[LM_NET] OT: Peace Effort in the Balkans

[edward nizalowski <enizalowski@NVCS.STIER.ORG>]

There is a very fascinating article in the latest issue of Transworld
Snowboarding: "Deep in the Balkans" by Tina Basich (pp. 110-115).  It's
about a group of riders who traveled to the republics of
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia to ride with children at the Raccoon
Snowboard Peace Camps.  

        Here was the opening quote:

        "I didn't know much about Bosnia and Croatia before this trip,
but I did know about the war, and I was definitely unsure about my
safety and a little freaked out.  Ivo, the Raccoon camp director, told
me all about the war ruins that still remain everywhere and the special
guides we'd need not only for avalanche safety but for the live land
mines, too.  I kept asking him if it was safe - but he assured me that
we were traveling with locals and that there'd be nothing to worry
about."

        The Raccoon Camps were organized by Codirector Ivo Skoric and
Wings of Hope for children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
and other maladies brought on by the war in the Balkans.  According to
Ivo:

        "We're looking to mix groups from various ethnicities: children
of refugees from Bosnia, children of Croatian veterans, children of
Croatian Serbs who returned to Croatia, children of all ethnic groups.
It's our hope that as they master the new skills together, they also
make friends and learn how to live together in peace."

        Ivo hopes that the camps can be expanded to Montenegro and
Macedonia.  They do accept donations.  This information is in the
article or contact me off list.

Ed Nizalowski, SMS                       
Newark Valley High School
Newark Valley, NY
enizalowski@nvcs.stier.org

        "Unfortunately, the owner of the business where I worked told us
that it is America who asks us to enslave the children.  American people
like the cheap carpets, the rugs, the towels that we make.  So they want
bonded labor to go on.  I appeal to you that you stop people from using
children as bonded laborers because the children need to use a pen
rather than the instruments of child labor."

Iqbal Masih, Reebok Youth in Action Award acceptance speech, December 7,
1994





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