Serbia -- November 2008

In the midst of an uprising in February 2008, a young man climbed through a window of the American Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia and started a fire. The attack, and street riots that ensued, were in protest to the United State’s support of Kosovo independence. Though the young man was the only person killed in the fire, the riots created a series of actions by the U.S. government and the LDS Church. Americans were not considered safe in Serbia, so the American Embassy closed and all missionaries were evacuated—including our humanitarian couple, Elder & Sister Morton.

It was a scary two weeks for the missionaries as two-by-two they were escorted by train and bus across the border into Croatia and Slovenia by a young Nikola Novic, the local Branch President. Some of the missionaries were assaulted as they tried to evacuate, and one, a young Canadian, had his passport torn to pieces in protest a week earlier. Though the missionaries were removed, most Church members managed to stay together. They prayed for peace in their country and the return of the missionaries and church leaders. Finally, on September 8th, eight of the ten young Elders who were evacuated, returned to Serbia—reestablishing the Mission. When we learned that the missionaries would be returning to Belgrade, we contacted President Hill, the Mission President, and asked if he was ready to have a humanitarian couple return. He asked for a month to evaluate the situation and the treatment of the young Elders by Serbian citizens. In October, we were encouraged to visit Belgrade with Elder & Sister Morton to evaluate for ourselves the attitude of Serbians toward Americans. We were impressed by the reception of the people and the general acceptance towards us as Americans and as members of the church.

Church entrance one block from Embassy

Just 2 blocks from the Embassy and the Church--still stands a reminders of NATO attacks in 1999—a successful attempt to halt Serbian attacks neighboring countries. It’s fascinating to see that this building could be so precisely hit by off-shore missiles, and yet the buildings connected to it, and the one across the street remained unharmed.

One of our favorite pictures of Belgrade was this charming couple, sitting quietly together in the center of town square. When we asked them if we could take their picture, she smiled. In broken English she said. “Oh. No. I’m not pretty.” We think they’re beautiful! And, full of charm.

For Elder & Sister Morton, our visit to Serbia was an opportunity to reminisce and recount their experiences in Belgrade. But, best of all, it was an opportunity to renew friendships. While in Serbia, they took us to visit their choice friends and NGOs.

One of their favorite people and organizations is Tasa, a Gypsy and the “mayor” of the local Gypsy (Roma) community. Tasa’s story is especially interesting . As a young man in his twenties, he was introduced to the LDS Church while living in Germany. He joined the church, went on a mission and decided to return to Belgrade to help his people. Though he is a counselor in the Branch Presidency, he never married, and has dedicated his life to help lead his people away from old traditions and convince the government that Gypsies are people who deserve rights like any other Serbian. There is an overwhelming dislike for Romas (Gypsies) throughout Eastern Europe. They are considered the lowest class of all races and cultures in many Eastern countries, including Serbia. Belgrade’s Roma story is a particularly heartbreaking story. This Roma community inhabits land that was donated by a closing convent nearly 200 years ago. They were overrun by the Nazis during WWII. Then overrun by the Communist government after the war. During the 1980s new Serbian government wanted the land away. Romas were not allowed to build any new buildings. So, weakened houses and makeshift shacks became the normal existence for most Roma. Tasa wouldn’t stand for the government’s treatment of his people. He created a committee of men to fight for Roma rights. Though the government planned to move Romas off their land and into barracks, away from society, Tasa fought for them to keep their land. During the last 18 years, he has convinced the city to not only allow them to stay, but to build a fenced soccer field and playground in the community.

Recently, Tasa also convinced the government to hire 25 Roma men to clean and maintain the ditches and streets of their own community.

Tasa has turned the downstairs of his home into a kindergarten for Roma children. This is another unique story. Children are not allowed to enter public school in Serbia without first going to kindergarten. But, Roma children are not accepted into public kindergartens until they can read and write Serbian. So the vicious cycle of illiteracy remains high in Roma communities. Tasa is working to get the government to legitimize his kindergarten. It’s a hard sale, since few certified Serbian teachers wants to teach these children, and no Roma is educated and certified. But Tasa refuses to give up. He is working to convince the city that he and his assistant can prepare these small children for public school. Tasa sees his little school as a place for “his” children to receive an education. Tasa had two requests from the Church’s humanitarian service. Winter clothes for his people and a project that would educate the young men of his community in woodworking skills. On our return to our Frankfurt office, we ordered a container of clothes, and hygiene and school kits for the Roma community. We are in the preliminary stages of a woodworking-carving project that will include training and equipment for a workshop. Tasa’s home will become the Roma community workshop/school for young boys to learn a new trade and hopefully, a new future.

