December 1, 1999
Fellow devotee of boxing,
I'm a Dutch aid worker who has spent 3 months amongst the Kosovar
people, who have been through a horrible period of their lives, as you
know.
While I was there I met a group of men who are doing the thing I like to
do
most at home: boxing. They showed me what happened to them in the past
and
problems they have to face now. When I returned to the Netherlands
(Holland) I decided to do whatever I could do to support these people. If
you might be able to help me out, please read on.
The Kosovo war might be over, yet international aid is something the
Kosovar people cannot do without. Those who fled their homes during the
onslaughts on their peoples are still far from returning to a safe and
peaceful life. Upon returning from the refugee camps in Albania and
Macedonia, many Kosovar refugees find they have no homes to come back to
anymore and that living in post-war Kosovo poses many dangers. Mines are
scattered over the country. Conflicts between the country's different
groups persist, and government, police and healthcare are all improvised
and
improvising. It will take many years to rebuild a country wrecked by war,
to reconstruct a society torn by terror and flight, and to restore a peace
of mind shattered by traumatic memories of the war. It is safe to say
that
the need for humanitarian aid will remain for years rather than months to
come, but the nature of the aid needed must change as well. Aid efforts
fulfilling basic needs of food, medicine and housing have to be
supplemented
with initiatives to support a re-burgeoning community life. This is the
premise of my project.
An important aspect of this community life we are trying to rebuild is
sporting activities. Practicing sports is something that has been heavily
disturbed the last ten or fifteen years in Kosovo. Still people have
always
tried, and are still trying, to build places where they can practice their
favorite activities together. An example of this is the Gjakova Boxing
Club.
Gjakova is a small town in the west of Kosovo. Twenty years ago a
group
of people in this town decided to create their own boxing club, the
Gjakova
Boxing Club'. For ten years there was a place for people to practice the
sport they like to practice the most. Enthusiasm among the members led to
good results in national as well as international matches. Unfortunately,
this came to an end in 1991, when the dominant part of the population in
Kosovo, the Serbs, decided to forbid the practicing of sports amongst
these
people. They loved this sport so much they decided to practice it in
secret
in a village in the vicinity of Gjakova, even though it endangered their
own
lives. This went on until 1997 when the risk became to great to continue.
Now the war is over and the international community ensures safety for the
Kosovar people. So, the people of the Gjakova Boxing Club have picked up
where they left, trying to create a place for the local youth where they
can
release their energy. Fact is that almost all of the material has been
stolen or destroyed during the conflict. There are not enough gloves
anymore, so many kids practice with bare hands. This, of course,
endangers
their safety and limits their possibility to develop their skills. Also,
the lack of teeth-protection sets bounds to their ability to set up
matches.
Jumping ropes, professional clothing and shoes are absolutely absent in
the
center. Individuals have bought the little material that is present in
the
neighboring country Macedonia. But the shortage of money doesn't allow
them
to obtain more.
If you are interested, any help you could provide would be greatly
appreciated. Materials, equipment, and safety gear would be of great
assistance and financial aid is always of great value to our cause. If
you
are able to support these people, please contact me. Also, please feel
free
to pass this information on to any other concerned parties. Thank you,
ever
so much, in advance.
Wouter Beekers,
Dutch aid worker for Balkan Sunflowers,
International volunteer project to help the Kosovo refugees
http://www.balkansunflowers.org
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