Area Residents Cope With Kosovo Crisis

The wedding is in late August. The cathedral has been chosen, the tickets have been bought and the wedding gown has been purchased.

What Watertown residents Arthur N. Stokes, 32, and Katarina Markovic, 27, didn't plan for was that NATO would begin bombing the wedding location--Belgrade.

"We still would like to go ahead [with the wedding], it's just a matter of whether there will be any Belgrade left in August," Markovic says.

After flying into Budapest, they will have to drive at least six hours to Belgrade, though it is likely that the trip will take have been bombed. When they get to the border there is also a chance that Stokes, an American, will be denied entrance to the country.

It is unlikely that Stokes' family will be able to attend the wedding.

"We planned for all his family to come and we planned a little trip around Serbia for them," Markovic says.

"They were very excited about the trip but now of course they won't be able to come," she says.

Though they considered postponing the wedding or having it in the U.S., Markovic and Stokes have decided to keep the wedding close to her family, holding it in the cathedral where she was baptized and where her family priest can preside.

For Markovic and Stokes, as with many others affected by and involved in the events in Yugoslavia, the political has become very personal.

As organizations in the community begin to collect aid, organize protests and offer their help to those suffering from the crisis in Yugoslavia, many organization members like Markovic and Stokes say they are motivated by a personal connection to those in need.

Lighting One Candle

At Sunday morning services at Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, all of the 50-cent prayer candles are sold out, as are almost all of the $1 candles, a testament to the concern of many churchgoers for their Serbian friends and relatives.

Many of the parishioners wear white ribbons for peace over their Sunday best and a few sport buttons with bull's eyes--meant to demonstrate that everyone is a target--to express their solidarity with those in Serbia.

Near the end of the service, Father AleksandarVlajkovic addresses the subject so obviously onthe minds of nearly all of the members of thecongregation.

"What should we, as members of the Orthodoxfaith, do [about the events in Yugoslavia]?" heasks.

Vlajkovic has an answer ready.

"We have to help directly our people who aresuffering [in Serbia]," he says.

"Our Serbian refugees are ignored...allinternational help is directed at the ethnicAlbanians," he adds.

He then encourages the parishioners to donatenew and used clothing, blankets, diapers,nonperishable foods, medicine and money to thechurch's humanitarian aid drive.

Vlajkovic estimates that in the last two weeks,the drive has amassed over $2,000 along withseveral boxes of food, medicine and clothing.

"You know how much you can give, and give itfrom your heart," he tells the members of hiscongregation.

Vlajkovic also urges his parishioners to joinhim and other Serbians and Serbian-Americans eachSaturday in Copley Square to protest the NATObombings of Serbia. The protesters have gatheredevery Saturday for the six weeks since the bombingstarted.

"We have to raise our voices against the insanebombing of our innocent people," he says.

The War at Home

On the day before, Natasha Velickovic, aNortheastern student, seems to be heedingVlajkovic's call to action.

Yelling "stop the bombing, stop the war" into abullhorn, Velickovic joins about 200 people at theCopley Square protest, organized by Vlajkovic'schurch and the Serbian-American Alliance of NewEngland.

While several speakers talk about theillegality of NATO's actions and the destructionand suffering being caused by the bombing, formany in the audience, the effects can be seencloser to home.

Stokes and Markovic stand together, wearingmatching bull's eye buttons. They say they havenot missed a single protest since the NATObombings began except for one weekend, when theywent to Washington, D.C. for a protest in front ofthe White House.

While Markovic anticipates her upcomingwedding, worries about the security of her familyin Serbia cloud her excitement.

Her father lives near the Belgrade televisionstation and the army headquarters, both of whichhave been bombed. The day the station was bombed,her father had just returned from walking his dogsin the park next to the station.

"I'm out of my mind [with worry]," Markovicsays. "Every day I call to see if he is alive."

Similar concerns about family and friends echothroughout the crowd.

Wearing what she says is the national costumeof Serbia--an embroidered red vest and a whiteskirt--and carrying a box for monetary donationsto the hospitals in Nis and Aleksinac, MirjanaPetrovic's voice cracks as she talks about herfriends and family in Serbia. Many of Petrovic'srelatives are in cities that have been bombed,including Aleksinac.

"They killed 30 civilians when they bombedAleksinac a couple weeks ago," Petrovic says,wiping tears from her eyes.

Petrovic does not know if all of her family isalive because broken connections and intermittentelectricity in Serbia have kept her fromcontacting many members of her family.

Pointing to a picture held aloft on a sign of acity devastated by the bombings, Petrovic's eyeswell up again with tears.

"That's Aleksinac," is all she can say.

The NATO airstrikes have also directly affectedsome Serbians currently living in the U.S.

