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KOSOVO
1999 ... 2001

In June 1999, a peace agreement endorsed by the United Nations Security Council ended the war between NATO and Yugoslavia. The Kosovar refugees hosted by families in Albania all headed back to Kosovo. Triangle Génération Humanitaire's program was then no longer relevant, and the team located in Albania followed the columns of refugees returning to their home region. Many families no longer had a home, or the latter had been severely damaged.

TGH decided to work in the region of Skenderaj (Northern Kosovo), one of the regions most affected by the war. From September 1999 to January 2000, the association rebuilt the roofs of 306 houses and set up 450 heating systems. It also provided families with the essentials for daily life.

In November 1999, TGH started a psychosocial support program for the children suffering from war related traumas. This program was complemented by the training of social workers. The aim was to give to those children a positive support for their development and fulfillment through the establishment of socio-educational activities (fun recreational activities) and through support to their social and family environment. More specific guidance was provided to the children suffering from psychological traumas, and the most affected by the war were referred to therapeutic care services. This program benefited 2,000 children.

In September and October 2000, TGH opened two community resource centers in Skenderaj (Albanian side) and in Zubin-Potock (Serbian side). These centers aimed to become «resource places», in order to promote the development and integration of the youth in the local society and in the world. These centers implemented activities (educational, cultural, sports…) and the youth took the ownership of these premises by taking initiatives and responsibilities in their management and organization.

The program started in July 2000 with important building rehabilitation works (roofs, walls, painting, electricity…), the recruitment and training of the staff (approximately 35 people for both centers), the equipping of the building (furniture, office supply, computers…). The center of Skenderaj thus opened its doors on September 12, 2000 in the presence of Bernard Kouchner (UN civil administrator in Kosovo).

From May to July 2000, TGH also carried out a survey in order to assess as accurately as possible the situation of children living and working on the streets in the Albanian and Serbian zones in northern Kosovo. That survey resulted in the opening of a daycare center in Mitrovica in order to provide those children working on the streets with educational, social and psychosocial guidance.

In April 2000, TGH started a program supporting agricultural development in the region of Vushtri. The aim was to boost the growing of potatoes, and thus to enable farmers to start an income-generating production. Potato growers in the area were supplied with potatoes for consumption and 1st generation seeds.
A practical training course (use of fertilizers and seeds) was proposed to farmers, as well as awareness rising on the principle of redistribution of a part of the production. This project also aimed to «fix» rural populations in their region of origin, thus limiting the exodus towards the cities. From February to March 2001, potatoes seeds and fertilizers were distributed to 3, 000 growers in the region of Skenderaj.

In April 2001, a second program supporting agricultural development was implemented in the region of Vushtri: support to the veterinary center. Support consisted in the supply of equipment, the provision of vocational training and the implementation of an insemination program (3, 000 seeds). A German expatriate volunteer vet provided training in the veterinary center in Vushtri.