September 7, 2013

Yesterday we went to the camp where the Egyptian and Roma refuges are housed.  It is a sad situation.  They had a fire about 1 1/2 years ago that burned almost all of the camp.  The US Embassy here provided aluminum pods for the families to live in.....This is much better than the barracks that they were using, at least the metal pods will not burn.  But the situation is bad.  No one seems to have a real job.  They pick through the trash bins to find metal and other things to recycle and sell.   The Montenegrin Red Cross is in charge of the camp and are trying their best to help these Gypsies.  The refugees main problem is that most do not speak the language and most are not literate. Also most do not want to go back to their country.  So the Red Cross here are starting schools for the young children, we went to the kindergarten just in time for music.  LDS Charities provided the chairs, tables, white boards and some books last year.  This year we also want to help and are looking into  buying books for the elementary school kids, hygiene kits and school bags filled with supplies.  Russ has a long term goal of trying to provide work for the fathers.  In another country, LDS Charities has started a pallet making plant at their camp and the men are employed and can provide for their families.  I suggested a room with sewing machines so the women could make the clothes for the family or make things to sell.

This is the picture of the kindergarten.  There are 150 kids that age but they do not all come. 

Here is a picture of one of the homes.  The building roof you see in the background is the kindergarten room.

 

On a happier note, we met with a different department of the Red Cross and talked about the need for more wheelchairs.  The average height for a male adult is 6'1" so the normal curve for wheelchair distribution was not exactly perfect and they have run out of the larger chairs, so we are getting another container with 290 chairs shipped here for them.  I can't imagine how tall the average adult woman is but it is taller than me!  I feel short over here...really!  The Red Cross has small satellite sites all over in all the major towns so that the people who need them can get the wheelchairs for free.

We went walking one day up the hill by our apartment.  As we were walking the trails, we came across this fire truck.  There were 2 firemen there overlooking the city.  We tried to tell them that Russ had been a Firefighter/Paramedic in the USA and I think they understood.  

This is their small pod (fire station) in the hills.

That's all for today!