Mariola Magovcevic, a master's candidate atNortheastern University from Belgrade, hadinitially planned to return home this summer. Now,she is searching for a job and worrying about whatwill happen after she graduates in December.

"I don't have anywhere to go... I can't gohome," she says.

"I'm hoping once things settle a bit that I'llbe able to go and help out," she adds.

One Life at a Time

On the second floor of the Islamic Society ofBoston (ISB), a Kosova Task Force poster urgesMuslims to allot five minutes each day for helpingthe Kosovar refugees. It lists activities,including calling one's congressperson and prayingfor those in Kosova, that anyone can do. Nearby,another poster from the Holy Land Foundationencourages Muslims to donate money to buynecessities for the ethnic Albanian refugees.

The posters articulate what many Muslims say isa founding principle of their religion: helpothers.

"We have to support any nation that has adisaster, Muslim or Christian. This is our dutyand Islam ordered us to do that, but we have aspecial support for [those] in Kosova because theyare Muslim," says Imam Basyuny M. Aly, a religiousleader in the mosque.

He illustrates his statement with a passagefrom Surah 5, verse 32 in the Koran: "If anyonekilled a person....it would be as if he killed allmankind, and if he saved a life, it would be as ifhe saved the life of all mankind."

To this end, the ISB has established its ownfood and money drive.

"Just in the last month we've been able toraise about $25,000," says Walid S. Hegazy, athird-year student at Harvard Law School and chairof the communications committee at ISB. Heestimates that combined, the Islamic groups in thearea have raised over $50,000 in the last month.

ISB plans to ship a freight-car sized containerof food to Albania next week. Once in Albania, thefood and money will be distributed by two Islamicaid organizations.

But ISB is not content with just sending moneyand supplies to Albania. It is planning to sendsome of its members, at least half a dozenphysicians and psychiatrists, as well.

"[The aid organizations] already have peoplethere, but we really want to be involved as muchas we can," Hegazy says.

For those remaining in Boston, however, ISBprovides multiple opportunities for its members toget involved.

Three weeks ago, ISB held a rally with otherIslamic organizations in front of Boston City Hallto demonstrate support for the NATO airstrikes,demand that Milosevic and other top Serbianofficials be tried as war criminals, and advocatefor an independent Kosovo. Another rally isplanned for May 16.

ISB and other Islamic organizations are alsoemphasizing the provision of up-to-dateinformation about the events in Kosovo.

The Islamic Society of Boston University (ISBU)held an informational and fundraising event thisSunday. After prayer and refreshments, theorganizers showed a video from Global ReliefOrganization documenting the hardships beingexperienced by those in Kosovo. All of the moneyraised was donated to the relief group. ISB alsogives its members updates of the latest news fromKosovo each Friday.

"We concentrate on humanitarian efforts andraising awareness among Muslims and non-Muslims,"said Imam Talal Y. Eid, the religious director ofthe Islamic Center of New England, at the ISBUevent.

Several Islamic organizations are alsoencouraging their members to register with theU.S. Agency for International Development to hostrefugee families that the U.S. has agreed toaccept. A letter posted on the second-floorbulletin board at ISB from the Muslim AmericanSociety explains the importance of placing therefugees in Muslim homes.

"We must not allow what happened to the Bosnianrefugees to be repeated this time. They were takento non-Muslim families and institutions, thusjeopardizing their ability to practice theirreligion," the letter reads.

Other mosques are also preparing to welcome therefugees to Boston.

"There will be Kosovars coming to the Bostonarea, so we are trying to prepare a list of peoplewho are willing to host them and a list of peoplewho are willing to volunteer services to thesefamilies," Eid says.

Generous Giving

Saint Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church inWorcester has had an over-whelming response to itscall for aid.

After it held a press conference in early Aprilto let people know about its efforts to help theKosovar refugees, so many people called theirhotline offering help that the church had toinstall five more phone lines. Since then, LouisR. Pero, president of Saint Mary's, estimates thathis church has raised $90,000.

Other Albanian organizations in the area reportsimilar responses to their aid efforts.

In Natick, the Albanian and Kosovo Relief DropOff Center has received so many donations in thethree weeks it has been open that it hastemporarily run out of boxes in which to packthem.

About 200 boxes of goods destined for Albanialine the walls, while several more bags of cannedgoods, clothing, and medicine sit by the doorwaiting to be sorted and packed.

The center is staffed almost entirely byvolunteers from the Albanian Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation, located just a few blocks away,and even the use of the former water departmentbuilding was a donation from one of thecongregation members.

Saint Mary's has earmarked some of the donatedmoney for 10,000 pairs of underwear, since so fewpeople have donated this desperately neededarticle of clothing. Members of the church arealso contacting pharmaceutical companies to try tobuy medicine at wholesale prices.