A 13th Century Fort……overlooks the intersection of the Sava and Danube Rivers—making it an excellent defense position and an accessible location for invasions—and beautiful.
Serbia has experienced a lengthy history of warfare and hostility. Its earlier saga involves invasions from other countries: Roman, Turkish and eventually Nazi, and Communism. After the fall of Yugoslavia, Serbia fought to remain the central government, as one by one, countries declared their independence.

Serbia is ready for a new generation, a new century and modernization--as old Belgrade becomes New Belgrade. We enjoyed our visit and in this beautiful country. Though there are many issues left to overcome, we felt at peace. It is a country filled with beauty and charm, and very proud people--people who are learning to work and set goals for their own future.

We were excited to help approved a 250 wheelchair project for the Right for Work organization —an organization for disabled persons who need chairs to work. This project was in the developing stage, then cancelled after Elder and Sister Morton were evacuated February 2008.

Croatia & Bosnia-Herzegovina October 2008

In October, we met with our humanitarian couple, Elder & Sister Mills in Zagreb, Croatia before they left to go home from their mission. They’re from Battle Mountain, Nevada, and yes, they know our daughter and son-in-law, Coni Jo and Walter. Small world. Since the Mills’ replacement would not arrive for another month, they took us to meet the organizations they’ve worked with for the past two years. LDS Church/Charities is currently involved in two projects with the Red Cross: a 250 wheelchairs distribution and a clean water project. We had the opportunity to meet Marinko and Danimir, the Red Cross coordinators of the two projects. The water project is particularly troubling and disturbing. During the war with Serbia in the 1990s, 10,000 wells were contaminated with arsenic, discarded arsenal, fertilizers and the disposal of bodies. During the early part of October, the Red Cross was still discovering bodies in the wells. The Church Humanitarian service is helping to fund the cleanup of the last 1/3, or 3500 wells. Farming communities in eastern Croatia near the Serbian border are the wells most affected by contamination.

While shrapnel and bullet wounds mark many buildings in Croatia, the signs of war are gradually disappearing with new paint and stucco.
Croatia attracts about 10,000 tourists a year, mostly along the coastline. There are ancient Roman ruins and a long history. The average income is about $1200 a month with a registered unemployment 17%-35%, highest near the Serbian borders. And, though income is relatively low, prices are not. The price of clothes and shoes are comparable with well developed, Western Europe. The people of Croatia hope that their impending acceptance into the European Union will help their country and economy.



Like most of Europe, the heart of the Croatian culture is its marketplace. This is a typical Saturday Market.









LDS Branch members currently attend church in a turn-of-the-century building. They will soon relocate to a new building about 10 minutes outside of central Zagreb. The location is near train tracks and bus lines, making it easy for members to commute.

B O S N I A - H E R Z E G O V I N A

We were in Zagreb the same week as Missionary Zone Conference and had the opportunity to meet with President Hill, the Mission President. President Hills’ mission area covers the former Yugoslavia nations. They are all post-communist, post-war countries. And many are still declaring their independence. Among the countries he is responsible for are Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro. At present, we have missionaries in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia—with a humanitarian couple in Croatia, and another couple returning soon to Serbia. Pres. Hill shared with us his impressions of Bosnia and suggested we visit there to evaluate the area for humanitarian service. A few days later, we rented a car and drove to Tuzla, Bosnia to check out the conditions there for future humanitarian work. As we crossed the border and passed the check-points, we experienced the lingering effects of war. Landmine signs lined the road side--reminders of war and dangerous work still ahead. In addition to the obvious problems mines create, the inability to farm the land and the fear experienced by refugees to return home, still plague the countryside. Clearing landmines is a slow, tedious process— involving the Red Cross and help from other nations.


More than 120,000 Bosnics died in the short war of the 1990s. Nearly half were Muslims—killed in an attempted ethnic cleansing.

