Refugee Visit - 18 Dec 2001
by Joe P
Visit the Bokavici School Photo Album
On December 18th 2001, a group from Bravo Company went to Bokavici School. They were doing a presentation for the end of Ramadan (Bajrim) and invited us to attend. The teachers provided us with a potluck lunch that was awesome. They had as much food there as you would have at a family holiday meal at home. We arrived at the school around 11:30am. We were taken straight to the room they had set up for lunch. Most of the ladies there spoke very little English. It didn’t matter because they spoke the international language of FOOD! As one lady offered me some more of a great dish, I responded that I did not care for more. She must have thought I could use the rest of the dish and covered my plate with it. After stuffing ourselves, or should I say getting stuffed; we went into the lunchroom for the holiday program. The kids put on an awesome program. One young man narrated the show in English. The kids ranging from 7 to about 13 years old performed native dances as well as contemporary dances. They really enjoyed dancing to modern European techno stuff (not the word I would use!).
Some of the kids at the school were refugees from the town of Srebrenica. I could only imagine the stories behind their lack of Dads or Moms or both. The school was very cold. Most kids dressed very warm with sweaters and sweatshirts. The coal stoves could only get the school so warm. After the presentation, we were able to present the different grades with the gifts provided by our loved ones and friends at home. The kids and teachers were very thankful. The hospitality of these folks was great! They really made us feel at home being so far away from our loved ones prior to Christmas. These folks lead a much harder life than we do in many ways. We fail to realize how truly blessed we are. Being able to visit the school makes you want to do more to try to help these kids. Thanks to all for the support through gifts and money. I am sure more opportunities will be coming up to assist these folks in helping themselves.
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Visit the Bokavici School Photo Album