25 Feb. 2008
The unemployment rate in the area of Prizren is at approx. 80 percent. The per-capita income of one third of the population is below 1.50 €/day. These naked figures symbolize poverty.
Lescovec, Kosovo - On 22 February, a tour of "LACHEN helfen" led them to a mountain hamlet. On rutted serpentines, they made their way up towards the about 1500 m high Cviljen, on top at the mountain slope the picturesque village of Lescovec.
Seen from close by, there is nothing picturesque about the hamlet: It looks bad, most of the houses went to ruin. Lescovec was nearly completely destroyed during the war. Of the former 700 inhabitants, only 220 people still live in the village. The remaining 23 families are too poor to move to Prizren like the others.
The old school in the hamlet should actually be closed already. The 33 pupils of the village are instructed by five teachers in three classrooms: three classes in the morning for grade six to nine and two classes in the afternoon for grades one to five. A German teacher would be happy about this small number of pupils. But that would be the only positive thing to report; the operation of this satellite school can only be maintained in a makeshift fashion.
The next school is in Lubishevo, eight kilometers away. The children cannot walk this way twice a day, the less so in wintertime. The future of this school is uncertain and the superior agency does not take the school into account anymore as far as the distribution of funds is concerned.
Construction measures do not take place, the furnishing is spartan, only wood for heating and chalk are provided. The teachers are very committed and partially prepare the didactic teaching aids themselves. The diagram on the wall depicting the periodic system is handwritten. A map shows the Kosovo, another the southeastern part of Europe.
The German CIMIC/LM Company had already inserted three new windows at the school. Today, "LACHEN helfen" provides donated school bags, filled with exercise booklets und writing material. Prior to the handover, Colonel Georg Maeker, Chief of Staff of the Multinational Task Force South and Deputy Commander of 19th German Contingent KFOR, wished for the children to learn well so that they may later bring their country forward.
The children's joy was obvious when they received the bags from Colonel Maeker and the Chief of the CIMIC/LM Company, Lt. Col. Ralf Turge. Next door the bags were opened immediately and the contents proudly presented to the other children. The soldiers left the mountain hamlet with the hope that their training will enable the children to get a chance in their later lives.
(Story by Captain Gerhard H. Fahn)
