Koha Digest # 137

Front Page: INSURRECTION IN VLORË

Date: 19 February 1997

EDITORIAL

THE ORANGE SELLER SEES THE FRUITS FLYING

by VETON SURROI

A seller of oranges in Vlorë tries to defend the fruits with his bare hands, from the flood of
people running down the market and throwing down all it finds in front. The seller finds
himself in front of the primary obligation to defend his job - and the forced obligation to do it
with all he can: his arms could carry no more than two kilos of oranges. Some seconds later,
his eyes will see the fruits flying above his head as the mass passes by his stand.

Strangely, in this scene of chaotic protest against the pyramidal bankruptcy in Vlorë, both the
masses and the government meet. The Government, by its nature in society, must use its
institutions to protect the property of the citizens. As if it were a game of children, the
Government in Albania allowed the pyramidal schemes that threaten almost all the private
property of ordinary citizens. If what the Government did would be dramatized on TV, the
result would be the same as in the case of the masses in Vlorë's market: a mass of financial
frauds going through the Albanian society taking all they want, not stopped by the law.

The effects of the protest in Vlorë are a hot peak of the crisis iceberg that the Albanian society
is experiencing today, after the ruin of the pyramidal system. What became evident with the
orange seller is in fact a symbol of the process: on one hand the private property was put on
stake (as an institution of the society) and on the other hand the legal order was endangered
(as an institution of the society). Albania, still fragile since it came out from dictatorship, is
demonstrating that it is losing (or, that is hasn't built up yet?) the democratic institutions of
the state.

The political response in this society is even more dangerous. Premier Meksi, asked by two
world TV networks on what was happening, replied: "It seems that the opposition is
preparing itself for a civil war. We are ready". A reply expressed so easily, as if it were the
intention of the government to decrease the taxes of potatoes, reveals the lost dimension of
rationale and the transparent victory of passion. A passion which so easily speaks of civil war.
Albania is on a decisive crossroad which will verify its fate in the coming decades. It could
surpass this crossroad with a dramatic reform of society, with a new political consensus, with
a decisive, urgent and dramatic assistance of the West - or continue drowning in further
des-institutionalization. From there, only a military dictatorship could serve as a way out.

The weekly Koha (The Times) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. Edited by Veton
Surroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Yugoslavia, Koha
soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the
name of Koha Ditorë. W ith the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on
http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.
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ALBANIA

ALBANIAN INTIFADA: A DAY AFTER

by REMZI LANI / Tirana

The war of rocks has reappeared, this time in the Balkans.

Thousands of Albanians, disappointed over the loss of the money
in pyramidal schemes are protesting since three weeks ago, asking
for their money back as well as the Government's resignation.
Peaceful in the beginning, the demonstrations have become
violent, the most serious since the downfall of the communist
regime six years ago. One person was killed last Monday,
meanwhile two others died due to heart-attacks. Further on, a
policeman was killed in unclarified circumstances, while the
number of the injured on both sides (the demonstrators and
police) surpasses 150.

The revolt in Vlorë resembled a real intifada. The square in

which Albanians proclaimed their independence at the beginning
of this century has lived the "rock epoch" in the morning, the
"protest of flowers" in the afternoon and the "peace of the
candles" in the evening. The revolt has reached its culmination
on Tuesday, when in the funeral of the killed 30-years-old man,
around 50 thousand people requested the resignation of the Meksi
Government - this one being probably the largest demonstration
in Albania in the past five years. Before the funeral, the
protesters burned the seat of the ruling Democratic Party.

Vlorë is considered the capital of pawnbrokers, but not only

this. Vlorë has been the epicenter of the clandestine
trafficking, not only Albanian, but also Kurd, Chinese and other
to Italy. It was believed that the Italian Mafia had found it's
partners in this town, only 70 kilometers away from Puglia. It
is out of any doubt that a large part of the money obtained from
smuggling people in or drug trafficking ended up in the schemes,
whose origin is actually found in Vlorë. This explains the
harshest reaction in this town, which in a way has turned in
Albania's Palermo.

