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Published
by
International Orthodox Christian Charities,
September 23, 2004
IOCC Study Visitors Witness Rebirth
of Post-War Bosnia |
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Banja Luka,
Bosnia-Herzegovina (IOCC) – Fr. Marc Vranes of
Bristol, Conn., remembers the eyes most of all.
Traveling in Bosnia-Herzegovina with International
Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), the American
priest witnessed a war-torn land in the process of
rebirth. “I looked into the eyes of people, and
what I saw was hope,” he said, “that which comes
from the work which IOCC so passionately desires
to do throughout the world.”
Fr. Vranes, pastor of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church
in Willimantic, Conn., was one of 14 people who
recently participated in IOCC’s first-ever study
tour. The Americans, including five Orthodox
priests and four IOCC board members, spent Aug.
30-Sept. 7 in Banja Luka and northwest Bosnia as
part of a special visit to learn more about the
humanitarian work of IOCC.
A small Balkan country that was once part of
Yugoslavia, Bosnia was torn apart by war from
1992-1995. The war caused the deaths of 250,000
people and displaced an estimated 2 million
people, many of whom have not yet returned to
their homes.
IOCC, a humanitarian aid agency of Orthodox
Christians, has been active in Bosnia and other
parts of the former Yugoslavia since 1992. IOCC
responded during the war with life-sustaining
assistance and continues to help people trying to
return to their homes.
Since 1997, IOCC and its partners have facilitated
the return of more than 2,100 refugee families to
their pre-war homes in Bosnia and rebuilt more
than 686 war-damaged houses.
“The people of Bosnia are very strong, proud and
persevering,” said Mitzi Theo, a study visitor
from Shreveport, La. “They have lived hard lives,
losing everything in the war, but they do not want
a handout. IOCC has allowed them to retain their
dignity by offering them a ‘hand up.’ ”
The study tour included visits with beneficiaries,
IOCC staff, Orthodox Church clerics and local
leaders.
“It was a wonderful experience for me to witness
the sharing between the visitors, IOCC staff and
local partners,” said Executive Director
Constantine M. Triantafilou, IOCC’s Yugoslavia
country representative during the Bosnian war.
“The trip was reflective of what IOCC represents –
people helping people.”
Since 1992, IOCC has delivered $58 million in
humanitarian assistance to people of all ethnic
backgrounds in the former Yugoslavia. In Bosnia,
IOCC has worked to repair war-damaged homes and
community infrastructure, and to help people
rebuild their lives through agricultural, economic
and civil society development programs.
The study visitors began their seven-day trip with
a tour of IOCC’s office in Banja Luka. Among the
many IOCC project sites they visited were Mrkonic
Grad and Majdan in northwest Bosnia.
In Mrkonic Grad, the group met two families who
have taken out loans from IOCC’s micro-credit
program to start up or expand commercial dairy
farming operations.
In Majdan, the group met with two families who
have returned to their pre-war homes after more
than six years of displacement. Through IOCC
assistance, their homes were made habitable again.
The group learned that IOCC will reconnect one of
the houses to electricity in the coming weeks.
During their travels, the IOCC study visitors were
accompanied by Fr. Irinej Dobrijevic, consultant
to His Holiness Patriarch Pavle and the Holy Synod
of Bishops, and Princess Linda Karageorgevich of
the Serbian royal family.
On Sunday, September 5, the visitors attended a
Hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated by Fr.
Irinej and the study tour priests. Previously,
they were received by His Grace Bishop Chrysostom
of Bihac and Petrovac.
IOCC currently is implementing an $8.7 million
project of agricultural development, micro-credit
lending and civil-society building in Bosnia in
partnership with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the University of Maryland.
To learn more IOCC’s humanitarian programs in the
former Yugoslavia and around the world, please
visit www.iocc.org.
The information service of the Serbian Orthodox
Church contributed to this report.
For media inquiries, please contact IOCC
Communications Associate Stephen Huba at
1-877-803-4622 or shuba@iocc.org.
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