Name, Title, Company/Location and AGE

Dennis Morgan
Employment and Training Coordinator, Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services. 38
Five years Refugee employment, fifteen with Refugees and internally displaced.

Which aspect of my job I like best:
Seeing people change as they become vested in their employment. I see everyday people begin finally to put some normalcy in their lives. Sometime we forget how important work is in that process. My clients come from four different continents. They come with a broad spectrum of abilities and skills. I've seen people succeed over and over. Each client is an individual and seeks different things, but it is very satisfying to see them create a stable environment for many times the first time in their lives.

My Most unusual job placement:
Each business is unique. I once placed four Bantu men in a Forge in Cleveland. None of us had ever seen one the day we drove up and applied. Called to a meeting a week later I actually got to see what they do. First I met with the owner who explained the problem. Next I met with his son the foreman who explained different unrelated problems. The crew chief just looked at me and shook his head.
It was a big hammer, bigger than I had ever seen three stories tall. These four Bantu men were actually forging. They let me watch, one of many safety hazards. To this day I can’t believe what they did for ten dollars an hour. They were trained poorly, but they still got 90% of the job in the first week. They worked in their own section and mostly on their own. They fired them after 10 days because of some simple details they failed to explain. I learned sometimes people have no idea what they are seeing. There isn’t much you can do. We can hope to change peoples thinking, but not always understand what they believe to be true. We moved in a positive direction. One of those men has worked with the Cleveland Schools for five years now.

Advice for recently entered into field:
You must read and study all the best practice material you can find. They call them technical providers for a reason. Each person has their own style and technique, but yours will be unique. Understand what others in your profession are doing. Then always be prepared for something new. Strategies will help you open doors, but what you find inside you can never tell. After five years new things occur on a regular basis. Nothing should surprise you in this job. Keeping lines of communication open with employers and responding to their needs is vital. Many employers appreciate having someone to call who knows their employee and can offer practical advice and support. They are a business and that should never be forgotten.

The key to refugee employment and life is positive momentum. Thing will go wrong, but keep going in a positive direction. I try not to overreact to difficulties or victories. The best way I can serve my clients is to do my job. It is impossible to hide my mistakes. If my clients can't work they can't pay their rent and that is simply unsustainable. The best we can hope is to find our clients jobs where other workers are happy to come to work. There are less of those places in the new “new”, but they are out there and should always be our goal.

Parting shot (please add anything you'd like here):
Having worked with well over 1000 refugees that last five years, my works offers unique retirement benefits; I am very interested to see what the next 40 years brings my clients and their new home here in Cleveland.

The Golden Wave Hypothesis aka The Heart of Gold Band

It's the moment you are honest
When you are everything that you are
Where you are not always wrong
There is someone that really understands

How there is nothing that you did
Why one thing is true
What is ancestral in our bones
Where there was someone who knew

That moment when your honest
When there is someone who is there
Where all things are not wrong
There is someone who can feel

How there is everything to do
Why all things will be true
There was no misunderstanding

The Extravagant Giant Lumbers Forth

by j.Morgan

I will write until it is written...and then I will be done with them

The Fogged Window

Hesitant in a sense
And observant prepared
In any direction but one
It being behind

Gone from this moment
Facing fully each possibility
That would become
This sense of clarity

Seeing through the fogged window
Knowing behind limitation
Well aware in prepare
Observant beyond observing

In a place of now
No longer then and
Perhaps almost when
I hold a large smile

Seeing through the fogged window
Surprised behind limitation
Spying almost every direction
I any direction but one

The Extravagant Giant

The story starts to take form in me
I found the title in a dream
I could see the cover of a book
The title arranged and designed
It was all I woke with

A couple of ideas crept inside me
And one combined with a small memory
How she smiles and how we met
Even the title begins to come clear
The story starts to take form in me

I can almost see it complete
Close my eyes and turn my neck
I feel another page around my shoulder
And find a clean page
A few lines it is almost revealed

The story starts to take form through me
But it shall not last long
As it will come out and leave from me

Balkan Blues

There is this poet I know
He hit the corner, but he missed that turn from Zenica to Sarajevo.

Most Sarajeli do
It is the heart of Bosna
My heart

Edin asked me, "Why are you standing there? lets go."
I answered, "There is a reason I am standing here."

and there was
my Balkan supernova

I just wonder
How does he not see the Balkans green

No question mark I know
I worked refugee resettlement five years now

How to avoid burn out?
you don't

It is called Entropy
But have faith it is green

2007

(1) Name, Title, Company/Location and AGE
Dennis Morgan, Employment Specialist, Catholic Charities Migration and
Refugee Services. 36

(2) Best thing about my job:
Seeing people change as they become vested in their employment. I see
everyday people begin finally to put some normalcy in their lives.
Sometime we forget how important work is in that process. My clients
come from four different continents. They come with a broad spectrum of
abilities and skills. I've seen people succeed over and over. Each
client is an individual and seeks different things, but it is very
satisfying to see them create a stable environment for many times the
first time in their lives.

(3) Biggest challenge:
Finding opportunities. As a small office we are always looking for new
relationships. Finding jobs never gets easy. It is not easy for anyone
to find opportunities. Each relationship is important in my work; you
never know where things will lead.

(4) Biggest surprise:
We are a charity organization, but our refugee clients are highly
marketable in the Cleveland area and all placements are win-win
situations and not charity.

(5) I worry about:
Keeping lines of communication open with employers and responding to
their needs. When problems do rarely develop it is usually more to do
with confusion than malice. Keeping open lines of communication is what
I worry about most. Many employers appreciate having someone to call
who knows there employee and can offer practical advice and support.

(6) Most important lesson learned:
The key to refugee employment and life is positive momentum. Thing will
go wrong, but if things are going in a positive direction there is
always the chance for the miraculous.

(7) Best advice I ever got:
The best way I can serve my clients is to do my job. It is impossible
to hide my mistakes. If my clients can't work they can't pay their rent
and that is simply unsustainable. Employment is the critical element of
refugee resettlement. Real-estate agents say "location, location,
location." Resettlement workers mantra is "employment, employment,
employment.

(8) When the going gets tough I:
Re-double efforts to head in a positive direction. I try not to
overreact to difficulties or victories. Working for the Catholic Church
we tend to take a longer view of things. My job entails specifically
getting refugees to avoid public assistance. My strategy is to find
work places that people are genuinely happy to be at. If no one is
happy working somewhere, my clients will face the same difficulties.

(9) For relaxation I:
Spend time with my family and volunteer in the community. I'd rather be
going 30 mph either down a hill or across the water on skis. Also I
have found Yoga has helped me stay in one piece as I get older. I try
to read and write as much as I can. I have stories for a couple books
from this job.

(10) What I'm doing 10 years from now:
Moving in a positive direction. I will be working with people and not
numbers. I enjoy work on the frontlines. I will be working with
refugees in some capacity or another field under the catch all of
Sustainable Development. I graduated from the Urban School at CSU and
really see all of our difficulties and possibilities as a community
under that category. Even the Cuyahoga county commissioners have been
talking about a green city on a blue lake. I am happy to see my
community moving in a positive direction and I know that my clients are
actively contributing.

(11) Parting shot (please add anything you'd like here):
Having worked with well over 500 refugees that last three years,
my works offers unique retirement benefits; I am very interested to see
what the next 40 years brings my clients and their new home here in
Cleveland. I often imagine running into a former client 30 or 40 years
down the road.

Outline of a Fifty Year Plan Zenica BiH (1996)

Premise: Before the war, Zenica was a dangerous place to be. The river had no fish. The nights had no stars. Zelezera (the largest steel factory in the Balkans) was the city and a small town on the Adriatic coast. Today, for the first time in fifty years, you can see the entire city from a nearby ski resort. The greatest liability was the environment. The reality of war in Central Bosnia has reversed this situation. People eat ever-larger fish from the river, but no one seems too interested in the safety questions. Quantifiable environmental assets have returned to life in Zenica. Two symbols regional environmental projects should exploit: fish and/or stars.

 Under a forming democratic government the will of the people has entered the political spheres of influence currently forming in the Balkans. Shown by the oldest democracies in this world the environment is of direct concern to those individuals who must live in it. Reopening the steel factory to full capacity is an economic impossibility. The competitive nature of the world steel industry was leaving Zenica behind even before the war. Now after dealing with a refugee crisis for five years neglect has become the greatest war damage in central Bosnia.

 From these premises I begin: A. The greatest benefit to the Zenica region because of hostilities is a quantifiable improvement in environmental factors and a small but strong professional humanitarian local work force. B. Zelezera has the infrastructure to create a new industry with in the central Bosnian region.