Vlorë's Intifada has increased the fear from a new exodus towards
Italy. Vlorë's port, the second largest in the country, is
closed. Ferries have cancelled their travels to Italy, while the
other ships remain stationed on sea. Nevertheless, taking
advantage of the created chaotic situation, owners of motor-
scuffs transport the clandestine on the other side of the
Adriatic.

In this dark picture stands the war of nerves between the

Government and President Berisha against the opposition, that has

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reached its peak. A number of local officials of the socialists
have been arrested accused of participating in the burn-downs of
official institutions in the south of Albania last January. The
opposition, livened since the beginning of the protests, has
united in a group called "Forum for Democracy", which includes
the major opposition parties of the left and center spectres,
some small rightist parties and the Association of the Former
Political Prisoners.

In their first press conference, Kurt Kola, one of the leaders

of the Forum, declared that this is "a provisional grouping whose
objective is take the country towards new elections". The main
requests of the Forum is the resignation of the Government and
the creation of a government of experts which would prepare the
new parliamentarian elections. The leaders of the Forum have
expressed themselves in favor of a solution of the crisis,
differing from the ruling party that opts for a technical
solution. "The so called pawnbroking crisis is nothing else by
the other side of the medal of the Big Electoral Deceit of May
26" - stated among others in his message from prison, socialist
Nano.

The leaders of the Forum have called the protesters to go out on

the streets on a daily basis and in the whole country until the
requests are fulfilled. They have not respected the ban of the
authorities and they have accused the Government that it is
breaching the constitutional right for free assembly. The daily
communiques of the Forum on manifestations in Tirana seem to have
achieved their goal by keeping under tension large police forces
that were sent there to defend the Skënderbej Square, which has
a huge symbolical value for both sides. So far, the Forum seems
to be a "Protesting Party", which aims at combining dialogue with
protest, or impose dialogue through the protest. As long as the
decision of the parliament is still in force - that of giving
Berisha special competencies and use military troops to defend
the state institutions, Premier Meksi asked from the Albanian
Parliament to proclaim the state of emergency in Vlorë. However,
his proposal was withdrawn in the last moment, for it was not
supported by the members of the DP. Inside the ruling party,
which controls over 90% of local and central government, there
seems to be a clash between the eagles of premier Meksi and the
pigeons led by two former vice-premiers, Bashkim Kopliku and
Dashamir Shehi. While Meksi, pressured strongly to resign, has
turned to the old vocabulary linked to "red terror", his
opponents inside the party have asked his resignation and the
creation of the Government for Public Salvation. But, Shehi's
initiative presented in last week's meeting of the leadership has
not found support.

Berisha, who is also being strongly criticized by the protesters

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in Vlorë and in other towns, seems not to have supported Meksi's
idea on the state of emergency, but has not supported the
requests for his destitution either. Differing from other times,
the authoritarian Albanian president has not appeared on TV, for
seemingly he has been studying the relation of forces. For the
time being, he seems to be more in love with the term stability
than democracy. But, if it could be said so, he continues to
control his party - he has lost the support of small allies, a
group of parties belonging to the center and the right that make
up 6% of the seats in the parliament. The small parties have
raised their voices and now do not agree with the big blue giant
which is now facing difficulties. Republican Godo is one of the
main opponents of the proclamation of the state of emergency and
he hurried to state that they would withdraw two of their people
from the governmental coalition. Godo, on behalf of his party,
asked for the creation of a provisional government and the
development of new parliamentary elections in November. Also the
Party of Human Rights, that represents the Greek minority in
Albania has joined the requests asking for Meksi's destitution.
It's leader Melo stated that he was not in favor of a technical
government, but "a government with a broader political spectre
where all parliamentarian and extra-parliamentarian parties would
be included". Finally, Balli Kombëtar, the nationalist historical
party with two seats in the parliament, but which controls
Shkodër, an important municipality, has presented its options
that start with the resignation of Meksi's cabinet and the
organization of a referendum on the type of political regime, the
elaboration of a new constitution and the new parliamentarian
elections.