Most of the money and material donations fromboth churches will go to the New England AlbanianRelief Organization (NEARO), with which many ofthe church members are affiliated. NEARO, whichhas been shipping supplies to Albania since itsfounding in 1990, sent 400,000 pounds of suppliesto Albania by boat last Wednesday, according toPero.

Sending supplies to Albania by boat can takeweeks, however, and many of the items are neededimmediately.

One St. Mary's parishioner who was going toAlbania on business came up with a bettersolution--he stuffed a suitcase with about 50pounds of much-needed children's medicine.

Many parishioners have shown similarinitiative.

William B. Botka and his wife Harrietteintended to volunteer as translators with theAmerican Red Cross in the planned Guantanamo Bay,Cuba refugee camp.

"Initially when we heard that they were goingto send the 20,000 refugees to Guantanamo, wecalled the Red Cross and volunteered to go downand be interpreters," Botka says.

Now that the government has decided not toplace all of the refugees in a camp, Botka doubtshis services will be needed.

"I don't think they're going to needinterpreters now because most of the people cominghere will have relatives here," he says.

But Botka and other volunteers in the Bostonarea will continue finding ways to help.

Many worry that media coverage of the war inKosovo will wane, but those with ties to the areasay their efforts will not.

"Right now the Kosovar refugees are sufferingterribly. This is a topic A, page one story now.Six weeks, it'll be on page nine," says LeonLonstein, president and founder of NEARO.

"But NEARO will still be raising money, becausethis is going to be an ongoing thing for the nextfive years," he says.CrimsonAlysson R. FordPRAYERS FROM SERBIANS ANDALBANIANS:St. Sava Church (L) and St.Mary's Church.

Lighting One Candle

At Sunday morning services at Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, all of the 50-cent prayer candles are sold out, as are almost all of the $1 candles, a testament to the concern of many churchgoers for their Serbian friends and relatives.

Many of the parishioners wear white ribbons for peace over their Sunday best and a few sport buttons with bull's eyes--meant to demonstrate that everyone is a target--to express their solidarity with those in Serbia.

Near the end of the service, Father AleksandarVlajkovic addresses the subject so obviously onthe minds of nearly all of the members of thecongregation.

"What should we, as members of the Orthodoxfaith, do [about the events in Yugoslavia]?" heasks.

Vlajkovic has an answer ready.

"We have to help directly our people who aresuffering [in Serbia]," he says.

"Our Serbian refugees are ignored...allinternational help is directed at the ethnicAlbanians," he adds.

He then encourages the parishioners to donatenew and used clothing, blankets, diapers,nonperishable foods, medicine and money to thechurch's humanitarian aid drive.

Vlajkovic estimates that in the last two weeks,the drive has amassed over $2,000 along withseveral boxes of food, medicine and clothing.

"You know how much you can give, and give itfrom your heart," he tells the members of hiscongregation.

Vlajkovic also urges his parishioners to joinhim and other Serbians and Serbian-Americans eachSaturday in Copley Square to protest the NATObombings of Serbia. The protesters have gatheredevery Saturday for the six weeks since the bombingstarted.

"We have to raise our voices against the insanebombing of our innocent people," he says.

The War at Home

On the day before, Natasha Velickovic, aNortheastern student, seems to be heedingVlajkovic's call to action.

Yelling "stop the bombing, stop the war" into abullhorn, Velickovic joins about 200 people at theCopley Square protest, organized by Vlajkovic'schurch and the Serbian-American Alliance of NewEngland.

While several speakers talk about theillegality of NATO's actions and the destructionand suffering being caused by the bombing, formany in the audience, the effects can be seencloser to home.

Stokes and Markovic stand together, wearingmatching bull's eye buttons. They say they havenot missed a single protest since the NATObombings began except for one weekend, when theywent to Washington, D.C. for a protest in front ofthe White House.

While Markovic anticipates her upcomingwedding, worries about the security of her familyin Serbia cloud her excitement.

Her father lives near the Belgrade televisionstation and the army headquarters, both of whichhave been bombed. The day the station was bombed,her father had just returned from walking his dogsin the park next to the station.

"I'm out of my mind [with worry]," Markovicsays. "Every day I call to see if he is alive."

Similar concerns about family and friends echothroughout the crowd.

Wearing what she says is the national costumeof Serbia--an embroidered red vest and a whiteskirt--and carrying a box for monetary donationsto the hospitals in Nis and Aleksinac, MirjanaPetrovic's voice cracks as she talks about herfriends and family in Serbia. Many of Petrovic'srelatives are in cities that have been bombed,including Aleksinac.

