), completed the preparation of three small skits. These children then began a tour, performing in the Pakrac Kindergarten, the Youth Club in Pakrac, the Lipik Orphanage, and finished their season with a show at a refugee camp in Varazdin. During this tour, the extent of the positive effects on the children's self esteem and confidence was shown. The children conducted themselves as professionals, constructively criticizing their performances, stage and space, as well as taking over some additional roles in the performance. The youngest member acted as a capable and confident stage manager, directing where all the others should stand, indicating the change in scenery, etc. Another example was illustrated during the appearance of the group at the
Project's show time at the local radio station in Daruvar. They confidently and professionally explained the Sub-project and how their performances have been in the past but revealed their age by being completely amazed that their voices were being broadcast over the air.
As the aims of the Puppet Theater Group were to help children work out their war trauma, to allow them to express their creativity and to encourage the development of different skills as well as their self-esteem, we believe that the Sub-project has succeeded. The scripts that were performed were chosen to facilitate indirect trauma work and healing. The children acquired many new skills (e.g. puppet making, public appearance, some basic experience in non-violent communication) and developed their self-esteem (they were regarded as "actresses" in
their peer group). As many of the children are away on holiday for the summer, we plan to continue with and expand the project in the fall. We wish to continue our work on the former Croatian side and open one new group on the Serbian side (we have been unable to do so due to lack of funding and rehearsal space).

Photo Project
The aims and ideas that created the Photo Project are the same as those which eventually spawned the Puppet Theater Group. As in the Puppet Theater Group, the Photo Group provides children with the opportunity to direct and fully participate in all the component activities of the Group.
The children take, develop, and expose the photographs that they choose (though the help of the facilitators is always readily available and accessible).

The project started in 1995, first on the Serbian side of Pakrac and during this year it has expanded to the Croatian side, first in Lipik and then in Pakrac. Over last six months we have run 5 groups. The first group from Serbian side has continued to meet and work consistently and has participated in all the photo-documentary work of other events involving youth or children. This aspect of the
Group is extremely encouraging as the acceptance of these children from the Serbian side in the school and during events has been purely positive. This fact has helped their parents to slowly feel more confident regarding their children's safety on the Croatian side of Pakrac. The other four Groups consist of children from the Croatian community. The Photo Group is instrumental for all of the children as it provides them with new skills and encourages their creativity.

An additional positive aspect of the Sub-project is the ease with which the finished products of the children can be communicated to the outside world. By illustrating Pakrac through the eyes of its children, a powerful commentary on life in a post war zone is created. To date, two small story books of photographs have been made and exchanged with children from France.

Unfortunately, one of the Group members (15 years old) committed suicide in March. He was in our group for only one month, during which time the facilitators did not observe anything strange or self destructive in his behavior. Responding to the tragedy, the Group came together to grieve. Our facilitators provided safe space for the children in which they were able to mourn his death
together. During this time, the children searched through all of the negatives and selected all of those that their friend had taken to develop and create a photo memorial to him.

The Photo Group overall photo exhibition was organized during UN designated Family Day (on the 15th of May). It was a smashing success, providing an opprtunity for the community to see the visible and poetic results of their children's work. The exhibition was later moved to the Primary School, and it seems that we opened the season of photo exhibitions. Directly after our presentation, the Secondary School Photo Group (unconnected with our project) had its own seven day exhibition on the streets of Pakrac and even the police station had its own photo exhibit (14
days after ours).

As the interest in our Photo Group continues to be overwhelming, we plan to continue expanding the program. We still believe that our goal of reconciliation can be encouraged through work with the younger generation in Pakrac and the surrounding areas. Though it may be gradual and not always smooth, progress must be encouraged slowly as evidenced by the following example. When we attempted to integrate the two Groups for a day, the Croatian children refused to walk and take pictures together with the Serbian Group. Although in this instance integration was not
possible, we will continue to periodically suggest such activities to the children in the hopes that eventually the children will choose at their own pace to reintegrate.

Community Visits
The Community Visits Sub-project was begun in April, 1993 with the aim of helping disadvantaged individuals in Pakrac. Two Pakrac volunteers started to work in cooperation with
the municipal social services, and received a list of people in need. The first beneficiaries were mostly older, needing either some small repairs or physical help. The volunteers initially visited 30 families, 10 of them regularly, keeping the number of beneficiaries low in order to work in depth
rather than having an overwhelming number of superficial contacts.

After a short time this Sub-project involved short term volunteers (STV's) in some visits. This strategy fulfilled the dual goal of bringing the families in contact with different people, as well as providing an opportunity for the STV's to be in closer contact with people in the community. The possibility for locals to retell their experiences to new people was very important at this time, due to the high level of personal psychological trauma in the community. This opportunity was more important than continuity of volunteers or language fluency. We are also organizing the involvement of local youth in the Sub-project as we hope to facilitate the creation of stronger links
within the communities and hopefully initiate cross-ethnic visits.