 Phase One: Perceptions of Zenica must be changed. Zenica has always been a dirty industrial town. The fact of the matter is that Zenica is no longer. The natural beauty and location is what first brought Zenica to the attention of socialist regime. Zenica is in a unique position now to reclaim it's role as a cross roads of Bosnia.

 A cultural center is the most environmentally and economical sound idea to move forward into the future. The current cultural centers of Europe are no longer a simple matter of history .The industry of cultural has grown to dominate the world media and agenda. Central Bosnia has no access to the sea stable enough to count on business as usual in municipal planning. The negative aspects of a community can be identified and used to the benefit of every member of the community in a diverse and free world community .The largest steel factory in the Balkans now stands as a monument to a municipal planning policy that considered the state before the people. No policy that created the environmental catastrophe that was Zenica can be seen as anything else.

 This aging neglected structure can be transformed into a cultural awaking showing new generations why the policy of state before people can never survive, and why as a world community our generation has choose to change it. The political, religious, economic, and environmental aspects of this transition phase must all be taken into consideration. Zenica is developing a future role in the religious divide of east and west. With in the central Bosnia institutions are developing close relationships with the west as well as the mid east. This historical cross roads is best recorded in the Zenica Canton with its remaining diversity of religious institutions. A community with historical religious diversity located centrally in a region cut off from the sea must be recognized if any policy for community development is to lead to the ideal of government by the people.

 Problems: The concept of the NGO role in Bosnia is outdated. The role of an international NGO in Bosnia has always been to do the job in an environment where no one else could or would deliver the assistance needed. That was the emergency phase of war. In this first phase of re development NGOs are disconnected in Bosnia from the government and the people of Bosnia. The idea of an open forum where concerns are given an appropriate place at the table simply has not existed in this situation to date. NGOs fighting battles of taxation and international customs in an emergency phase has led to the ultra competitive environment that is the NGO community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The simple reality of the NGO world is that we do what we get money for.

 In an environment of donors competing agendas the large successful organizations have been force4 to take sides. In creating these divisions donors and NGO alike are developing strategies for the future based on partial information. These divisions are formed around personal conflict that manifests itself in every coordinating body thus far implemented in Central Bosnia. The openness required of an organization to make positive changes for the future has become impossible in the very premise of an international NGO located in Bosnia.

 The salary gulf that is clear to every person involved in the community is simply accepted and never brought to an open discussion. The lack of coordination is present in every aspect of coordination meetings which try to solve a problem for which they have been mostly to blame. NGO identity is pounded in to the implementing staff members. Strength of presence has greater marketability in this environment than strength of ideas. The very defining concept of a NGO is lost in this environment where basic ideas are never given the same simple checks and balances as the simple procedure for refueling a project vehicle. The present NGO community is the dinosaur of Bosnia. The only chance for survival is the resumption of hostilities.

 This basic problem is the heart of the need for a fifty year plan in the Zenica municipality. Defining concept are the reality of any project implementation. The international push to create local NGOs in Bosnia has no bases in the concepts that originally formed these international organizations. The sad reality is that an NGO created by an NGO reflect the same flawed structure and leads to grid-lock. Traditional emergency based responses of the NGO community in Bosnia is creating a local NGO community of competition. Where the value of an organization is not measure by what it implements, but by how much; with little or no concern for the direction of the organization.

 In creating a local work force familiar with the workings of NGOs in the emergency phase the local economy has viewed these positions as little less than good jobs. The work of humanitarian relief is a basic concept in the culture of the world that has never been fully applied to the experience in Bosnia. Many factors have lead to this stagnation of ideas. The speed at which these organizations where formed was based on the changing agenda of donors which was never clear to even the donors themselves lost in there own competing agendas. The reality of funding changed. Local NGOs where capable of broadening the funding base of international NGOs. The international NGO came to the idea of local NGOs supporting there own outdate administrative over-head.

 The usefulness of an emergency based response lasts as the emergency phase does. NGOs are no longer the only players on the block. Large contractors have entered the fray and have been viewed by the NGO community as their latest competition. Several advances in cooperation have occurred with the opening up of central Bosnia, however these manifestations of cooperation have come from a realization of a greater threat to the large NGO presence in Bosnia. Instead of identifying the still great needs in the areas of alternative media, cultural re definition, community development, and social order the NGO in Bosnia still is driven by the concept of we will do what we can get money for. Not from the basic concept of informing the donor community of the real needs of the communities on the ground and changing their agenda.

 We are following a stumbling policy of half information. Competing agendas are not being discussed, but merely defended. On the ground and in the offices of large international organizations there is a highly skilled and informed segment which has gained unique working experiences in the emergency response to Bosnia and Herzegovina. These are the people fueling the cultural revolution in Bosnia along side the citizens of this developing democracy.

 The greatest accomplishments in the third sector of Bosnia are occurring despite not within the long term policies of international NGOs in Bosnia. The question needs to be asked is why does the third sector in Bosnia need a large international emergency response from large international NGOs. They have created a place for themselves in creating the third sector which is growing more and more ineffective yet more and more visibly present. The piggy-back approach to local organizations, coordination of projects not ideas, and the lack of real information being gathered from experienced humanitarian workers is leading to a third sector in Bosnia that purports the sustainability of an organization is attracting money to build the structure not using the structure to promote the community.

 

 These battles lead to the hallways of a donors home nation. The American Foreign policy arm in Bosnia has pursued initiatives at break neck speed here because it is a policy of an outsider. Foreign policy for a nation can no longer attack a problem in the world as an outsider. The quick fix that is acceptable for Bosnia is not acceptable to main street. Politicians solve symptoms and the agendas of large international funding bodies have remain directly linked to the political atmosphere of the country of origin. International and local NGO alike and the entire third sector in Bosnia must define there own agendas before dealing with donors competing agendas.

 The real leverage for an NGO is its ability at the grass-roots level to gain support. If this leverage is not nurtured then donor leverage wins before the questions are even asked. In defining the role of international organizations into the next century real support must be in place with paper support. Humanitarian initiatives have their bases in government by the people. This is not an exercise in tearing down the structures of the current NGO community in Bosnia, but it is a call upon all participating members in this peace process to define simply on the ground the most reasonable approach to take and present one agenda to the world community of donors.

 Phase Two: The clearest step forward in the current environment in Bosnia is to re affirm grass-roots support for the initiatives of NGOs in Bosnia. By broadening the funding base to include areal input from individuals we can expand the initiatives leverage against competing donor agendas. Bringing qualified volunteers into well defined roles can create an organization that is valued by the diversity of experience with in the staff. 

In Zenica this could best be implemented in the cultural life of the city and its citizens. Zeps, an international trade fair each October, has shown that people will travel to Zenica for regional events. Forty years ago people came to Zenica for steel. The government for the state first overlooked environmental impact and then long term sustainability of the largest steel mill in the Balkans. The state needed a reason for Zenica and in turn for itself. In creating large dinosaur organizations the international donor community is overlooking the long term sustainability of the region. A cultural center needs to be begun in Zenica. It is a misinterpretation of the facts when Zenica is linked only to the former socialist regime. Zelezera is something that shall not simply slip into the past of short sighted planning. Short sighted planning builds real infrastructure if approached from the right direction. The physical size and presence is a dominating presence in this community .The physical space and infrastructure for creating work space can not be left to rust in neglect. 

Imagine for a moment, before I continue, the largest steel factory in the Balkans becoming the largest cultural center in the Balkans. Transformed from a short sighted past to a bright long term future. Zenica could become home to the greatest free standing monument to the failed policies of division which are the policies of poverty from which war is derived. 

 Problems: In the transfer of governmental, religious, cultural, artistic and recreational initiatives from the old democracies of the world there is a large ideological gap. Professional organizations implementing these initiatives must find a partnership between salary driven professional accountability and the deliberate goal driven voluntary experience. Staff members of large international organizations can not be asked to enter a developing culture and have a real impact with the current real and uninformed concerns of the salary gap.

 The concept of paying a Bosnian ten Duetche Marks for the removal of a mine is wholly inconsistent with basic human rights presupposed in developed countries. There is a need for professionals in this movement, but they can not be expected to be effective in areas in which they hold varying degrees of commitment. No organization in the history of man has found an effective manner of dealing with this gulf and perhaps in the end there is no way to change the reality in which policies of division are created, but we can start to be honest with ourselves as a community and face these issues in the light it should be rightly placed.

 The accountant for a multi-million dollar organization did not decide that his salary should be expected in the mid to high forties, while the beneficiaries his organization claims to support are not held up to the same simple bill of human rights. We must identify these initiative for what they are as Hellen Keller once described her involvement in the American Association For the Blind, "I regard philanthropy as a tragic apology for wrong conditions." 