"They killed 30 civilians when they bombedAleksinac a couple weeks ago," Petrovic says,wiping tears from her eyes.

Petrovic does not know if all of her family isalive because broken connections and intermittentelectricity in Serbia have kept her fromcontacting many members of her family.

Pointing to a picture held aloft on a sign of acity devastated by the bombings, Petrovic's eyeswell up again with tears.

"That's Aleksinac," is all she can say.

The NATO airstrikes have also directly affectedsome Serbians currently living in the U.S.

Mariola Magovcevic, a master's candidate atNortheastern University from Belgrade, hadinitially planned to return home this summer. Now,she is searching for a job and worrying about whatwill happen after she graduates in December.

"I don't have anywhere to go... I can't gohome," she says.

"I'm hoping once things settle a bit that I'llbe able to go and help out," she adds.

One Life at a Time

On the second floor of the Islamic Society ofBoston (ISB), a Kosova Task Force poster urgesMuslims to allot five minutes each day for helpingthe Kosovar refugees. It lists activities,including calling one's congressperson and prayingfor those in Kosova, that anyone can do. Nearby,another poster from the Holy Land Foundationencourages Muslims to donate money to buynecessities for the ethnic Albanian refugees.

The posters articulate what many Muslims say isa founding principle of their religion: helpothers.

"We have to support any nation that has adisaster, Muslim or Christian. This is our dutyand Islam ordered us to do that, but we have aspecial support for [those] in Kosova because theyare Muslim," says Imam Basyuny M. Aly, a religiousleader in the mosque.

He illustrates his statement with a passagefrom Surah 5, verse 32 in the Koran: "If anyonekilled a person....it would be as if he killed allmankind, and if he saved a life, it would be as ifhe saved the life of all mankind."

To this end, the ISB has established its ownfood and money drive.

"Just in the last month we've been able toraise about $25,000," says Walid S. Hegazy, athird-year student at Harvard Law School and chairof the communications committee at ISB. Heestimates that combined, the Islamic groups in thearea have raised over $50,000 in the last month.

ISB plans to ship a freight-car sized containerof food to Albania next week. Once in Albania, thefood and money will be distributed by two Islamicaid organizations.

But ISB is not content with just sending moneyand supplies to Albania. It is planning to sendsome of its members, at least half a dozenphysicians and psychiatrists, as well.

"[The aid organizations] already have peoplethere, but we really want to be involved as muchas we can," Hegazy says.

For those remaining in Boston, however, ISBprovides multiple opportunities for its members toget involved.

Three weeks ago, ISB held a rally with otherIslamic organizations in front of Boston City Hallto demonstrate support for the NATO airstrikes,demand that Milosevic and other top Serbianofficials be tried as war criminals, and advocatefor an independent Kosovo. Another rally isplanned for May 16.

ISB and other Islamic organizations are alsoemphasizing the provision of up-to-dateinformation about the events in Kosovo.

The Islamic Society of Boston University (ISBU)held an informational and fundraising event thisSunday. After prayer and refreshments, theorganizers showed a video from Global ReliefOrganization documenting the hardships beingexperienced by those in Kosovo. All of the moneyraised was donated to the relief group. ISB alsogives its members updates of the latest news fromKosovo each Friday.

"We concentrate on humanitarian efforts andraising awareness among Muslims and non-Muslims,"said Imam Talal Y. Eid, the religious director ofthe Islamic Center of New England, at the ISBUevent.

Several Islamic organizations are alsoencouraging their members to register with theU.S. Agency for International Development to hostrefugee families that the U.S. has agreed toaccept. A letter posted on the second-floorbulletin board at ISB from the Muslim AmericanSociety explains the importance of placing therefugees in Muslim homes.

"We must not allow what happened to the Bosnianrefugees to be repeated this time. They were takento non-Muslim families and institutions, thusjeopardizing their ability to practice theirreligion," the letter reads.

Other mosques are also preparing to welcome therefugees to Boston.

"There will be Kosovars coming to the Bostonarea, so we are trying to prepare a list of peoplewho are willing to host them and a list of peoplewho are willing to volunteer services to thesefamilies," Eid says.

Generous Giving

Saint Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church inWorcester has had an over-whelming response to itscall for aid.

After it held a press conference in early Aprilto let people know about its efforts to help theKosovar refugees, so many people called theirhotline offering help that the church had toinstall five more phone lines. Since then, LouisR. Pero, president of Saint Mary's, estimates thathis church has raised $90,000.

Other Albanian organizations in the area reportsimilar responses to their aid efforts.

In Natick, the Albanian and Kosovo Relief DropOff Center has received so many donations in thethree weeks it has been open that it hastemporarily run out of boxes in which to packthem.