From its inception, the idea of Community Visits was not to provide the services of the Croatian Social Service. It was rather to fill the cracks left in their work by bringing help to those in the greatest need. Over a period of time, as normalization progressed in the Pakrac region, the main
goal has broadened towards more in-depth work on reconciliation. We are working towards this end by offering support to individuals and families in the hope of eventually building bridges of communication over which we can introduce alternative ideas and methods of conflict resolution.

The Community Visits Program is designed to alleviate much of the loneliness and isolation of many elderly individuals and families in the area, to provide basic medical advice, home repairs, as well as to introduce them to new ideas and differences. The ethnic breakdown of the beneficiaries is approximately 50% Serbian and 50% Croatian at this time. The majority of the beneficiaries are elderly without regular contact with relatives or friends, while 20% are younger people with children (many are young mothers who need basic prenatal and postnatal training). Our estimation
of the number of families regularly visited is 20 (once in a fortnight) and 15 other families (visited less frequently). Cumulatively the Project has visited 63 families since its
inception. The visits are presently conducted by our Community Visit Program Director, Zdenka Grlica, but our short term and long term volunteers also participate on a regular basis.

It is helpful to all of our Community Visit Program goals that we now have Zdenka Grlica as our Program Director. As she is a local Serbian woman with ties in the community, she is instrumental in influencing attitudes and gently challenging nationalist attitudes and hatreds. It is this intimate contact for the Croatian people that helps in their view that not all Serbians are the enemy and it also reinforces her credibility that she does not exclusively visit Serbian individuals. And, because of her ties to the Serbian community and the work she does within that sphere, her words and ideas regarding the Croatians have gained credibility.

In addition to her extensive interpersonal skills, Zdenka Grlica is a trained nurse. Though this is not the emphasis of our program, this allows her to offer medical support to the beneficiaries of the Community Visits Program. In some cases this medical care is too expensive or too difficult to
receive here in Pakrac. In many cases it is very basic advice that reassures the anxieties of the beneficiaries and in others it is very important training for young mothers who would otherwise not have useful information on how to effectively care for their infants.

The Sub-project's success is illustrated by the desire on the part of the beneficiaries for more frequent visits. Due to this response, we hope to hire an additional Community Visits worker.

Publications
The Project has sporadically published two different newsletters during its three year history. Volunteers Information Pakrac (VIP), the more consistent of the two newsletters, is released every three weeks and is primarily distributed via e-mail. The primary purpose of VIP is to communicate recent news of the Project and the immediate region to those ex-volunteers, volunteer organizations, and funders who continue to be involved in our activities. VIP is the primary means of relaying information regarding the Project to the outside world. It has been written consistently for the past six months and will continue to be produced in this frequency for the next six months.

The most influential and representative publication however, remains Kako Si? even though only two editions have been published (during the spring of 1994). The idea of Kako Si? was to present a creative, more concrete side of the Project to the international community, by combining
practical information such as reports, needs, and finances with more artistic impressions from volunteers. Kako Si? was originally printed in English but the news and views contained in its pages quickly filtered back to the local community. As Volunteer Project Pakrac is one of the only
organizations in the world working on social reconciliation, it seemed important to communicate as many aspects of life in Pakrac as possible to the outside world.

Kako Si? is now resurrected and the first "new" edition will appear in late August or early September thanks to the generous funding from the Dutch Embassy in Zagreb and the cooperation with the local newspaper Pakracki List on layout and printing. Reflecting the changes in both the town and the Project, the goals of Kako Si? have evolved from the strictly international focus of the previous editions. The first "new" edition will be bilingual (600 Croatian and 400 English editions) as the Project continues to increase its integration with the local community. Articles both by local adults and children will be featured in the next issue. Though it is a difficult task to write for two audiences with varying views and concerns regarding Pakrac, it is hoped that Kako Si? will continue to be a forum to illustrate the Project's general goals and accomplishments.

As the Project hires and involves more locals, we hope that Kako Si? will eventually become truly community focused. The ultimate goal is to transfer the newsletter to local administration and transform it into a community-run paper reflecting the community's vision.

PHYSICAL RECONSTRUCTION

"We must learn that not always is it important to do only the work which is visible. Sometimes it is more helpful if you only show that you are there."
- Eike Mangold, Former Volunteer

Work Camps
Short Term Volunteer work camps have formed the base of the Project since its initiation. Over the past three years 500 volunteers have participated (with a few breaks) in a total of 43 camps. Because all Long Term Volunteers were required to work as STV's for at least one work camp, many of those who planned to stay for a short period of three to six weeks, ended up remaining and holding a major impact on the accomplishments and direction of the Project.