Today, Christians and Muslims share the country 50/50. As we drove from one village to another, we could determine the religious population of the town by what stipple climbed into the sky. Seldom were both present in the same village.










We had planned to meet with the Red Cross in Tuzla, but soon learned that there are no telephone books in the whole city of 160,000 people. So we had to stop several times to get directions. Finally, we were led down a street, pass a round-about, turned to the left, drove into a parking lot, parked the car, and followed a kind man (humm) down another street until we saw the Red Cross sign. Eventually, we met Tanja and Jedranka, the local Red Cross manager and assistant. Tanja spoke to us in English, and Jedranka tried. Both women smiled a lot.

We quickly learned, however, that the scars of war are deep and personal. These women, like so many others, suffered the devastating sorrows of war— Tanja as a child. They are now dedicated to helping their country recover from its sad memories and wounds. We visited with Tanja and Jedrank for two hours, and felt a close bond of friendship develop with them both. We left the Red Cross with plans to return and a great desire to help the Church LDS Chairties partner a project with them. We’ll return, with or without another humanitarian couple, to partner a wheelchair project for the Tuzla area.

Cabo Verde in October Part I

We spent the last week of September in Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) evaluating the humanitarian needs of the islands. Our first stop was Mindelo, Sao Vicente. It is one of the more organized villages of Cape Verde, with a main street, island market place and a small university. Cape Verde earned its independence from Portugal in the late 1970s, but didn’t have the finances available to maintain a stable infrastructure. During the last 20-30 years, many buildings, schools and streets have gone unattended. It is now in its first generation of genuine improvements. Social and government leaders hope to make the necessary upgrades that will attract more tourism, while bringing jobs to the islands.
Mindelo lies along the coastline. There the ocean is clear and blue, but the beaches are filled with old Cape Verdean practices and attitudes. In some ways this adds to the charm of the island, but it also prevents sunbathing and swimming. Citizens fish and clean their catch along shore. Drinking water is unsanitary. We were warned not to eat uncooked food, including fruit and vegetables. And drink only bottled water. The average monthly income is less than $100 a month. A large number of young people do not enter high school until their twenties and the drop-out rate is extremely high.
One of the main sources of income is selling fruit, vegetables and penny candy at the market place or along side the road—usually by women. A common scene in Cape Verde is the beautiful women with their babies tided to them with a scarf, while selling their goods. It’s also a scene you learn to love and appreciate as part of Cape Verdean culture. They’re friendly people, doing what they can to feed their families. While the women sell their goods, the men catch and clean fish along the shoreline. Fishing is the main industry of the Islands, and the major attraction for avid fishermen.

We had the opportunity to visit several NGOs while in Mindelo.
We took school kits to two schools on the outskirts of town. A five to ten minute drive took us through miles of unfinished houses—a common scene in Cape Verde.
Among rows of unfinished buildings is a quaint little school with about 400 students. We visited this school twice. On our first visit, we passed out bags
with pencils, crayons, pads and other goodies to the third grade class. These few items will last the students a full school year. Most children in this community come from some level of poverty. So, we leave it to the principal and parent’s organization to decide the children who are in the greatest need of school kits. However, we soon found ourselves wishing we had 400 kits—one for every child.
As we prepared to leave, the principal approached us and asked if we could bring 50 more bags the next day. James Tavares, the local Ashby Foundation manager and LDS partner, told them we could, and made plans for our return.
As we approached the school the next day, we saw a crowd of children and parents anxiously waiting for us. We could never imagine such excitement over school supplies. They gathered around our boxes like children around a Christmas tree—eyes and smiles as wide as could be.

This is the view outside the school gate.

A few years ago, the Ashby-Bingham family, members of the LDS Church, introduced the Ashby Foundation to Cape Verde.