About 200 boxes of goods destined for Albanialine the walls, while several more bags of cannedgoods, clothing, and medicine sit by the doorwaiting to be sorted and packed.

The center is staffed almost entirely byvolunteers from the Albanian Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation, located just a few blocks away,and even the use of the former water departmentbuilding was a donation from one of thecongregation members.

Saint Mary's has earmarked some of the donatedmoney for 10,000 pairs of underwear, since so fewpeople have donated this desperately neededarticle of clothing. Members of the church arealso contacting pharmaceutical companies to try tobuy medicine at wholesale prices.

Most of the money and material donations fromboth churches will go to the New England AlbanianRelief Organization (NEARO), with which many ofthe church members are affiliated. NEARO, whichhas been shipping supplies to Albania since itsfounding in 1990, sent 400,000 pounds of suppliesto Albania by boat last Wednesday, according toPero.

Sending supplies to Albania by boat can takeweeks, however, and many of the items are neededimmediately.

One St. Mary's parishioner who was going toAlbania on business came up with a bettersolution--he stuffed a suitcase with about 50pounds of much-needed children's medicine.

Many parishioners have shown similarinitiative.

William B. Botka and his wife Harrietteintended to volunteer as translators with theAmerican Red Cross in the planned Guantanamo Bay,Cuba refugee camp.

"Initially when we heard that they were goingto send the 20,000 refugees to Guantanamo, wecalled the Red Cross and volunteered to go downand be interpreters," Botka says.

Now that the government has decided not toplace all of the refugees in a camp, Botka doubtshis services will be needed.

"I don't think they're going to needinterpreters now because most of the people cominghere will have relatives here," he says.

But Botka and other volunteers in the Bostonarea will continue finding ways to help.

Many worry that media coverage of the war inKosovo will wane, but those with ties to the areasay their efforts will not.

"Right now the Kosovar refugees are sufferingterribly. This is a topic A, page one story now.Six weeks, it'll be on page nine," says LeonLonstein, president and founder of NEARO.

"But NEARO will still be raising money, becausethis is going to be an ongoing thing for the nextfive years," he says.CrimsonAlysson R. FordPRAYERS FROM SERBIANS ANDALBANIANS:St. Sava Church (L) and St.Mary's Church.

Near the end of the service, Father AleksandarVlajkovic addresses the subject so obviously onthe minds of nearly all of the members of thecongregation.

"What should we, as members of the Orthodoxfaith, do [about the events in Yugoslavia]?" heasks.

Vlajkovic has an answer ready.

"We have to help directly our people who aresuffering [in Serbia]," he says.

"Our Serbian refugees are ignored...allinternational help is directed at the ethnicAlbanians," he adds.

He then encourages the parishioners to donatenew and used clothing, blankets, diapers,nonperishable foods, medicine and money to thechurch's humanitarian aid drive.

Vlajkovic estimates that in the last two weeks,the drive has amassed over $2,000 along withseveral boxes of food, medicine and clothing.

"You know how much you can give, and give itfrom your heart," he tells the members of hiscongregation.

Vlajkovic also urges his parishioners to joinhim and other Serbians and Serbian-Americans eachSaturday in Copley Square to protest the NATObombings of Serbia. The protesters have gatheredevery Saturday for the six weeks since the bombingstarted.

"We have to raise our voices against the insanebombing of our innocent people," he says.

The War at Home

On the day before, Natasha Velickovic, aNortheastern student, seems to be heedingVlajkovic's call to action.

Yelling "stop the bombing, stop the war" into abullhorn, Velickovic joins about 200 people at theCopley Square protest, organized by Vlajkovic'schurch and the Serbian-American Alliance of NewEngland.

While several speakers talk about theillegality of NATO's actions and the destructionand suffering being caused by the bombing, formany in the audience, the effects can be seencloser to home.

Stokes and Markovic stand together, wearingmatching bull's eye buttons. They say they havenot missed a single protest since the NATObombings began except for one weekend, when theywent to Washington, D.C. for a protest in front ofthe White House.

While Markovic anticipates her upcomingwedding, worries about the security of her familyin Serbia cloud her excitement.

Her father lives near the Belgrade televisionstation and the army headquarters, both of whichhave been bombed. The day the station was bombed,her father had just returned from walking his dogsin the park next to the station.

"I'm out of my mind [with worry]," Markovicsays. "Every day I call to see if he is alive."

Similar concerns about family and friends echothroughout the crowd.

Wearing what she says is the national costumeof Serbia--an embroidered red vest and a whiteskirt--and carrying a box for monetary donationsto the hospitals in Nis and Aleksinac, MirjanaPetrovic's voice cracks as she talks about herfriends and family in Serbia. Many of Petrovic'srelatives are in cities that have been bombed,including Aleksinac.