 We need to be able to speak at the table with moral certainty .International organizations are building empty promises in Bosnia and why? People must be allowed to do their job. The third sector here is implementing short sighted emergency projects designed to justify their own existence. Having an office and this opportunity to draft this outline is an example of the real infrastructure that has been established in the short term. This infrastructure can be salvaged for the long term.

 Phase Three: The system of balance and check must be strongly re enforced in the humanitarian movement being implemented in Bosnia. A balance must be found between an organizations need for professionals and it basic need for acceptance into the community .The ideological checks can not be demanded of an international aide worker in this competitive environment. These checks must come from outside the competition: the role of the volunteer.

 Given a fair living standard in reasonable relation to the situation I as a volunteer in Bosnia for fifteen months was given the unique opportunity to see the competition and to survive in the NGO world and enter in that environment as I saw reasonable. I was also given the opportunity to enter the Bosnian community as a closer related member. Volunteers form bridges in the salary gap. They are not the only solution, but they are a step in the right direction.

 Volunteers along side local staff members enter the community and are taken in, but are also expected to present the concerns of the community as well as their own to a large dinosaur that has become the International NGO model and its premature offspring the local NGO. This bridge can be used as the informational highway of change. Still implemented in a professional way by simply connecting the staff on the ground to the long term planning of an organization. With a half completed structure we can build centers starting with the specialty of each organization.

 Supporting freedom of movement without supporting freedom of thought is a doomed policy of division. In defending our own mistakes we hinder the process of change. In the third phase of a transition we must see the result of the first two. Many aspects can be anticipated. The ski resort overlooking Zenica is placed on rolling hills that look over Zenica and Zelezera. From this vantage point Zenica can be seen for what it truly is: a community of humans and infrastructure. 

 This rusting steel shell can become alive again. Imagine, again for a moment before I continue, a festival of Balkan Art, from the first of May lasting until the first of October, connecting a former steel mill with the perspective easily assessable up on the hills.

 Problems: Changing the way a community envisions itself is what community building is all about. Identifying the characteristics of a community is the first step. New initiatives have to be taken to broaden the experience of living in central Bosnia. Beginning small steps in long term planning appear disconnected at times. How can organizing a small art center and a connection with the ski resort in Zenica be seen as vital in the short term? One approach is with the current flavor of the month, conflict resolution, in the NGO community. The concept of changing peoples perspective is vital in this process. We need to identify the most affective and feasible approaches. Building a small infrastructure on the mountain top for this purpose is certainly possible.

 The identification of Zenica with the steel factory must be changed and accepted for what it was: once again a policy of division. The very nature of life is linked to the structures that house a community .A growing art center changes perceptions about a community .The industry of tourism was one of the great booms of the twentieth century. Zenica has the resources to join the fastest growing industry as we approach the twenty-first century: culture. As the steel mill slowly rusts the NGO community could find a great resource. An organization based in Zenica should certainly have some relation to the largest structure in the area.

  Most people see failure in the rusting infrastructure that needs to be repaired, but the third sector must champion the belief that infrastructure from a policy of division can be used to build a policy of inclusion in the European Union and the world. Required is only the will and the right leverage.

 Zenica Concerns: Progressive developmental strategies are being implemented in the world humanitarian movement. There are people and donors only concerned with making the world a safer and better place. There are even positive sign appearing in the Bosnian government, but the third sector sees these gains only as victories after long battles. The third sector is still fighting the government instead of guiding and supporting which was its primary design. There are examples in Sarajevo of progressive long term planning. The idea of changing the large infrastructure of an ex-JNA army base and incorporating the infrastructure of the university structure is an example of the best of ideas flowing from the third sector. In a new democracy there are no laws written in stone. The only thing required for long term planning is the freedom of thought working directly with the freedom of movement and all basic human rights.

 The placement of military forces in the world is something the citizens of democracy must play an active role in implementing. Land usage is still a fair demand made by the military, but any plans must include the long term wishes of the community. No longer can competing agendas be allowed to drive the third sector of Bosnia. Zenica must join the traditional forward thinking of Sarajevo, which won them the Olympic bid in 1984, and place the cultural re newel in an historical perspective that includes central Bosnia into the world political community.

 By standing on clearly defined long term planning this region has the potential of closing the gap between east and west. The geographical significance of the Zenica can no longer be underestimated.

 The mistakes of an old system must be look upon in the same light as the bright accomplishments are remembered. There was a stable system in the Balkans under socialism. There was a great freedom of life to be experienced. The greatness of socialism was built separate from the politics of division, but in never understood the rightness of a government formed by the people. The state was controlled to improve the lives of individuals. As we enter the next century individuals must improve the life of the state.

 It is their responsibility to become citizens of the global community and… ...hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness¬ That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.¬ That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. (Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America)

 Conclusions: There is still emergency situations to address within Bosnia and Herzegovina. These areas of concern should be identified through community forums sponsored by the third sector. We must deal with these concerns directly and together in order to realign a reasonable amount of resources within large international organizations to the developing new visions of community building. In the areas of alternative media a progressive approach must be found. Establishing home pages on the internet is now feasible within Bosnia. We must use preventative steps in the protection of freedom of the press. NGOs need to develop a strong presence on the internet now while the government is still in the stabilizing phase. In accomplishing this task the third sector in Bosnia can avoid the situation, occurring in parts of Asia and the middle east, of growing regulation of the internet and alternative media.

 In acting in the short term the third sector can continue to support freedom of movement by assuring the continue freedom of thought. Thus far stop gap measures have been used to deal with the growing concerns of the reliability of the press. In partnership with the government the third sector can create a forum of clarity .In most case the governing bodies in the Balkans have not worked this way with humanitarian movements and with good reason. The confusion of competing agendas and the attempt of the NGO community to present one view to the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a lie in its very inception.

 We can not afford to take with us in to the future failed concepts of the past. We must identify them clearly in this proposed forum and understand them for what they are. The concept of safe haven must not be forgotten. This concept has failed in every implementation attempted within the former Yugoslavia (international organizations persist in this label). The concept was never flawed. The United Nations Security Council, the largest NGO coordinating body, must reach compromises based upon the strength of ideas, not solely on the strength of presence. The concept of safe havens was not a North American or European initiative, it came from the simple understanding that Srebenica should never have been allowed to fall.

 In implementing this simple idea the world has failed in every way. Instead of talking openly with the government of Bosnia the largest of world organizations has insisted that the policy was not directly their fault. And in response have offered to help realize the promise of the safe havens, but in never discussing the competing agendas the world has stagnated the growth of the Bosnian multiethnic community .They have resigned themselves to policies of division. Cultural difference is the greatest asset to the modern world. There is not a current war in this world that is not defined by cultural division. 

 The successful peace process is defined by cultural difference. The seeds for this initiative can be found in the central Bosnian canton structure. The safe haven can only be implemented in a forum of moral certainty and cooperating ideas. Never in the politics of separation. Central Bosnia can still become a safe haven and create an industry to stabilize the entire region. Apologies and competing agendas can no longer be tolerated in the context of simple defining concept of the third sector. Donor, International NGOs and local NGOs must all become clear in their agendas. International bodies do not need to create false realities that demand there presence.

 Never has there been an open forum in the third sector in Bosnia; international agencies point to this fact as the need for their involvement and continued funding. The third sector in Bosnia is creating a false economy of competition where there should be reconciliation. Humanitarian initiatives must be clearly defined. Why we do what we get money for must be more important than getting money.

 The fears in the third sector are unfounded. The competitive nature of work has bread a false belief in the importance of presence. Why are we humanitarian workers in Bosnia? Are we here to fight the government for a leadership role or guide a government by the people to its rightful leadership role. In forming a clear agenda here on the ground with openness and cooperation of ideas these initiatives forming in the third sector in Bosnia can add clarity to the problems of competing agendas at the donor level. Long term community based development is a concept that takes the concerns of the community to the donor nations and presents them first. The concerns of the community must be our starting point not the concerns of donor nations.

 International organizations must take a leadership role in joining these two groups together regardless of their current competing agendas. In Bosnia the basic flawed design in implementing safe havens has made everyone vulnerable. International NGOs are not the only creature overly concerned with their own survival. The current long term initiative are simply the mistake of the past. We must identify what is working and what resources are available.

 A Few Bright Spots: Local organizations have been formed on the ground in Bosnia and they are having a real impact on the formation of the new humanitarian law. The local organizations are crying out with definition of purpose and are demanding clarity in the long term. These groups will not be happy with every aspect of the truth of the Bosnian NGO experience, but an end to lies is long over due.