Nevertheless, one could say that only one part of the volcano has
been touched so far. Albania fears that the last domino could be
the fall of the Albanian giant "Vefa", the largest company in the
country, also considered as a state within the state. In an
attempt to play it safe, VEFA has twice reduced its interest
rates: from 8 to five and one week later, to three percent.
VEFA, as it is believed that has the support of the Albanian
state, seems to be the largest preoccupation of the Government.
The deposited amounts of money seem to be bigger than of the two
schemes that went bankrupt in January together. The chances are
that if VEFA falls, the consequences will be hard to forecast.

The rumors on the eventual escape of VEFA's boss, Vehbi Alimuça,

have been increasing in the past days, especially after the
American Embassy in Tirana communicated that by the end of
January it annulled the visas for him and his wife.
The consequences have been felt in the devaluation of the Lek.
The "Superlek" has lost 25% of its value (now the exchange is 135
Lek for 1 US$). The immediate threat is the galloping inflation
that will probably appear as soon as the state banks with start

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paying the money to "Populli's" and "Xhaferri's" clients.
Although the Government has called the people not to take cash,
but instead deposit the money in the state banks with determined
interest rates, they seem not to care much about that - they have
lost just all they had to now start trusting banks.

The Albanian intifada has upset the West, first of all Italy and
Greece. These two countries fear from the flood of illegal
emigrants as was the case in 1991. Last Wednesday, Greece sent
additional military troops to the borderline with Albania to
prevent the illegal crossing of the borders. The Greek foreign
minister is trying to get the support of the EU members to adopt
a special emergency program for Albania.

In the meantime, in Italy, besides the start of the

investigations on the eventual implication of the Mafia in the
Albanian pyramidal schemes, calls on for dialogue to both the
Albanian ruling party and the opposition. As reliable sources in
Rome state, the Albanian crisis will be one of the topics of
conversation between Albright and Dini.

As regards the American posture, it has, as usual, been more

critical than that of its European allies. The Deputy-Secretary
of State, Wirth, in an interview, asked for an urgent
organization of a round table between the different parties, in
order to find a way out. Washington asked from the Albanian
Government to destitute the responsible officials for the police
violence. Immediately afterwards, the police chief in Vlorë was
ousted. Since the May elections, the idyllic relations between
Tirana and Washington have become very cold. The American
administration has repeated several times its harsh criticism
towards Tirana for what it refers to as "sliding from democracy".
"We hope that Albania will again restart the steps towards
democracy and not move in the opposite direction", said Wirth.
While the ruling party and the opposition continue criticizing
one-another, the Intifada continues on the streets. One day
after, Albania seems to be headed towards chaos.

KOSOVA

SPRING AFTER WINTER?

by YLBER HYSA / Prishtinë

The news that Lex Specialis, as suggested by the Serbian

president was published in the "Official Herald", sealed the
surprising order by Milosevic to recognize the local elections
as advised by the Gonzales mission. The appearance of the special

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law in the Official Herald dated 11 February, means that it
enters in force the next day. This act undid the dilemma of the
Serbian elections, and the problems brought up by the opposition
for an office more or less in the local government, seem not to
be that serious so they could shake the results of Milosevic's
"special law".

Observed thus, the phase of facing the opposition, after three

months of continuous demonstrations seems to have ended by the
Serbian president, and the serious disagreements that could have
led to more radical solutions seem to have ended. Now remains the
other phase and type of political struggle in Serbia in the
relations between the position and the opposition. And all of it,
becomes important for Kosova, in the aspect of what will it bring
to Kosova, in the sense of the reflections of the political
consequences. Kosova was in, at the beginning of the crisis.

Moreover, there were dilemmas on whether Albanians should

demonstrate and should the Serbian opposition be supported, which
caused the creation of two lobbies that defended and attacked the
arguments of one-another, and the media on both sides of the
border participated in this activity. The new situation ended the
debate, facing the Kosovars and their chosen political
representatives, facing the dilemma what should be the next
attitude and what should be expected from the newly created
circumstances after the Serbian lex specialis.