"They killed 30 civilians when they bombedAleksinac a couple weeks ago," Petrovic says,wiping tears from her eyes.

Petrovic does not know if all of her family isalive because broken connections and intermittentelectricity in Serbia have kept her fromcontacting many members of her family.

Pointing to a picture held aloft on a sign of acity devastated by the bombings, Petrovic's eyeswell up again with tears.

"That's Aleksinac," is all she can say.

The NATO airstrikes have also directly affectedsome Serbians currently living in the U.S.

Mariola Magovcevic, a master's candidate atNortheastern University from Belgrade, hadinitially planned to return home this summer. Now,she is searching for a job and worrying about whatwill happen after she graduates in December.

"I don't have anywhere to go... I can't gohome," she says.

"I'm hoping once things settle a bit that I'llbe able to go and help out," she adds.

One Life at a Time

On the second floor of the Islamic Society ofBoston (ISB), a Kosova Task Force poster urgesMuslims to allot five minutes each day for helpingthe Kosovar refugees. It lists activities,including calling one's congressperson and prayingfor those in Kosova, that anyone can do. Nearby,another poster from the Holy Land Foundationencourages Muslims to donate money to buynecessities for the ethnic Albanian refugees.

The posters articulate what many Muslims say isa founding principle of their religion: helpothers.

"We have to support any nation that has adisaster, Muslim or Christian. This is our dutyand Islam ordered us to do that, but we have aspecial support for [those] in Kosova because theyare Muslim," says Imam Basyuny M. Aly, a religiousleader in the mosque.

He illustrates his statement with a passagefrom Surah 5, verse 32 in the Koran: "If anyonekilled a person....it would be as if he killed allmankind, and if he saved a life, it would be as ifhe saved the life of all mankind."

To this end, the ISB has established its ownfood and money drive.

"Just in the last month we've been able toraise about $25,000," says Walid S. Hegazy, athird-year student at Harvard Law School and chairof the communications committee at ISB. Heestimates that combined, the Islamic groups in thearea have raised over $50,000 in the last month.

ISB plans to ship a freight-car sized containerof food to Albania next week. Once in Albania, thefood and money will be distributed by two Islamicaid organizations.

But ISB is not content with just sending moneyand supplies to Albania. It is planning to sendsome of its members, at least half a dozenphysicians and psychiatrists, as well.

"[The aid organizations] already have peoplethere, but we really want to be involved as muchas we can," Hegazy says.

For those remaining in Boston, however, ISBprovides multiple opportunities for its members toget involved.

Three weeks ago, ISB held a rally with otherIslamic organizations in front of Boston City Hallto demonstrate support for the NATO airstrikes,demand that Milosevic and other top Serbianofficials be tried as war criminals, and advocatefor an independent Kosovo. Another rally isplanned for May 16.

ISB and other Islamic organizations are alsoemphasizing the provision of up-to-dateinformation about the events in Kosovo.

The Islamic Society of Boston University (ISBU)held an informational and fundraising event thisSunday. After prayer and refreshments, theorganizers showed a video from Global ReliefOrganization documenting the hardships beingexperienced by those in Kosovo. All of the moneyraised was donated to the relief group. ISB alsogives its members updates of the latest news fromKosovo each Friday.

"We concentrate on humanitarian efforts andraising awareness among Muslims and non-Muslims,"said Imam Talal Y. Eid, the religious director ofthe Islamic Center of New England, at the ISBUevent.

Several Islamic organizations are alsoencouraging their members to register with theU.S. Agency for International Development to hostrefugee families that the U.S. has agreed toaccept. A letter posted on the second-floorbulletin board at ISB from the Muslim AmericanSociety explains the importance of placing therefugees in Muslim homes.

"We must not allow what happened to the Bosnianrefugees to be repeated this time. They were takento non-Muslim families and institutions, thusjeopardizing their ability to practice theirreligion," the letter reads.

Other mosques are also preparing to welcome therefugees to Boston.

"There will be Kosovars coming to the Bostonarea, so we are trying to prepare a list of peoplewho are willing to host them and a list of peoplewho are willing to volunteer services to thesefamilies," Eid says.

Generous Giving

Saint Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church inWorcester has had an over-whelming response to itscall for aid.

After it held a press conference in early Aprilto let people know about its efforts to help theKosovar refugees, so many people called theirhotline offering help that the church had toinstall five more phone lines. Since then, LouisR. Pero, president of Saint Mary's, estimates thathis church has raised $90,000.

Other Albanian organizations in the area reportsimilar responses to their aid efforts.