 Local organizations are developing the same tendencies of their large international parents. These organizations have few resources to connect with the community in an open exchange of ideas. The grayness of the large NGOs as a result of choosing side has created a darkness and unsteadiness in the third sector in Bosnia. 

 There our positive signs of the Bosnian government participating in a spirit of cooperation. The humanitarian initiative can be transformed into a vital partner in this process. There is a very professional infrastructure present in this sector. They must be allowed to implement new programs based on there unique experiences. There are progressive municipal development ideas being implemented in the short term. The dinosaur of the international NGO is not extinct yet. Complete information is available from complete honesty. The partial information that is the bases of short term NGO planning must be gathered from all competing agencies to form a clear long term developmental strategy for the cross roads of east and west. If how the community envisions itself is not changed then shall be funding to rebuild again?

 The current NGO community seems determined to maintain their structure and bank upon a resumption of hostilities or long term profitable policies of division. Democracy was not founded on division, but on inclusion. In democracy there should be no competing agendas only competing ideas. Coordination of transport can not be accomplished without coordination of destination. These are the simple lessons to be learned in the third sector. Let’s go back to the table and look honestly at the policy of safe havens that is in fact how international organizations justified their arrival in Bosnia. Now there is abridge to be built from Bosnia that leads back to the United Nations Security Council to finish the debate that was in fact never started. The strength of presence shut the strength of idea out.

 The failed policies of the past have once again built an infrastructure of stagnation. Now is the time to see the steel factory and the NGO community as what they are: large free standing monuments to the failed politics of division and poverty.  Now is the time to build a new multi ethnic community in the heart of Bosnia in the crossroads of the east and the west. The third sector is its own side and must get its own house in order and lead as it was designed to teach struggling communities to look past and live through short term emergencies and see a bright clear future somewhere upon the hills of Bosnia.

Outline of a One Hundred Year Plan Zenica BiH (2025)

A Vision for the Future: Building on Progress and Learning from the Past

The story of Zenica is not just one of hardship but also resilience, transformation, and untapped potential. In 2024, the closure of the coke plant signaled a turning point—a moment when environmental recovery and sustainable planning could finally take center stage. This marks an opportunity to redefine Zenica’s identity, not just as an industrial city, but as a model of ecological and cultural renewal for the entire region.

Environmental Leadership for a Sustainable Future

The environmental challenges Zenica faces—polluted air, compromised rivers, and industrial fallout—are daunting, but they also provide a foundation for leadership in green innovation. By embracing renewable energy, urban greening projects, and sustainable industry, Zenica can turn its past into a powerful narrative of recovery. Initiatives that prioritize clean air, water conservation, and energy efficiency will not only improve the quality of life for its residents but also position Zenica as a beacon of hope for other post-industrial communities.

A Collaborative Approach to Governance and Development

The persistent challenges of political stagnation and competing agendas require a shift in how governance and the third sector operate. Collaboration must replace competition. Zenica, with its historical role as a crossroads, can foster partnerships that bridge local government, international organizations, and community-based initiatives. The focus must shift from short-term emergency responses to long-term planning rooted in the voices and needs of the people.

Central to this vision is the establishment of forums where citizens, NGOs, and policymakers can engage in honest dialogue. Transparency and accountability must guide these efforts, ensuring that development is inclusive, equitable, and driven by shared goals.

Cultural Renewal as a Unifying Force

Zenica’s cultural history—rich with diversity and resilience—should be at the heart of its future. The city has the potential to become a center for artistic and cultural expression, a place where the voices of all its ethnic communities are celebrated. By investing in education, public art, and community events, Zenica can foster a sense of pride and unity that transcends the divisions of the past.

Harnessing Technology for Empowerment

In a world increasingly driven by digital connections, Zenica’s future lies in embracing technology as a tool for education, activism, and innovation. Accessible internet infrastructure and digital literacy programs can empower its citizens to engage with global opportunities while addressing local challenges. By fostering a culture of openness and creativity, Zenica can become a hub for young innovators and entrepreneurs.

A Global Model for Reconciliation and Progress

Zenica’s geographical and cultural position at the crossroads of East and West offers a unique opportunity to lead in reconciliation and cooperation. The region’s multiethnic history, though fraught with challenges, is also its greatest strength. By building a society that celebrates cultural differences and prioritizes mutual respect, Zenica can set an example for peacebuilding in a world too often divided.

Conclusion: Toward a Hundred-Year Plan

As we look to the future, Zenica stands at a pivotal moment. The lessons of the past—both the triumphs and the failures—must inform a bold vision for the decades to come. This vision requires commitment: to sustainability, to unity, and to the idea that progress comes not from division but from collaboration and shared purpose.

Zenica’s story is still being written. With careful planning, a spirit of innovation, and the courage to confront hard truths, it can emerge as a leader in the Balkans and beyond—a city that bridges its industrial past with a vibrant, sustainable future. Somewhere upon the hills of Bosnia, there lies a future that is bright, clear, and built by the hands of those who dare to imagine something better.

Adis

It wasn’t what the reality was necessarily that mattered, but how it was I perceived it. I came across this name all the time written on the walls and through the halls of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Or was it mostly in this Bosna I knew.

There are simple reasons that the multiverse has for doing this all. Is it so absurd to find us the only intelligence in this entire universe? Perhaps sad, but certainly not impossible. It could be a low percentage chance and yet necessarily required to happen if it was to all happen and our improbable happiness real.

It takes a lot of time it is true. Many rules made to be only agreed upon and relative only in this our context. I remember walking the streets of Sarajevo alone and cold. I saw this name one million times and my reality I somehow chose to believe. There was this need to do.

Words string together and one word repeats itself all over Bosnia. Moving all the time I found it in static places. Realities I would never understand beyond the connection to that other wall written upon. Perhaps I was the only connection or there were others. The point is that they connected me to a place and time New Sarajevo a quality from quantity.

Alternative perspectives are difficult to release because they are rare. There are many words written on wall and through to them all are only relative those who perceive them. What do you see? What you see. That is no great mystery. What I see is the only question I have. It never seems I have enough time here.

Happiness is real just a low percentage occurrence when looked for in geological time scales. In this our time it isn’t as fleeting. Anything missing would leave this life less. These are the reasons we are. We build upon the bedrock of our soul. Sometimes a message scrawled on the wall becomes ones point before waking up.

Final is always the end and the all we perceive as life continues forward and certain realities merge and grow to build the biosphere. One universe is a confining space for just one person’s dream. And yet it is filled with six billion at the very least. It seems elusive to find sense of these. Is struggle for alternative perceptions.

Then I find Adis written on a thousand places Sarajevo and remember a story but not the words of a soul awoken by death as he had scribbled upon the wall in Gornji Vakuf.

The Bottle Neck

Everybody 20,000. We will know them.

Speed Kills

When ever I stumble over my own illusions I tend to take the greatest care. Never have I considered myself naive nor necessarily well informed. I was aware why the Nazis called it the Blitzkrieg: Speed. I wasn't aware that US fighter pilots are required to take speed on long distance flights.

We are not talking about Nancy Reagan and say no to drugs. We are talking about scientifically well understood chemicals. So well understood they have been looking for a replacement with less side effects for forty years. Looks like they might have finally found one and that the reason both for the press release and my stumbling upon this illusion.

It is important, but not really up there. This isn't really about that. I just thought we had less in common with Nazis. One more thing we should be able to solve

As I brushed myself off this illusion connected me to another moment from a song down to the end, "My daughter leaves the hospital and cluster bombs arrive. A pair of anonymous Americans and not one miss, but the market square as well. Why couldn’t one pilot refuse? As a son of the American Revolution I guess I took it a little more personal than most. Those born there understood from how far away he had come. Maybe there were women pilots, they didn’t seem to be."

I wrote that some time ago and seem to have found my answer after so long never searching: speed kills.

There is nothing I hold against the military. They missed most of us. But who are we fighting and with what tactics. Maybe it is time to call the Calvary and start make some reservation spaces. Imagine all the Chinese had to move in a hurry; where would you put them? Just a short acknowledgment of a small passing fancy.

You ask me there is a structure to history and this but a phase. Either we make it through or we don't. In an end I would have no regret...how would you?

Don't believe this and end but 2009 sister less is more. Slow and steady gives life.

BLACK HOLES ON BLACK WALLS

I. Down to the end

I was in Niš, Yugoslavia when I heard President Clinton address the nation in the wake of Columbine. There was a heightened sense of attention in me as my wife waited our first daughter in the hospital. A father I would become and every source of information was worth the effort to comprehend. Not every would find use in me, but I wasn’t passing anything along.

NATO planes drop cluster bombs and break the sound barrier just to put you off nerve. Clinton tells our children to look for nonviolent conflict resolution as the electricity goes off and ten million people stand around and talk about when the electricity will return and who has a gas stove to cook us coffee.