This is the question often asked by foreign diplomats that have

been visiting Prishtinë lately. And, this dilemma could seem
logical, as it has been noticed by some analysts, because the
pressures in Belgrade, in the sense of public manifestations,
will go on reducing. In such conditions, western pressures
against official Belgrade could be concentrated around the
improvement of the situation in Kosova. In this aspect is how the
reactivation of the conversations on education are perceived.
Forced to do something about Kosova, even following the precise
remarks made by Washington, Milosevic seems to have left a small
door open to keep on the dialogue about a limited segment of the
Kosovar complex. But, all of it could get another sense, if the
conversation on education brings (or does not bring) results.

This is what the American Charge in Belgrade declared in his

meeting with Demaçi, i.e., if there are results, then there will
be additional attempts to unblock the other segments of the
Kosovar life, or the contrary, the conversations will be
interrupted because of the lacking effect. In this case,
Milosevic would face a bad situation, for the Serbian side would
be directly blamed for the failure of the conversations. If the
new tactics of the American diplomacy about the Serbian-Albanian
talks is serious, then this forced Milosevic to concentrate in

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these segmentary talks. In these circumstances, it would have to
give in something, i.e., to release the school buildings (with
an open question-mark in regard to the University). However, both
the analysts of the situation and the participants of the
conversations, express their impression that Serbs are willing
to stall as much as possible. This is maybe the best Serbian
tactics over Kosova, although in the new situation as suggested
by the Americans, the Kosovars could withdraw from the
conversations, they would be forced to "cut" something. Thus,
both sides would gain sufficient manoeuvring space.

In fact, Kosova will be on the agendas and this is announced by

the new pronouncement of "Project on Ethnic Relations" (PER),
which is namely the organizer of the Serb-Albanian conversations
that will take place in New York. Based on the press release
issued by PER, the date of the meeting is set on April 7-9. It
is interesting that this meeting was supposed to take place at
the end of last year, but it was postponed due to the created
situation in belgrade. And, the new PER invitation came
immediately after the so called Lex Specialis. i.e., after the
announcement of the solution of the Serbian electoral crisis.
"The purpose of the meeting is to encourage the informal dialogue
over issues that concern both parties, among the leaders of the
Albanian community in Kosova and the representatives of the main
political parties in Serbia", says PER's statement. Apart from
the parties that had previously invited (SPS, ND, SPO, DS and
Micunovic's DC from the Serbian side), on the Albanian side the
new invitee is the representative of the PPK. The press release
stated that senior observers from the State Department and the
White House have expressed their wish to be there, along with
some American academicians and specialists. The Serb-Albanian
meeting in New York, by all means sets some time-frames in which
the Kosovar question will be discussed, and frame in which
something should happen. Will the Serbs go to New York with the
"dowry" that will be created after the agreement on education,
or on the contrary will be waiting for New York and initiate as
many problems as possible but that will not take the issue as far
as touching the status of Kosova - this is something that remains
to be seen. It seems that Kosova is coming back to the game -
without and prejudgment of the result.

The meeting organized by the Bertelsmann Foundation in Munich has

received the proposals and suggestions of the Albanian and
Serbian experts, and they will be passed around influential fora.
On the other hand, another meeting is scheduled to take place in
Vienna by the end of April, which foresees the participation of
important representatives of the USA and Western Europe, e.g.
Emma Bonnino, M. Cohn-Bendit, Abramowitz, Anderson, Fleiner and
other eminent names of politics.

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Two of the participants of the Vienna meeting are members of the
Kosova Committee, just recently established by the Carnegie
Foundation. Therefore, beside David Anderson, chairman of the
Aspen Institute seated in Vienna, ambassador Morton Abramowitz
will act as chairman of this newly formed committee. The job of
this committee is to establish contacts among NGOs and create the
possibilities of cooperation among them.

Also the appointment of Max Van der Stoel is another sign of

increasing interest on Kosova. Regardless of how much his
appointment nominally sets the Kosova issue in the minority
package, which caused many reactions of the Albanian diplomacy,
the Government of Kosova and the PPK, the inclusion of Kosova in
the agenda of the OSCE is a direct form of pressure on Belgrade,
which if wishes to become member of this institution, must be
careful about what it will do in regard to Kosova...