In Natick, the Albanian and Kosovo Relief DropOff Center has received so many donations in thethree weeks it has been open that it hastemporarily run out of boxes in which to packthem.

About 200 boxes of goods destined for Albanialine the walls, while several more bags of cannedgoods, clothing, and medicine sit by the doorwaiting to be sorted and packed.

The center is staffed almost entirely byvolunteers from the Albanian Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation, located just a few blocks away,and even the use of the former water departmentbuilding was a donation from one of thecongregation members.

Saint Mary's has earmarked some of the donatedmoney for 10,000 pairs of underwear, since so fewpeople have donated this desperately neededarticle of clothing. Members of the church arealso contacting pharmaceutical companies to try tobuy medicine at wholesale prices.

Most of the money and material donations fromboth churches will go to the New England AlbanianRelief Organization (NEARO), with which many ofthe church members are affiliated. NEARO, whichhas been shipping supplies to Albania since itsfounding in 1990, sent 400,000 pounds of suppliesto Albania by boat last Wednesday, according toPero.

Sending supplies to Albania by boat can takeweeks, however, and many of the items are neededimmediately.

One St. Mary's parishioner who was going toAlbania on business came up with a bettersolution--he stuffed a suitcase with about 50pounds of much-needed children's medicine.

Many parishioners have shown similarinitiative.

William B. Botka and his wife Harrietteintended to volunteer as translators with theAmerican Red Cross in the planned Guantanamo Bay,Cuba refugee camp.

"Initially when we heard that they were goingto send the 20,000 refugees to Guantanamo, wecalled the Red Cross and volunteered to go downand be interpreters," Botka says.

Now that the government has decided not toplace all of the refugees in a camp, Botka doubtshis services will be needed.

"I don't think they're going to needinterpreters now because most of the people cominghere will have relatives here," he says.

But Botka and other volunteers in the Bostonarea will continue finding ways to help.

Many worry that media coverage of the war inKosovo will wane, but those with ties to the areasay their efforts will not.

"Right now the Kosovar refugees are sufferingterribly. This is a topic A, page one story now.Six weeks, it'll be on page nine," says LeonLonstein, president and founder of NEARO.

"But NEARO will still be raising money, becausethis is going to be an ongoing thing for the nextfive years," he says.CrimsonAlysson R. FordPRAYERS FROM SERBIANS ANDALBANIANS:St. Sava Church (L) and St.Mary's Church.

The War at Home

On the day before, Natasha Velickovic, aNortheastern student, seems to be heedingVlajkovic's call to action.

Yelling "stop the bombing, stop the war" into abullhorn, Velickovic joins about 200 people at theCopley Square protest, organized by Vlajkovic'schurch and the Serbian-American Alliance of NewEngland.

While several speakers talk about theillegality of NATO's actions and the destructionand suffering being caused by the bombing, formany in the audience, the effects can be seencloser to home.

Stokes and Markovic stand together, wearingmatching bull's eye buttons. They say they havenot missed a single protest since the NATObombings began except for one weekend, when theywent to Washington, D.C. for a protest in front ofthe White House.

While Markovic anticipates her upcomingwedding, worries about the security of her familyin Serbia cloud her excitement.

Her father lives near the Belgrade televisionstation and the army headquarters, both of whichhave been bombed. The day the station was bombed,her father had just returned from walking his dogsin the park next to the station.

"I'm out of my mind [with worry]," Markovicsays. "Every day I call to see if he is alive."

Similar concerns about family and friends echothroughout the crowd.

Wearing what she says is the national costumeof Serbia--an embroidered red vest and a whiteskirt--and carrying a box for monetary donationsto the hospitals in Nis and Aleksinac, MirjanaPetrovic's voice cracks as she talks about herfriends and family in Serbia. Many of Petrovic'srelatives are in cities that have been bombed,including Aleksinac.

"They killed 30 civilians when they bombedAleksinac a couple weeks ago," Petrovic says,wiping tears from her eyes.

Petrovic does not know if all of her family isalive because broken connections and intermittentelectricity in Serbia have kept her fromcontacting many members of her family.

Pointing to a picture held aloft on a sign of acity devastated by the bombings, Petrovic's eyeswell up again with tears.

"That's Aleksinac," is all she can say.

The NATO airstrikes have also directly affectedsome Serbians currently living in the U.S.

Mariola Magovcevic, a master's candidate atNortheastern University from Belgrade, hadinitially planned to return home this summer. Now,she is searching for a job and worrying about whatwill happen after she graduates in December.

"I don't have anywhere to go... I can't gohome," she says.

"I'm hoping once things settle a bit that I'llbe able to go and help out," she adds.

