Kosova, 2000
War is not over when the fighting stops. 5000 houses were destroyed in Vushtrri – a town with a population of 27,000 - by a grenade, a bulldozer ... Roofs off, walls with gaping holes. I found mud, dust, piles of rubbish, cafés, music, and the resilience of the human spirit.
“My son look around and he say, ‘Where is our house? The Serbs have taken our house. Maybe its over there?’”
I visited Qabra, a small village in the north of Kosova, which was completely destroyed by the Serbian army. A beautiful spot in a green valley near a river but now only piles of rubble, tents and a few temporary houses remain. Only one house still stands because the bulldozers couldn’t wreck it completely. (Qabra House)
A village elder has recently died and we are invited into the funeral tent. Women are not usually allowed, but they decide to let me in with the other aid workers. A son of the dead man sits opposite me with expressive, sad eyes. The older men do the talking. They speak Albanian, French and some English. We sip sweet, black tea and I watch like an eavesdropper and grasp the resilience of the human spirit.