Observed from this aspect, of the increasing interest in Kosova,

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-9-
realized that it was headed towards the role of the used
Albanian.

The ones that want to comfort themselves even in times when it

is clear that they are drowning deeply, can't see that this party
shouldn't be having second thoughts on whether it should continue
in the coalition or not, but rather to try and find ways to save
itself. Especially knowing that the parliamentarian elections are
not far and also knowing that there is big chance for anticipated
elections.

Today's PPD has two absolute goods and one evil which
marginalizes the good sides. The first good is the political
leader that is very careful and the second it has created a core
of cadres that have very good political experience, as no other
Albanians have. The only evil is stimulated by the two good
elements: the need, so expressed in politics, to take hastened
decisions and the creation of a "narcissist political elite" that
wishes to convert the party into private property in order to
strengthen the circles of the "political mafia".

In the last meeting of the Central Presidency of the Party

celebrated last week in Tetovë, it was decided that the
withdrawal from the Government will be done "once the deadline
set to the partner for its statement on the official use of
Albanian and the superior education also in Albanian expires".
Therefore, apart from the false dilemma - in or outside the
Government, PPD added the "time-out" element to it: the
government got a couple of weeks to clarify things!?

The leader of the SDLM and premier of the state gave a clear
answer to this decision: if you withdraw from the Government,
tomorrow we will proclaim the anticipated elections, which is in
free interpretation would sound: you know your present rating and
don't make much noise for we've got you in our hands!

Where does this conviction come, that the Albanian party and
ministers will not be able to achieve their threat and leave the
coalition? It would be very bad if the PPD leadership has not yet
discovered the possible reasons for this conviction of the
leading nomenclature. First of all, this conviction is grounded
on the belief that the West will do its utmost to keep the
coalition running, as well as the belief that Sali Berisha,
unable to save his own government needs no more problems on his
back. This conviction is also supported by the realization of the
"project" that Albanian should have two equally weak parties and
that are so deeply and crazily confronted, as is the case of PPD
and PPDSH. Or said in other words, so Albanians don't have a
party in which they will legitimize their political culture as
well as the threat to become a manipulated instrument of the

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"political mafia".

Meanwhile the Albanian political campus functions as it has so

far, the state Macedonian nomenclature is getting ever more
convinced that the Albanian ministers are very hard to remove
from the cabinets and even more harder to convince them to let
go the chairs on their own. This conviction is strengthened even
more with the statements of PPD members that have lately been
source of information of the Macedonian press, that aimed only
at the relativization of the withdrawal from the Government.
Something that doesn't show the real dimension of the withdrawal
from the institutional system, but rather presents it as a
"normal" trade between political parties for the participation
or not in the government. All of this threw on the surface
something that can be easily noticed in the background, that this
party lives thanks to the undisputable authority of its chairman,
Aliti, and therefore his eventual resignation could mean its full
marginalization. If something of the kind happens, then your
author has the courage of announcing the creation of a new party
seated in Shkup, whose members will be the "activists" who have
no place to put their beepers and cellular phones!

Inside or outside the government?

This is a false dilemma for the PPD. It's matter of concern

should be how to stabilize itself. How to put order among those
that think that the party is a beeper which converts their
personal wishes into reality. Or among those who live based on
the most rentable principle right now - "I am the people"!
On the other hand, PPDSH could consider this to be a favorable
situation, but only if it forgets that it actually is only PPD's
clone. Only if offenses are forgotten. It is said that the
infection of one place with political amorality can be actually
determined by the number of offenses expressed to the rival. If
this is the case, then the PPDSH should seek for a medicine for
intensive therapy. Same as the Macedonian government, under whose
windows the demonstrators ask the ban of Albanian and the
building of crematoriums for Albanians. Do the "constituents"
ever think that the "oasis of peace" full of demonstrations, is
happening something terrible when compared to the situation in
the Balkans: the political poison has been thrown among those who
should bear the project called multi-ethnic Macedonia. And
someone should incite the Macedonian students to demonstrate in
front of the Government, but ask from it to invest some money in
the elaboration of an explanatory dictionary of the Macedonian
language in order to replace the actual one that explains
everything in the Serbian language...!

