JDC Update on the Situation in Yugoslavia

September 21, 1999

In a show of communal strength, Yugolslavian Jews in devastated towns and cities attended Rosh Hashana services in record numbers. Their ranks included many previous unafilliated Jews.

In Belgrade:

Over 150 people participated in a communal holiday feast follwing services.

In partnership with World Jewish Relief (U.K.), JDC installed heating systems in the Jewish Community Center of Belgrade.

JDC provided two freight containers of much-needed clothing, which the Jewish community shared with the general population

JDC is providing medical and psychological counseling

Forty homeless Jews are sheltered in a local hotel

In Prizren:

Normally secular Jews attended the first public celebration of Rosh Hashana since World War II. Services and a communal holiday feast took place in a hotel facility rented by JDC.

Throughout Yugoslavia:

The European Council of Jewish Communities and JDC have allocated over $65,000 welfare aid to unemployed Yugoslavian Jews.

Jews from across Yugoslavia arranged to hold a reunion retreat for Balkan Jews separated by their local political realities. The retreat will be held on an island off the coast of Croatia.

JDC is partnering with World Jewish Relief (UK) on the following:

Providing emergency relief to Jewish elderly in the form of cash grants for food and fuel

Assessing the needs for community soup kitchens

Allocating educational grants to students from grade school through university

Restocking the depleted community pharmacy

Macedonia:

The Jewish community is helping to facilitate overland transfer of goods to JDC projects in Kosovo.

Current Non-Sectarian Efforts

Kosovo:

The Rehabilitation and Re-Opening of Primary Schools
As JDC continues its rehabilitation and re-opening of primary schools in Kosovo, it is also preparing classrooms in each school to serve as computer lab rooms. World ORT Union and JDC are partnering to provide computers and training for these students.

Vocational Training in Kosovo
ORT and JDC are also teaming on vocational training for unemployed adult returnees. Participants will be trainied in the building trades (eg: roof repair, glazing, construction, etc.) and carpentry. These skills will be critical to rebuilding local infrastructure. The training program is scheduled to begin by year's end.

Mine Warning Posters
Before the refugees began their trip home, JDC commissioned and distributed posters warning children about land mine dangers upon their return home. These posters can be seen throughout Kosovo and are part of an educational effort to prevent serious injury or death from the many land mines left after the conflict.

Macedonia:

Health Project
The JDC/IRC (International Rescue Committee) Community Health Project in Cair, Macedonia is operating at full capacity. The program currently serves both refugees and host families. A total staff of 25 (of which three are physicians, four are nurses, and seven are community outreach workers) serves from 80-100 patients per day, five days per week. The outreach workers make home visits to those who do not or cannot visit the clinic. Its fully-stocked pharmacy supplies the clinic patients with needed medications.

Donations
Contributions may be made out to JDC- Kosovo Relief, 711 Third Avenue - 10th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The memo line of the check and the outer envelope should be marked "Kosovo Relief."

JDC's Activities to Date:

In Kosovo, JDC is currently involved with:

Repairing and reopening 15 elementary schools at the request of UNICEF

Distributing posters, geared toward children, on the dangers of land mines

In Albania and Macedonia, JDC has provided:

One of the few winterized refugee camps in Albania, housing refugees who are among the most vulnerable (including orphans, the elderly, and the disabled)

Bedding and mattresses to 23,000 refugees

Repair of shelters in various camps

100 children's libraries in various refugee camps

Recreational kits for over 10,000 children

Services of physicians and nurses in Albania, who provided care for refugees and host families and strengthened the skills of local professionals

Assistance packages to remaining refugees

During the repatriation process, JDC provided:

Medical assistance (at the request of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to refugees who traveled by train from Albania to Kosovo

Israeli explosives experts who designed and administered training in the avoidance of land mines

Bags for use in transporting the refugees' belongings as they traveled home (Two thousand were distributed)

Jewish Coalition for Kosovo Relief
The Jewish Coalition for Kosovo Relief and Assistance, coordinated by JDC, is a 42-member organization helping to provide a coordinated response to the crisis. The following projects are now underway:

Jewish Coalition/IRC Partnership in Skenderaj Municipality, Drenica, Kosovo
This partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) will allow the opening of two primary schools and the establishment of a "women's club" and "children's club" through which important psycho-social work will take place, skills leading to paying jobs will be taught, and recreational and social activities will be offered.

Jewish Coalition/Mercy Corps International (MCI) Partnership for the Strengthening of the Istok Municipal Health House
This project will strengthen the services available at Municipal Health House in the Pec/Peja region in western of Kosovo. Currently, only birthing services are offered. Medical staff will be trained in current maternal and child health care standards and preventive health care measures. The existing maternity ward will be expanded to include comprehensive women's health care including ante-natal and post-partum care, gynecological services, and family planning.

In addition to professional training for midwives, nurses, and physicians, medical equipment and supplies will be provided, and an important community outreach program will be conducted.