During the early period of the Project, there was a strong emphasis on physical reconstruction. The STV's worked with the local "working Brigades" to repair roofs, clean bricks, tear down some half destroyed houses and repair others. The time devoted to this endeavor served two purposes. The first was to lend credibility to the Project by illustrating that volunteers were willing to work and work hard alongside the locals to rebuild their town. The second purpose was to
create contacts with the community through working (and taking coffee breaks) together. It is through these contacts that the Project was later able to expand via the Women's Group, etc.

The goals of the Project in the beginning were not only to assist in the physical reconstruction of both sides of the town but to reach out to large numbers in the community. And so, in addition to physical work, STV's went on numerous community visits to older individuals as well as families
with children. It was hoped that by introducing internationals from different countries with different experiences to the community, it might provide a visible symbol of tolerance and international solidarity.

In the past six months, Volunteer Project Pakrac and four different co-leaders hosted 6 workcamps (#37-42) with a total of 41 volunteers. These workcamps focused on the renovation of a community center in a nearby Serbian village, installing glass and numerous small repairs
activities. However, despite the continuing enthusiasm of the STV's, the Project has decided to discontinue the STV camps for several reasons. As a result of the successes of our various Sub-projects as well as the transitions of the town towards normalization, there is no longer such a need
for the STV's as an international symbol. Private firms are now angaged in the reconstruction process, thus lessening the need for international volunteers providing this service. So the Project is now concentrating on the development of its other Sub-projects, though continuing its attention to small repairs and community visits.


Small Repairs
The Small Repairs Program was adapted from the physical work of the STV camps as a way to help those in the community who had the need for minor reconstruction work. During the
Project's evolution, a relationship developed with the United Nations Office of Vienna. They provided us with funding for this activity while the Volunteer Project Pakrac organized and implemented the tasks. This Sub-project was important for the community as it filled a void which was left by other large reconstruction companies. Many individuals were desperately in need of our help as they were unable to afford or secure the services of private repair shops. In many cases, the major service that was needed was the installation of glass. This evolved earlier this year into an established glass program initiated by an influential Long Term Volunteer, Peter Scholl.

Over the past six months many changes have taken place in the Small Repairs Sub-project. Unfortunately, our long cooperation with the UNOV ended during the past month, as the main office in Vienna abruptly ended its funding of our glass and small repairs program. We remain optimistic about this Sub-project though because at the same time that we received this discouraging news, we also had the good fortune to hire a new qualified Croatian Small Repairs
Volunteer. And in spite of the difficulties, he is in the process of locating new funders and devising a new system of cooperation with UNHCR.

We continue to plan the Tools Library, an offshoot of the Small Repairs Sub-project. This will serve as a system of borrowing and lending of tools as well as the setting for instructive workshops for youth in repairs, woodworking, etc run by and for the community. It will hopefully be organized and implemented fully by local individuals almost immediately after its initial set-up. This will hopefully establish a form of cooperation and communication within the
two communities as well as a sense of control and internal interest in rebuilding the community.


MISCELLANEOUS
Office Work
Our office continues to be a place where volunteers meet and discuss the logistics of the Project. Due to the lack of a full time (or even a half time) Office Manager during the past six months, general organization and contact with all of our emotional and financial supporters has suffered.
However, things are getting back into shape after some recent changes and the location of a full time Office Manager. The office received its first proper overhaul (repainting, reorganizing, cleaning) in the past half year. Though we have to transport our office to another former Long Term Volunteer house at the end of August, the over-all tone of order and the atmosphere of a pleasant space for work and socializing will remain.


Numbers of Those Reached in Each Sub-project

"If you can just touch one person's mind with thoughts of peace you have done wonderful work."
Jan Gann, Former Volunteer

Community Visits: 63 families of at least 2 people
12 elderly or disabled individuals
Total of approximately 138 people on both sides

Email: 65 children and teachers at the Secondary School
100+ international and national penpals
20 children and teenagers at the refugee camp

Youth Club: 60 teenagers regularly attending
100 at special events

Music Lessons: 6 students presently (40 children in planned Primary School lessons)

Young Women's Group: 10 young women in present group (3 more groups of 10 young women planned)

Puppet Theater: 17 child Audiences of approximately 300 including parents
All listeners to the Radio Davuvar Program on which they appeared

Photo Project: 55 children plus their parents (in five groups in Pakrac and Lipik).
All those who are already reading the story books published in France

Publications:
VIP: over 100 international contacts
Kako Si?: 600 locals and 400 international organizations

Work Camps: 500 international and national volunteers
approximately 450 people with whom volunteers have come into contact

Small Repairs: During March 65 families received repairs or assistance in Pakrac and five surrounding villages
(it is unrealistic to try to guess how many
families we have helped)

Grand Total: 3,186 individuals that we know we have touched

note: The Grand Total is an approximation. We do not know how many
more have been affected directly or indirectly by our work.