American pilots fly over Nis our best and brightest. Told to go kill and not to ask too many questions. My daughter leaves the hospital and cluster bombs arrive. A pair of anonymous Americans and not one miss, but the market square as well. There are legs on the news. These well engineered blue canisters still waiting to kill along your path home. You don’t really see body parts on the screen, they consume you. And you move on.

Why couldn’t one pilot refuse? As a son of the American Revolution I guess I took it a little more personal than most. Those born there understood from how far away he had come. Maybe there were women pilots, they didn’t seem to be.

I worked at the center for nonviolent conflict resolution. I had learned a trade 3 years in Bosnia. Clinton is like the white man from South Africa who tells you that nonviolent conflict resolution brought them peace. Only Hollywood has more violence than Africa. When a bully is perceived as rational: wrong causes are attributed. Diversity and struggle down to the end.

II. Should the state provide

The world is full of fissures and creases…the jet as it was such a natural design. There is no contradiction. Are women equal Socrates? I sit in my junior level class and listen to a brief overview of justice. Hamurabi through Moses to Plato down through Muhammad past St. Augustine least we forget Jerome. The man is hot and dry, the women is cold and wet. So was theirs to reason.

Every day the lottery we have each played: to be born to have or born to have not. Born to search or born to receive. I such came to breath in Euclid, Ohio. Born male to work for my dollar; Two years later my sister to work for her seventy-five cents. There is no contradiction…everyone is wrong in a way that creates your illusions. Someone once told me, in Amsterdam, you just contradicted every philosopher. Had anyone else my concern?

There was no theory of my life. I speak to you much later. In my junior level class where we each wait to earn our dollar…the women seem unconcerned with their seventy-five cents. Why does it bother me?

There is one thing. That first worldview I held. Not the one I remember, but what they said of me. The rest of my life was a process of unlearning what my soul clearly told me. Then I read the story in the census 2000: For every male dollar earned the female worker can expect seventy-five cents. On average, you say, things are much better for women. I only ask: What was it that needed to be fixed and how was everything so and still broken?

You live history and learn History…if nothing understand this; you will find no fear speaking what it is you have come to believe. For to any of their theories of everything you are relevant. The state to assure this fact as right would find peace in the course of affairs. It is Star-Trek science with ancient social structures. Forty years forward the contradiction revealed; it was ignorance and the generations so surreal.

III. The most natural of thing

Perhaps there are different rules at different times. Perhaps children cannot be charged as adults. What ever your point…there are more topics than your words when you understand that life is taking you and precious time you still have.

I had lost you my audience. Who it is I am writing to. Words cross the abyss. Much is farther than we know. We here upon our island of this sun. Much has been and resolved with what we have imagined. A keystroke from revolution so secure in our form.

There’s a time when the sun rides on the back of the waves
There’s a time when the sun builds its island in the sun
There’s a time when the ocean is all that you see

It’s how she left me standing that I could see

THE GIRL OVER THE RIVER DRINA

You can't change the Balkans. It's plastic that changes. What humans make changes. What God makes lives. Culture is always stable politics never were. Lying about culture by not talking about what was done is what America was based upon aside from a few Nobel ideals. Working as a volunteer here for two years she asked me if I wanted to go back to America. Of course I do. No one is at home there. I can live in my family, but we make no communities together in policies of division. I've found the Balkans home. Go Home. Don't listen understand. These ramblings I must put on paper for this community grows tired of hearing things it knows. In the Balkans they all know why they can't and growing tired and soon they must. I say to NATO and to the Humanitarian movement...come to the table. And hear a short story about eight people who had nothing to do but live together seven days and share an understanding that never needed words but here they
are.
The west has technology and lacks community
The east has lost its technology, but never community
Who has the greater challenge to overcome??
Sarajevo without reasons and some leaping in the night that was there, but another story. Sunday eight am a walk in the snow a taxi drive my second in two years. The bus station. To get on a bus Bosnian people must have food. You don't buy it along the way you bring and run out. Edin and I as volunteers in the Balkans where going because someone asked us to a seminar in Slovenija. Edo had always been a volunteer in the Balkans I only started, but for two years. Getting on the bus for Ljubiana I thought I had a story to tell. I had lived in Zenica had loved had learned, but all I had was a small understanding to be open and a large need to put importance on things that were not. We rode to Zenica this brown in my eye. I was traveling all the places I had known to Travnik. The conversation around me never stops. At first I was identified as a Slovenian heading home. I left this misunderstanding and only listened and watched those around. To my left a Croatian who knew Bosnia home. To the right behind two from Sarajevo that knew Germany better, were home with Bosnia. Behind a wrestling fan young not in school for four years, but had been all around lost in a conversation with the Balkans. Ten hours to Bihać, three for ten kilometers. Snow on the Srbska republik nothing moves there. They never stopped talking the war, the price of Cevap CiCi in Busovaci, all the stories flowing. When I first came here I only heard the rhythm of language. It all sounded important. In my English rhythm was only found in importance. Now understanding there was more rhythm in nothing in life. A woman to my right only listened and watched I watched her eyes. I studied them in a fourteen hour orgasm of understanding of living. My enjoyment rolled they never stopped. Complete annoyance to complete enjoyment. A year ago I worked very hard to understand. For annoyance and enjoyment I worked very hard. Here it began to roll. In Bihac I was identified and the questions came not looking for answers. Why did you come to Bosnia? Why didn't America stop this war? I came to Bosnia for a bed to sleep in. A place where the question was always why never what. That was the reason I stayed. Bosnians were not supposed to survive. America had sold them to a new world order incomplete. Strength of presence was stability. We had won the cold war by being colder and lasting longer standing on our lines. We crossed the border it was nice to see. Crossing in Croatian land there was always blue policemen. The first international Bosnian border I had reached was green. Sixteen hours and Ljubiana. I watched their eyes head down the road as us eight from Bosnia stood in the streets at midnight. A kombi bus for us three more hours. Martin Slovene greeted us as we continued on. I sat with Slavica sweetly and spoke in English everything I knew about in English that I do. "Do you speak Bosnian?"
"1 do, but I can't right now."
"1 don't like to speak English," I didn't know what she meant. I knew she understood English. We stopped for fuel. And we bought things they had in Bosnia only with new packages and together as a group for the first time. I knew Dorthee or we had met and Edin, we all knew at least another, but this was the first time we all met.
The garbage can had a smilee face, "Everything's happy in Slovenija." It looked a lot like America only cleaner. We in a circle and then go. Zlatko from Banovici. Slaven from Tuzla. Ameldin from Gorazde. Dennis from Cleveland. Edin from Gomji Vakuf. Sanela from Tuzla. Dorthee from Switzerland. We arrived in two rooms in the mountains. A better hotel than I had ever stayed in. Better then they had in Bosnia. Three in the morning in two rooms. Sarajevo Sunday 8am. Our rooms Monday 3am. We had arrived and talked about our work. We had the same ideas. We talked about Srebenica we had the same feelings. The five of us and a bottle of Stock 1884. There were four beds and conversation in rhythm. And then a five am boom. We were all asleep. We were all home. And the morning 9am. We were together with the energy that comes from being together. Around one table all others were certain that we had been together 100 years. I did not know that then, but I find it hard to express closed eyes alone. The time line is lost. I didn't think these thoughts in all those thens, but forever in my life now. The dead in Columbus I fell back in emptiness and all I had was my name and a dance, but I only visited community. Seminar and randomness. One two three four. When we counted it was easy to see. There’s a natural rhythm broken by closed eyes. Most sang out with purpose or only chance. Some refused and they were of no interest to me and we finished a day of randomness. Most thought the day was over. There was a schedule of enjoyment and there was none for Monday, but a guitar and time to be together. Martin and Usor went for Stock 1884 and some beer. There was no place to stay prepared, we all searched and many who had expected an end joined in. On the second floor lobby and the couches gathered near. Bosnians the guitar and the Balkans.
Seven more days drained all of us. We worked every day. The last day everyone spoke like old friends. We eight barely moved. The bus ride from Sarajevo was longer than the time we spent sleeping that week. We all prepared to leave returning to seven republics. The Serbians left at 4:30 am. They had places to go. The five of the republics had plans. Us eight from Bosnia had just realized we needed a way back home. This came as no surprise and with great delight to the other republics. There is a Bosnian identity. We headed in the right direction. Bus to Ljubijana. We clustered in the station still apart from the whole. What Edo described as the modern jail. Train to Zagreb. We’d figure out something from there. Reminded me of those Andric Bosnians arriving to take the train to Sarajevo from Vise Grad. They arrived when they could and assumed there would be a train leaving at sometime. Urbanization taught many the schedules, but in Bosnia sometimes it is just important that you are going in the right direction. To reach my wife years later. I traveled to Vise Grad and was refused a visa twice. Slept the night and hitchhiked to “Pale”. A Bus from Zenica that never stopped there picked me up. Even better I was going to have to go around anyways. Six days from Sarajevo to Nis. Bosnia put me in the right direction.