They wanted to help members of the Church on the Islands with education and other work skills. This organization has partnered with the LDS Church Humanitarian Services in other projects in the community—reaching out to non-LDS with wheelchairs, school kits, food-production projects and clothes. While we were in Cape Verde, we visited two projects that Ashby and the Church are partnering. One is a Work Skills Training program to educate young adults in hiring and employment skills. For developed nations, many of the principles taught in this class may seem elementary. But, the teachers and authors of the program soon learned that most of these young people knew nothing about goal setting, teamwork and following an employer’s instructions. Most had never been employed nor had seen their parents employed. They had few examples in their lives of employments skills. The workshop is a train-the-trainer program. Those who attend the class earn a certificate that qualifies them to teach another group of young adults. The program developers hoped to limit the classes to 15 students, but in Mindelo, 19 young adults anxiously attended the week long class. The first workshop was held in the
local LDS Church building. Games and role play were among the many teaching tools used to present work skill principles.
Every student received a certificate qualifying them to teach another group of young adults.
The LDS Church just finished two new buildings in Mindelo, Cape Verde—this one was completed in 2007. Though the Church is in its first generation in the islands—introduced in the 1980s—there are more than 6,000 members. There are three branches that meet in this building, and three that meet in another building outside of town. The members are very proud and protective of their building. In Mindelo, most members of the community have great respect for the church and are aware of the service and education it offers to their community. The Cape Verdean people call it the “Elder’s Church” because of the missionary name badges.

Cabo Verde in October Part II

We left Mindelo for Praia, the capital city of Cape Verde, on the island of Santiago.
Our hotel--and, the beach across the street—and, Kennedy,
(we call him Mr. President) one of the nicest young men you could ever meet. Kennedy served his mission for the LDS Church in Praia two years ago. He had just finished the Work Skills Workshop and hopes to help other young people prepare for employment. One of the trials young people like Kennedy face in Cape Verde is lack of employment. Hopefully, the workshop will help these young people stand apart from “all the rest” as they seek the few jobs available on the Islands. Another advantage is speaking English. Ashby and the Church also offer English classes for young adults who wish to learn.

The LDS Chapel in downtown Praia is not the most attractive building around, but it is one of the most interesting. Upstairs, above the 2nd floor meeting house for two Branches, is the “Fishermen’s Association.” (There just may be some irony in that title.)
And, just pass the entrance ---in the lower level-- is a gymnasium. OK, this may not be one of the most attractive church buildings, but once inside, it is everything the members need. But things are about to change. Just ten minutes away is a new building, almost completed. The members hope to move in at the end of October. A third building is scheduled to begin in 2009 about 30 minutes outside of Praia. A fourth and fifth building are about an hour away, near the center of the island.

In Praia, people line up for miles to sell their fruit and vegetables. Many sell clothes shipped to them in barrels from a family member in Europe or the U.S. Venders out number buyers fifty-to-one. Actually, we saw only a hand full of people who were buying anything. But, this is the way of life here. Venders sit all day, waiting for one or two customers.
This lady, a member of the LDS Church, mends used clothes on her antique, peddle Singer Sewing machine, to sell at the market. She receives clothes from a family member in the U.S., mends them, and displays them on a blanket around her.
An important marketing skill in Praia is finding the right location.
There are “prized” stalls and spots in the many rows of displayed goods. A good business person will save enough money to rent a more prized stall.

In Mindelo, Ashby Foundation has developed a project to ship containers of used clothes from the U.S. for women to buy at a minimal price. This room in Mindelo shows the clothes that are available-- waiting to be purchased and prepared to sell. Ashby’s goal is to provide a space within this small apartment for two sewing machines and laundry facilities, so a selected group of women can mend, clean and iron clothes in preparation for the market. They plan to select women with little or no income, to use the facilities and machines to start their own businesses. Ashby hopes to teach these women business skills, while helping them learn to save money and care for their families. The young woman above runs the facility and teaches other women business skills. Ashby hopes to take this idea to Praia. This project is sensitive to the culture of the islands and designed to help women develop their own small businesses while learning skills to help provide for their families. That’s why we like it. It teaches self-reliance practices that fits their culture.
In Praia, we visited and chatted with older members of the community. Elder Durrance won the hearts of these three women while I took pictures of our friends below. They called me the “magic lady” when they saw their faces on my small digital camera.
We visited three more schools to pass out school kits to some of the cutest children on earth--almost as cute as our grandchildren.
Sister Neves, the Mission President’s wife, and Elder & Sister Lopes—helped present another 130 kits.
To everyone who contributes to the Humanitarian Program, “Thank you.” You’re the heroes who made all this possible.