From: wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de (Wam Kat)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Followup-To: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: Zagreb Diary
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 22:30:00 MET
Organization: ComLink-Network Germany - For Peace Zagreb
X-Z-Path: ZAMIR-ZG!LINK-ATU!LINK-HH!SHLINK
X-Gateway: US SHLINK [shgate V1.91]


Zagreb Diary
11-09-1992

Dobar Dan,

At this moment that I am writing this it has been 5 years ago 
that I saw my oldest son being born. In the Netherlands it is 
normal that children are born at home, but not here in 
Croatia. When you pass by the main hospital, a building for 
an ancient time you see on the other side of the street a 
pub, nicely called "The Stork" where man are nervous sitting, 
drinking there brandy and smoking one cigarette after 
another. Lot's of man, since in Zagreb at this moment lot's 
of babies are born. On the streets you see often pregnant 
women, but also women, sometimes with their husband or 
friend, but mostly alone, pushing a pram.

You may ask yourself what for future will those children 
have, in many cases however they are a lot better of than 
children who are just a few years older. They are not aware 
of the war this babies, not aware of the problems of their 
parents and when they become aware the wars maybe over. In 
any case new life means new dreams, new hope for the future 
and for many people it is a new reason to survive.

My son, I send him a nice fax yesterday evening, is better of 
for sure as most of the babies here, he and his baby brother 
and half sister don't have to worry that they have a cold 
winter or not enough food. But I don't think that small 
children worry much about that. They worry more about the 
stupid food they have to eat, since their parents thinks it 
is good for them. I know at least that my son would be happy 
if he sometimes would be able to give his food to this poor 
children (I never said it to him ("Eat you food, since 
children in the third world would fight for it"), but still).

Ulla and I always discussed how much a little baby is 
influenced by his or her surroundings, if you see the babies 
of the gypsies and sometimes other beggars hanging in the 
arms of their mothers, when they sit on the sidewalk in the 
car fumes I am sure they will somehow be influenced by it. 
Just like the babies in the refugee camps and centers, 
somehow even in this young age it must leave scares on them.

When I was sending a nice fax to my son, a mother, who is 
Croatian volunteer, with her came in the office. They ask me 
what I was doing and I told him that I was sending a birthday 
drawing to my child. Immediately she told it her little son 
who started to draw also a nice drawing, which we send by fax 
as extra present. Just a few moment later a phonecall from 
the Netherlands came from one of the former refugees of 
Gasinci, for which we are a sort of post office, they phone 
us and we try to get in contact with Astrid in Gasinci and so 
we submit messages between friends.

On that moment I putted one and one together and through my 
head went the following idea on which I would like to have 
some reaction. Most refugee centers in Croatia and abroad 
have telephone and mostly even fax (a lot even computer, but 

not in a network). It must be possible to link those things 
somehow. It is often not possible to use the official phones 
in the Centers. That we can be in contact with our volunteers 
in some of the camps is not so simple, somehow the allow us 
in the official offices, but but here as abroad those 
official areas are forbidden for refugees.

Technical speaking it is possible to make one or more cars 
with car telephone hook with computer plus modem and fax. 
These cars can drive along the refugee camps in former 
Yugoslavia and give help by contacting refugees in camps 
around the world. I am sure that telecommunication companies 
in the receiving countries are willing to support such a 
project. Together with peace groups in Western Europe (with 
computer and modem and/or fax) we can people talk with each 
other. It could also be possible to establish links between 
children in refugee camps and children from other places in 
Europe (schools can f.e. join in, let children exchange 
pictures with each other.

Open the network for refugees, offer your communication help 
to refugees in your neighbourhood, tell your 
telecommunication company about the idea, your local schools. 
Let those who really became the victims of the wars speak 
which each other and with children around the world. If we 
can build up a small group of at least Volkswagen bus size, 
which is just so big that we at least reach each camp in 
former Yugoslavia at least every 4 days, for Croatia that 
would mean around 7 units. I am sure that we can find enough 
volunteers from Croatia and abroad would are willing to drive 
those units and to help with their technical know how. 

When I called Bickey just some minute ago and told her the 
idea she said go for it, try to get the hardware, everybody 
now about the problem who is in a refugeecamp, news from your 
friends and relatives and from others is the best what can 
happen to you. We have searched for days before we found 
people and could bring them together, for safety reasons 
names are not given but ministry or other responsible 
institutions. In these days of modern communication we must 
offer that possibility.
   
You out there knows that we are busy with organising our 
workcamps and we build a contactnet around Croatia, similar 
nets can be build up elsewhere in former Yugoslavia and 
elsewhere. It give a lot of people around Europe a personal 
contact with each other. You see how the use of modern 
communication and networking have worked so far, within 2 
months we have a turning network from active groups and 
volunteers around Europe. With just some simple hardware we 
can enlarged that network and the use in electronic media 
enormous. 

Knowing the situation in the centers we know that after two 
weeks people will stand ready with their questions, the 
messages, their drawings and we bring them a lot of news and 
letters to be answered. We can even exchange our work to hook 
up schools in other countries with schools in different 
former Yugoslavia countries or them with each other. 


With Love from ZA-mir-GREB,

Wam:-)