SCATTERED LIKE LOST WORDS

Sometimes I forget. Sometimes I don’t remember. Sometimes I have no idea. How was it that I lived that way? I left the last time alone for Sarajevo March 22, 1999. It seems like I am always going to Bosnia. I have a story to tell you. This indefinable you. I start here, as there is nowhere else. I have no idea what I shall write. Is it my story? Is it there story? Is it their story? This debit I owe. This task I undertake. How to write a dream atop an Athol on? So patient as if it never needed to be done. I remember this night five years ago in Zenica more than I did then alone in a strange and far off land. I had arrived in Bosnia in April and in my three months I hadn’t learned too much language, but I think I got my points across. It was the satellite receiver the head of mission couldn’t figure out anyways that got me started. The month MTV Europe was no longer free and Srebrenica was so ethnically cleansed. The war was almost over or so it had to be after so many years. Sarajevo was still closed and the communal koan of peace, the street car beat, was silent. How could it be imagined, who conceived who knew this Srebrenica to come? It was the only time I spent in Bosnia and understood fully I was not Bosnian. I was not from here. I had arrived to bare witness the end. We were all there from every nation on earth and they for the most part had been no where else. I processed Srebrenica as yet one case in point that the international peace mission, which I was apart jaron, was just what Helen Keller described as the “Tragic Apology for wrong conditions.” I was a volunteer and it was different for me. I had come for a bed. That is my story. They had survived for the end. That is their story, but as I watched their faces on that day five years ago, I didn’t see anyone. Everything could be worse…no one is prepared for that, and so I continue this journey tonight following the path which I have followed to exhaustion. How will it come out of me? It came out of them slowly as I watched the months roll by. So shall this from me. I keep in mind two things, the words of a man my uncle crossed the Atlantic with so long ago:
“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not YET sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favour; a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”
And that peace finally did arrive and the street cars sing Sarajevo peace today.

Pocket full of Sand

Yet to be written, but great title

Jahorina

There are these other universes I am sure
Where my bones shattered and ground to dust
I rode her wave past myself down

I am a water skier
Down the middle the waves are fine
I can see there's not much else you need

There is an area of return they all ride on their edge
There is nothing that they create but danger
They're their own problem

Then you can't see and you are your problem
No one is going to save you
They can't see either

This one time I could see the way down
I found myself already cross there ice tracks
Over to the left descending and arriving as seen from the top

There are other universes I am sure
Where my bones shattered and were ground to dust
In this universe I found the way down

Allons it is safe for your bones arrive the dust heap in any case
I just hope to make it a few time more down Jahorina

RAMBLINGS OF A MODERN DAY MAN, MAN

My first direct exposure to the environmental movement was when I visited the Center for Nonviolent Conflict Resolution in Nis, Yugoslavia, October 1997. I had been introduced to members of the center through mutual friends in the NGO community. During my visit I participated in the meetings, which included the intercultural, women’s, and environmental projects. As an American considering working in Serbia, I was naturally drawn to the environmental project as a less controversial area. During this time I was included in weekly organizational meetings with an average of fifteen members present and a majority of the trustees. The center’s strongest supporter was the Star Delphi women initiative. I met with the members of a delegation from Sweden. As a native English speaker and fluent in Serbian I helped with less literal translation. After a month long stay I had formed a very good opinion of the activities of the center. In my work earlier in Bosnia, working with youth, the majority of local organizations had been formed with direct international support. It was refreshing to find a truly local organization. The key-founding member had left before my arrival for Washington, D.C., with the Brethren Volunteer Service. An American volunteer had been placed in the center through the same program. The center, at the time I arrived, had a developing relationship with the nonviolent student movement in Kosovo. The numerous international delegations I met with during my first month gave me the impression that there was a strong desire by the international community to invest in Kosovo and southern Serbia. A general attempt was being made to contain an old problem, but Kosovo was being disturbed by the recent formation of the KLF (Kosovo Liberation Army). During my first visit to Serbia the international press had only theorized their existence. I returned to Bosnia in November to complete my contract with the United Nations Development Program in Gornji Vakuf.
I returned to Serbia for New Years and began working directly with Eko Tim, January 1, 1998. They had recently completed a neighborhood recycling drive with mixed results. Several members had moved on to other organizations, the first meeting I attended included seven other people. A majority of the members were environmental students and all members were university students. In early 1998 two members of Eko Tim were invited to the 1rst International Skill Share on Local Agenda 21, held in Szentendre, Hungary. The two members held several workshops on Local Agenda 21 upon their return. Quality materials in English were provided by The Northern Alliance for Sustainable Development (ANPED), the sponsor of the Skill Share. Eko Tim’s only project developing at the time was the creation of an environmental map of the Nis region. I attended ANPED’s annual meeting in Sophia Bulgaria with one other Eko Tim member. For three days we attended general workshops including green manufacturing, corporate responsibility, genetically engineered foods, and LA21. In general sessions my colleague was offered a position on the ANPED board. Eko Tim suggested Nis as a possible place for a LA21 case study. Several test programs throughout Europe had begun with strong support from the international community. Substantial financial support was offered to local governments included in these programs. The focus of Eko Tim was quickly shifted to Local Agenda 21 (LA21). The center received a large cash donation at a donor’s conference in Banja Luka, BiH. The project coordinator brought the money to Nis overland. This was how the majority of donations for all organizations in Serbia received their funding. Financial logistics was the most challenging aspect of the work. There was no direct support from the general operating budget of the center for Eko Tim. A limited amount of material resources was available in the center for all activities. In March 1998 Eko Tim began writing a LA21 proposal for the Regional Environmental Center for Southern and Eastern Europe (REC) located in Budapest. The local agenda material we had was limited to English, during the proposal writing process I was needed to explain more deeply some of the issues involved. Agenda 21 is the action plan for sustainable development agreed by over 170 heads of government at the 1992 Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro. The term sustainable development was defined in 1988 as: "Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
The key concepts were the focus in our proposal; local agenda means that people should be responsible for the environment that they directly inhabit. In the Eastern European context there are several issues that lead to adaptations in the general approach. After the fall of the iron curtain, a large percentage of the responsibility for the environment shifted to the local government. This was certainly the case in Serbia and the Balkans in general. Local governments lacked the skills and resources, during an initial stage, to deal with a new area of responsibility. LA21 is designed to bring all the stakeholders into a dialogue of environmental concerns. An interesting finding from LA21 implementation is that a polling of the general population to set priorities for environmental action in most cases will mirror the recommendations of expert analysis. This idea was not arrived at lightly. The data in Eastern Europe is consistent, perhaps because the problems are more severe. LA21 calls for the creation of Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAP) and Eko Tim’s proposal included the creation of a LEAP for Nis. The general situation made public awareness our first challenge. A river cleaning and happening was scheduled to celebrate the anniversary of the Rio conference and the creation of LA21. Five Saturdays in May Eko Tim cleaned up a local wild dump along the Nisava (the river running through town). A concert with 15 regional bands was held June 5 1998 on the cleaned riverfront. Media coverage for this event was very strong. This was the first time the center appeared on the local news. Shortly after, the women’s project was the focus of a special report on local television. Although this project was the heart of our proposal to REC, funding had been delayed two months and local fund raising covered the shortfall. The local ministry for the environment donated 500 Dinars (about $40 at the time). The regional ministry for the environment was very helpful with contacts in the business community. The Yugoslavian oil industry actually provided electricity for the concert from a near by gas station. Five hundred dollars did eventually reach Eko Tim near the end of the summer. This money was used to develop an Internet project for the center and Eko Tim. Two versions are still active on free-servers, but are no longer maintained. A new proposal was being prepared for REC in the time leading up to the NATO bombing campaign. Two members had attended REC’s month long “Junior Fellowship” program and strong ties had been made locally as well as throughout Europe. Generally speaking, support for travel expenses to seminars and conferences were always provided to a limited number of organizations in Eastern Europe. Two things made our work possible in Nis; the local government was an opposition party, which generally supported contacts with the west and our ability to convince local politicians of the financial attractiveness of a LA21 case study supported by the international community.
In the fall of 1998, Eko Tim began working with the national Geographic Research Society (GID). The project focused on a gorge on the edge of the urban field. The British Embassy in Belgrade provided funding for an international work camp. The gorge was first described during the crusades. International volunteers arrived from all over Europe, but I was the only American as it was very difficult to obtain an extended visa. I extended my visa by teaching English at the local university. I first had contact with GID members during this time. Eko Tim supported GID with workshops for the local population. Our first workshop was boycotted due to the name of the river we place on our promotional material. A feud existed between the two largest villages as to the actual name of the river they shared. This problem was avoided in our later workshops, which were well attended. The focus of these workshops was the possibility of creating eco-tourism in the region. As far-fetched as the idea seemed at the time, a majority of those in attendance understood the logic and held hope for the long-term future. A key issue at many of these meeting was the fact that in the villages of Serbia there is no organized trash removal. Eko Tim members also attended the work camp, which lasted 15 days. After this experience I could see that the general approach of Eko Tim, raising public awareness, was very practical. Given the current situation in Serbia, eco-tourism remains only a long-term possibility.
As Eko Tim began to stabilize, the center began to fall apart. In 1998 with the creation of the KLF the Nonviolent Student’s Movement was all but abandoned. The intercultural project, which was well funded, faced an impossible situation. Practically speaking the project ceased to exist. At the time conflict within the center was focused on the problems of the intercultural project. While ties to Pax Christi were created the group had little direction. The worsening situation in Serbia created apathy in the membership. The leader of the women’s group left to create a new organization. Eko Tim soon followed suite, although the situation was not that clear cut. A new coordinator did attempt to hold an intercultural seminar to fulfill the letter of the grant. While the seminar was still in the planning phase the center ceased to hold weekly meetings. The original coordinator of the Intercultural program is currently the coordinator for Eko Tim in Nis. As the NATO bombing campaign started the center ceased to function. In the stressful environment several factions formed in the organization and equipment original donated by the US embassy was dispersed among them. Eko Tim was inactive for the duration of the bombing campaign, although, members met regularly.
At the conclusion of the bombing campaign, Eko Tim was contacted by REC’s office in Belgrade. Of all the projects REC funded in Serbia, Eko Tim was one of the few organizations that returned a coherent report. Because of this fact, we were invited to a meeting between the local government and United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). The leader of the UNEV mission was also the deputy secretary for REC in Budapest. He was familiar with one of the members who had completed their “Junior Fellowship” program. UNEV came to Nis to do tests to assess the environmental impact of the NATO bombing. Of major concern was the damage to the electrical grid in Nis. Extremely toxic materials were released into the ground water. UNEV met with the local government as a courtesy. They had no mandate to discuss political issues, which made a meeting with politicians rather confused. The local government stated that all of the environmental problems were a direct result of the NATO bombing campaign. UNEV asked if there were any environmental occurrences in the city in the last several years. Members of Eko Tim reminded those present of a major fish killing on the Nisave. A large tire plant up stream was generally blamed, but the local government could provide no actual data. The politicians present expressed the political realities of environmental issues in Serbia. I believe the local officials were only interested in potential funding for any project. The local government expressed indirectly their opposition to the Federal Government. UNEV expressed once again that they were only present in Serbia to provide a basic sketch of the environmental conditions for the Security Council. There was first hard data available. UNEV asked those involved to state what they though was the greatest threat to the environment. Some local officials stated the radiation from various weapons used by NATO, but a consensus was reached at the end of the meeting; the lack of funding for Eastern Europe in general, made funding for Serbia almost nonexistent in the current political environment.
In July and August of 1999 we began making transition plans for Eko Tim. . The original coordinator of the intercultural project in the center was appointed as the coordinator for Eko Tim in Nis. I relocated back home to Cleveland in September of 1999, with my new wife and baby, to complete my degree in Environmental Policy and Management here at CSU. My wife was only the equivalent of a few credit hours from finishing her degree in Environmental Studies in Nis. She was also the coordinator for Eko Tim during my time in Serbia. In June of 2000, I began the procedure for incorporating Eko Tim Cleveland as a nonprofit organization here in Ohio. A core group of members is committed to continuing the work of Eko Tim. I have not encountered LA21 since I returned to Cleveland. In early 1999, a member of Eko Tim attended the European Union’s first Environmental Ministers Conference in Arhus, Denmark. LA 21 was the major focus of the conference. LA21 represents a general approach to the overall environmental movement. In contacting environmental organizations here in Cleveland I have not seen any reference to LA21.
www.ekotim.net