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REPORTAGE

IN HAS

by DUKAGJIN GORANI

The small curve to the left, several kilometers away from Prizren
on road to Gjakovë will take you to Has, southwest Kosova, in the
birth place of the traditional Albanian bakers, of their women
that wear the traditional hat, the inevitable detail of the
national outfit - the Has "wrappers". But, also to the bordering
territory with Albania, severely affected by poverty and since
more than half a year affected also by a serious existential
problem: the outbreak of poliomyelitis, the incurable children's
disease.

The follow-up on the epidemics as well as the wish to make a

reportage from the part of Has that belongs to Prizren, was the
reason why last Tuesday, we took that same left turn, headed by
the UNICEF team from Prishtinë. Together with Flaka Surroi,
UNICEF's officer in Prishtinë and Dr. Luljeta Gashi from the
Institute of Public Health - Prishtinë, for whom this trip was
the continuation of last year's campaign to prevent the disease,
evidence the affected Kosovar children and enable their
rehabilitation - we visited Gjonaj, Krajkë, Lukinaj, Romajë...
the villages belonging to Has, in which at least nine children
will grow up, will grow old and maybe will even die without ever
having walked.

Gjonaj. Less than 30 kilometers away from Prizren, three-years-

old kids play besides the spring that splits the village, the
joint sewage of the side-by-side sticking houses; cows come back
from pasture, using the shortcut - go through the middle of the
cemetery, eating a bouquet or two; the hundred years old houses
destroyed by time remain deserted, replaced by the new ones; on
the half constructed roofs of which stand strongly posted the
satellite antennas that resist the wuthering winds. Without
major changes, the old and new ones have the same owners, in the
same place and often sharing the same walls. Nor do the family
names change much: Çoçaj, Hoxhaj or Totaj. But, each family name
has several tens of houses each. Dr. Luljeta says that the old
houses and the new ones do not differ much in another aspect too:
none of them is connected to the sewage. Regardless of how big
it is or how much it has cost, none of them have paid much
attention to necessary ventilation, septic pit or minimal running
water. The village of a region that is poor in water supply, uses
two or three common wells that are always in contact, below or
above, with the sewage of the village.

"The situation", say the Hoxhaj men, as they offer us cigarettes

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in the big ODA (traditional guest room in rural Kosova) full of
politicized calendars, national motives and tapestry in the form
of the Albanian flag. The difficult economic and political
situation has brought them here. The big social poverty and
political repression has caused the polio infection to one-year-
old Egzona, who will probably never walk. Maybe.

Nothing better do we hear at the Totaj's, while we are escorted

into the complex of old houses with sincere hospitality. Nine-
months-old Elmedina is another one of the victims of the polio
epidemics. Chances are that she will not walk ever, but there is
maybe a chance for the partial rehabilitation of her legs, which
will be provided by UNICEF, that has assured resources for this
purpose, says Flaka. The rehabilitation will probably last long,
and we will need more funds, she adds.

The people in Has are known for their traditional hospitality.

Maybe they feel this deeply as a necessity of life, as they are
used to working for decades as workers in bakeries throughout the
former Yugoslavia. The registration plates of their cars prove
of their display into Vojvodina, Serbia and Montenegro. It is
hard to find the men at home. They are season's workers, and they
come back to the village two or three times a year to bring in
money and see the families.

On our way to Krajkë we pass by the health station of the

village, a quite destroyed prefabricated building of the
"investing '70s". The local doctor that came out from the smoky
doctor's room, and who wouldn't take the cigarette from his lips,
proved to be a dedicated escort trying to explain the tragedies
of the village.

We reach Krajkë. For the ones unused to pass through our

villages, it is hard to see when one ends and the other one
starts. There is no difference in the density of the houses, the
poverty, the hospitality, reasons and justifications...