Get Carter

OK some background. When I became aware of myself Jimmy Carter was President. My third grade class was the first to integrate and everything made sense. The Busing in my history book had finally reached these Yankee Indian Hills. There was something ominous to me in the idea that someone else would be President. I long imagined how could it happen. Watching the adults around me watching it happen I understood something totally new for the first time.
Today I understand it was history. Desegregation stopped. The white middle class deserted the inner-ring suburbs. The largest economy in the history of the world set to work upon their new markets and new suburbs. You see my generation was told a lie and an illusion. Yet we all pretend so well that something is real in race. Today it is the RTA bus driver who sets me to task, “we’re all in this thing together.”
I ride the bus almost everyday I come from Euclid I-90 west Cleveland 39F when I catch it. There is a place in the city I like to think I see the most. I live in Euclid on East 233rd street next to Sims Park. This stretch of Lakeshore Boulevard is considered downtown Euclid. As you drive through this area you are sure to be stopped by at least one red light. We couldn’t have people just drive through without stopping to have a look. We have a movie theater in our neighborhood, pizza delivery, blockbuster video, CVS, Marc’s and all the necessities for the downtown of an inner ring suburb. Of course the movie theater doesn’t take credit cards, I’m not too sure what that means, but I was sure taken by surprise and ended up renting a video that brisk April night. The link to downtown Cleveland here is RTA’s 39F, my bus. I don’t now what percentage of Euclid works downtown, but every morning I jump in the flow and every afternoon we make our way back to Euclid. As I pass downtown I normally see seniors going about there business, you see the kids are at school; the rest of us are usually at work and Euclid for those fleeting afternoons seems to be overrun with retiree’s. Later in the afternoon the families start to return to their natural majority. That’s when I come home normally. There is only one real reason I live here in Euclid. Well my grandparents and parents are here, but that’s not really the reason. I live next to Simms Park; you see here in Euclid and most places in Cuyahoga County there doesn’t seem to be any associated cost for living on the lakeshore. Everyday that we can we go down to the beach with our daughter and make believe we live somewhere on the ocean. You see I’ve been on many of coastlines in my time and they all have one quality in common: the water meeting the land. I haven’t lived in the Cleveland area five years so maybe I have a different perspective, but the shoreline here for me is as enjoyable just to watch as any other shoreline. I grew up in Euclid, but I didn’t learn that here. As I traveled I have seen coastal people and have always been envious. There is something about them that defies qualification. Maybe it’s too much sun on the brain, but there is always something. I normally find myself envious watching young children who have known no other life than the shoreline. There is a certain percentage of the population that lives on the shoreline and in my estimation they are in an advantages position; if just the simple sound of the water meeting the land to add a certain knowledge to their soul.
It is at this point that I normally remember that Clevelander’s are a coastal people. They’re not like any I’ve come across before. I guess when I think about it we have our boats and certainly an advantage over many a city, but there are many problems. The first thing that seems backward to me is that we seem to build too much industry along the shore. The St. Clair- Superior neighborhood is an example of this phenomenon of neighborhoods cutting themselves off from the lake. In Euclid it’s a different story, we have our access, but we just don’t seem to have our connection. As someone who grew up in Euclid I find it doubtful that I am the exception: I have never felt like a coastal person as I watch the fisherman bring in there catch along the Mediterranean. There are more beautiful stretches of shore in that part of the world, but there are worse and what’s more they seem to me the same. Well maybe it’s because Lake Erie sometimes has a tendency to freeze over in the winter. Perhaps this is the reason for our cool relations.
Simms Park comes to life with the spring. Walking there on a nice spring afternoon it is always alive, but seldom crowded. You can always find yourself 100ft of personal space. Between the lovers, families, friends and occasional marching band there is always more beach than us. The beach is unguarded and posted for no swimming and that I’m sure keeps the crowds away. Still as I look back to Lakeshore Boulevard it seems to me that many people are simply not aware of the incredible gift they have in Cleveland. Maybe even the only one; whoever decided to build downtown on a wind swept knoll may have though different. The Indians knew not to build there. Of course there are other things that keep people away. The first time I walked the beach this year in the sun I was overcome with the smell of dead fish. I tried to rationalize this fact, but of all the coast lines I’ve been down I have never seen such a situation. Big fish little fish all kinds of fish. No one seems overly concerned as the Euclid Park maintenance people plow the piles away. You see the kind of things I’m talking about are not the primary things they are concerned with in Simms Park. Sometime ago there was a decision made to turn this shoreline into a big drain for the freeway system. That’s just Clevelander thinking for you: the lake is nature’s way of making our sewage problems go away. Between where I live and the beach is a large concrete pipe that constantly brings runoff water from I-90. Around this pipe are more dead little fish and dead big fish. It is a sad place that no one seems to see. I would like to have been able to be at the meeting where this decision was made. As a resident of Euclid I find it hard to believe that it was made in my interest. Of course if we’re not really coastal people. All we need is a higher percentage of the fortune 500 in town? First we need to understand our assets.