It was hard to believe that the small brick room, which actually
resembled a cottage, was the house of Haxhi Likaj's family, a
former physical worker, unemployed since ten years ago - chances
are also addicted to alcohol- and father of eight. The whole
house is a single room, with the uncovered floor, surrounded by
walls, blackened from the smoke that was coming out from the
stove on coal and wood, and which wouldn't come out from the roof
covered by plastic lining and carton. Eight-months-old Besmir,
is the youngest child of the Likajs. While Dr. Luljeta explains
to the family what the consequences of polio are, the threat of
infections due to lack of hygiene and the way the polio virus
spreads, the mother holds Besmir so the doctor can check up on
his hanging and flaccid feet. Besmir is one of the most serious

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cases. Fighting for his health is actually a struggle to keep him
alive. Mr. and Mrs. Likaj nod with understanding to the insisting
instructions of the UNICEF team. Besmir must urgently go to the
Igalo rehabilitation center, in Montenegro. OK. The quicker the
better. OK. The mother must accompany him. Ask you husband...
Drita, 19-years-old, the oldest one among them. She seems to
understand everything, meanwhile she appreciates the pleading
instructions of the team as a special honor and proof of her
maturity. OK.

And Besmir? What expects him? Dr. Luljeta's face tells me

everything.

The barking of three angry dogs stops us in front of the house

of Sulë Përvizaj, the unemployed father of eleven, whose wife had
taken their youngest child, 18-months-old Arlind to the Prizren
hospital. Besides the flu he got, little Arlind was also infected
by the polio virus during the epidemics. He is paralyzed. Sulë,
former season's baker, is very much concerned about his son's
health. He carefully listens to Luljeta's and Flaka's advise, and
says that their son had regularly taken all "shots" he should
have, but in vane. The flu has hit him hard. He seems to take his
son's paralysis as an inevitable thing of the life - as God
given, one could say. God gives the soul, God takes it... Maybe.
What about the legs?

The polio virus, in its wild version, says the team, could have
been "transported" in from Albania, that experienced a serious
epidemics last year. The supposition is that the vaccines used
in Albania and which were imported from "brotherly" China in the
sixties had been kept in improper temperature while transported
by ships from the far east. Thus, regular vaccination in Albania
has practically had no effect. Maybe true, maybe not; but it
sounds very possible.

Romajë. The center of the village is wide, as if it were a real

square. The main street covered with rocks is again cut by the
sewage canal of the village. The narrow bridge connects the
square of the village with the biggest building, that of the
elementary school. Tuesday's twilight faces us with the curiosity
of over 300 kids that just came our from their parallel school
that has no heating, no water, no care.

With no laziness do Alban, Jehona, Merita, Gëzim..., take the

best poses ever for the collective photograph, to symbolize the
future of Romajë of Has. Overwhelmed with the given chance, it
seems that right now they don't care for the poverty, the parked
police car, the filthy spring...

Lukinaj. Seven-months-old Venera spends the first days of her

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semi-paralyzed life in her home. UNICEF's engagement on her
partial rehabilitation echoes in the sitting room of the Letajs,
as something absolutely incomprehensible. We are offered coffee
by Venera's grandmother. Departing from Prishtinë, we were
advised not to take anything along the region that had been
affected by the epidemics. The fear is present, and her eyes
notice our full lack of sincerity as we tell her: "No, thanks.
We just had one...". What would you have told her?

On our way towards Rogova, a big village with high quality soil,
the most developed village in the area and the "borderline"
between the Prizren and the Gjakovë Has, I can't get the names
of the children out of my mind. I think of the sound of their
names, Arlind, Besmir, Egzona, Venera... The day when they were
named will remain the most beautiful day in their life. Their
beautiful names will reveal the open-eyed dreams of their parents
about the tomorrow that should not resemble yesterday.

But which does. Their names and fate prove that much more
dedication is needed to enliven the happy future. On our way to
Prishtinë, I thought in silence that police repression is a big
reason for the people's poverty, but it is hard to believe that
even if the police repression is immediately lifted, the polluted
springs will be closed immediately; that all the ruined roofs
will be fixed; that there will be water or a water supply system;
that there will be enough clothing and decent living space for
all those happy children of the Has. The new houses and the old
situation, nevertheless prove only the repetition of something
that I fear is a big part of a mentality, almost used to coexist
with epidemics and big tragedies.

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