When I arrive in Bosnia the war was still raging. Zenica is a central area and was relatively far from the frontlines. There was occasional shelling in the summer of 1995 in Zenica. I arrived in the Youth House with a very broad job description. I stayed in the center eight hours a day and was forced to create a place for myself. There had been constant problems with the video teacher, I had had a semester of video art in high school and took over the video department. I was responsible for creating curriculum for video classes and workshops. I lead many mixed video groups in various field experiences including documenting the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to the UMCOR office in Tulza. The Travnik Youth House was opened in September and my video project was expanded to include Travnik. I traveled regularly bringing children from Zenica to Travnik and vise versa. I also took an active role within the UMCOR office, but unlike the professionals I worked with I had an alternate space in the Youth House. I gained exposure to crisis refugee management including the building of a tent city after the fall of Srebrenica in July of 1995 and Zepa a week later. During these times it was not uncommon for 10,000 refugees to arrive in a single night. The war in Bosnia finished in November of 1995.

May 96 – Nov. 96 United Methodist Committee on Relief; Zenica, Bosnia
In early 1996 I passed up an opportunity to be the long term volunteer in Sarajevo. I had been part of the team that created the project after the signing of the Dayton agreement. While Sarajevo offered greater possibilities I chose to stay in Zenica as I had developed close ties in my work there. In May of 1996 I was offered the position of Community Services Officer, which included responsibilities throughout Bosnia. While I spent part of every week on the road I kept Zenica as my primary location. During this time I was the lead person for the creation of a Youth House Project in Sanki Most (northwestern Bosnia) and developmental plans for Gorazda (Eastern Bosnia). From my experience in Zenica I was able to create budgets, schedules, and most importantly I designed the usage of the space. With as many as fifteen activities taking place it was crucial to keep the space constantly in use. My primary tasks involved supporting the general implementation of Youth House projects (Zenica, Sarajevo, Travnik, Sanki Most, and Gornji Vakuf). My secondary task implementation of the video project "Witness" in cooperation with the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights. The Witness project was designed to give free video equipment to organizations involved with human rights in the hopes of expanded documentation. Along with my students we created several documentary films. The highlight of this time was a documentation of the tunnel that lead in and out of Sarajevo during the siege of Sarajevo. In the summer of 1996 I also worked as a featured extra in the movie “Welcome to Sarajevo,” I played the first of two cameramen for Woody Harlsons character. I was scheduled to work ten days including shooting in Croatia and Macedonia. I was only able to work four days due to my commitments to UMCOR. For two summers I supplied logistical support for the short-term volunteer program. At peak times I average 600KM travel distance a day. Through this process I was exposed to administrative task involved in large volunteer projects. There was on average eight groups coming for two weeks throughout the summer. At this time the Sarajevo Airport was closed and the airport in Split, Croatia was used as the arrival point. I along with one other driver were responsible for coordinating free time in Split for each group upon their arrival and departure. We each drove a passenger van with an average of eight volunteers each. During this time I had a perfect driving record driving on war ravaged roads and improvised United Nations supply roads. I also had extensive exposure and coordination with UNPROFOR, IFOR, and SFOR (Peace Keeping Missions). Eventually I lost my position due to a controversy involving intellectual property within the Youth House System. Students came to me with documentation of wrong doings that had earlier been passed over by the Head of Mission’s wife (then Director of Social Services). After an extended battle students asked me to return the material as they did not wish to continue. I was fired and hired the next day by our partner organization in Gornji Vakuf.
III. Secondary tasks involved coordination of activities with the UMCOR offices in Mostar, Tuzla, Sarajevo, Gornji Vakuf, Travnik, and Banja Luka in creation of video propaganda using youth house video students as implementing members.
IV. During my time I witnessed total implementation budgets grow from $1,000,000 to over 40,000,000.
V. Participation and performance as a volunteer led to a paid position with expanded responsibilities.
VI. Logistical support for outreach project serving 9 refugee camps throughout central Bosnia.

Nov. 96 – Dec. 97 United Nations Development Program; Gornji Vakuf, Bosnia
Youth Development Volunteer
I had worked with this volunteer group helping to create the Youth House project in Gornji Vakuf. From the start I worked in the over-all UNOV and as a subordinate to the local coordinator the Youth Club Project.

VII. Primary task involved developing and implementing a 15,000 DEM video income generation* and cultural documentation project within the project "Youth Club '96."
VIII. Including project design, proposal writing, logistics and general administration.
IX. Participation at Civil Service International’s Balkan Task Force conference in Slovenia in 1997.
X. Participation and logistical support at Pax Christi’s youth seminars throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bringing mixed groups of youth together.
XI. Secondary tasks involved coordination of activities with the Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Jablinica and Mostar "round table" of youth oriented local organizations.
XII. Responsible for documenting OSCE’s youth festival “Some Like it Hot” in 1998 working with youth from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
XIII. Logistical support for members participation at the Pavorati Music Center opening in Mostar working with youth from both sides of the divided town.

During my time there we registered Youth Club ’96 as a local NGO. Funders included OSCE and US Aid. Direct coordination of relationship with US Aid. Conflict resolution skills gained through summer camp with mixed Moslem, Croatian and Serb youth as well as various other conflict resolution skills seminars. Project administration, budget, proposal writing. Extensive logistical support of club members: planning, resource allocation and coordination with UNDP office. Created curriculum for video and newspaper sections in the club. Including supervision and training for desk to publishing. Extensive coordination with and exposure to the British IFOR/SFOR Headquarters Located in Gornji Vakuf. Attended weekly administrative meetings for the larger UNDP volunteer project. This project received a very good review by the UN, we considered ourselves the lowest level of the United Nations as the janitors in the building in New York were making much more money. During times of need the volunteers pooled money from personal stipend for the operating budget. The coordinator of the project went on to create a large rehabilitation project in Travnik with UNDP.

Jan 98 – Sept. 99
I moved to Nis, Serbia in Jan. 1998 after my contract expired with then UNDP project in Gornji Vakuf. I had saved five hundred DEM, which in Serbia was a very sizeable amount of money. I had met my future wife at the U2 concert in Sarajevo through mutual friends working in the peace movement. I arrived in Nis with hopes of working with the Center for Nonviolent Conflict Resolution. I had spent October of 1997 in Nis before deciding to relocate there. The language usage was very different in Serbia for me, but it is basically the same language. My wife is a refugee from Sarajevo and speaks a variant I was more comfortable with. I originally extended my visa by working as an English teacher at the University in Nis. I was not paid for this work, but receive free Serbian language classes. On July 4th , 1998 with my money running out we were married in Nis. We had decided to live with her parents in order for her to finish her degree. My wife was in her last year of Environmental Studies and was the coordinator of the environmental project “Eko Tim” in the center. Are estimation of the situation was that things would most likely not get worse. Serbia had struggled many years, but for the most part had not seen much change. We had made her degree our first priority. We worked in the center and lived with her parents in Nis. Her brother had recently relocated to Canada, which opened up space in her parents apartment. Most housing in Nis is allocated by the number of people in the family. I attended a weeklong interview process with the Balkan Peace Team in Holland. Eight candidates participate in workshops and “Long Role Playing” situations. I was later declined as a candidate due to my marriage to a Serbian woman. My daughter was born in Nis April 26, 1999. I was the only American present in Nis during the NATO Bombing campaign. I returned from Sarajevo the second day of the bombing (international border crossing – avoidance of conflict). I met with the Regional Secretary for the Global Board of Ministries March 23 (the reason for my trip to Sarajevo). I witnessed first hand so called collateral damage when my wife’s Grandfather was thrown out of bed and all his windows broken by the mistaken bombing of the apartment building across the street. The hospital my daughter was born in was also mistakenly bombed the day before the Chinese Embassy was mistakenly bombed. My daughter had been released the day before; I had taken my wife hours before to have her bandage changed for an infection she had received in the hospital. We relocated to Cleveland in September 1999 to complete my degree (My wife left six credit hours away from her degree in Environmental Studies) after 4-½ years cultural immersion working with grass-roots groups and Multi –million dollar NGO’s.