One Life at a Time

On the second floor of the Islamic Society ofBoston (ISB), a Kosova Task Force poster urgesMuslims to allot five minutes each day for helpingthe Kosovar refugees. It lists activities,including calling one's congressperson and prayingfor those in Kosova, that anyone can do. Nearby,another poster from the Holy Land Foundationencourages Muslims to donate money to buynecessities for the ethnic Albanian refugees.

The posters articulate what many Muslims say isa founding principle of their religion: helpothers.

"We have to support any nation that has adisaster, Muslim or Christian. This is our dutyand Islam ordered us to do that, but we have aspecial support for [those] in Kosova because theyare Muslim," says Imam Basyuny M. Aly, a religiousleader in the mosque.

He illustrates his statement with a passagefrom Surah 5, verse 32 in the Koran: "If anyonekilled a person....it would be as if he killed allmankind, and if he saved a life, it would be as ifhe saved the life of all mankind."

To this end, the ISB has established its ownfood and money drive.

"Just in the last month we've been able toraise about $25,000," says Walid S. Hegazy, athird-year student at Harvard Law School and chairof the communications committee at ISB. Heestimates that combined, the Islamic groups in thearea have raised over $50,000 in the last month.

ISB plans to ship a freight-car sized containerof food to Albania next week. Once in Albania, thefood and money will be distributed by two Islamicaid organizations.

But ISB is not content with just sending moneyand supplies to Albania. It is planning to sendsome of its members, at least half a dozenphysicians and psychiatrists, as well.

"[The aid organizations] already have peoplethere, but we really want to be involved as muchas we can," Hegazy says.

For those remaining in Boston, however, ISBprovides multiple opportunities for its members toget involved.

Three weeks ago, ISB held a rally with otherIslamic organizations in front of Boston City Hallto demonstrate support for the NATO airstrikes,demand that Milosevic and other top Serbianofficials be tried as war criminals, and advocatefor an independent Kosovo. Another rally isplanned for May 16.

ISB and other Islamic organizations are alsoemphasizing the provision of up-to-dateinformation about the events in Kosovo.

The Islamic Society of Boston University (ISBU)held an informational and fundraising event thisSunday. After prayer and refreshments, theorganizers showed a video from Global ReliefOrganization documenting the hardships beingexperienced by those in Kosovo. All of the moneyraised was donated to the relief group. ISB alsogives its members updates of the latest news fromKosovo each Friday.

"We concentrate on humanitarian efforts andraising awareness among Muslims and non-Muslims,"said Imam Talal Y. Eid, the religious director ofthe Islamic Center of New England, at the ISBUevent.

Several Islamic organizations are alsoencouraging their members to register with theU.S. Agency for International Development to hostrefugee families that the U.S. has agreed toaccept. A letter posted on the second-floorbulletin board at ISB from the Muslim AmericanSociety explains the importance of placing therefugees in Muslim homes.

"We must not allow what happened to the Bosnianrefugees to be repeated this time. They were takento non-Muslim families and institutions, thusjeopardizing their ability to practice theirreligion," the letter reads.

Other mosques are also preparing to welcome therefugees to Boston.

"There will be Kosovars coming to the Bostonarea, so we are trying to prepare a list of peoplewho are willing to host them and a list of peoplewho are willing to volunteer services to thesefamilies," Eid says.

Generous Giving

Saint Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church inWorcester has had an over-whelming response to itscall for aid.

After it held a press conference in early Aprilto let people know about its efforts to help theKosovar refugees, so many people called theirhotline offering help that the church had toinstall five more phone lines. Since then, LouisR. Pero, president of Saint Mary's, estimates thathis church has raised $90,000.

Other Albanian organizations in the area reportsimilar responses to their aid efforts.

In Natick, the Albanian and Kosovo Relief DropOff Center has received so many donations in thethree weeks it has been open that it hastemporarily run out of boxes in which to packthem.

About 200 boxes of goods destined for Albanialine the walls, while several more bags of cannedgoods, clothing, and medicine sit by the doorwaiting to be sorted and packed.

The center is staffed almost entirely byvolunteers from the Albanian Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation, located just a few blocks away,and even the use of the former water departmentbuilding was a donation from one of thecongregation members.

Saint Mary's has earmarked some of the donatedmoney for 10,000 pairs of underwear, since so fewpeople have donated this desperately neededarticle of clothing. Members of the church arealso contacting pharmaceutical companies to try tobuy medicine at wholesale prices.

Most of the money and material donations fromboth churches will go to the New England AlbanianRelief Organization (NEARO), with which many ofthe church members are affiliated. NEARO, whichhas been shipping supplies to Albania since itsfounding in 1990, sent 400,000 pounds of suppliesto Albania by boat last Wednesday, according toPero.

Sending supplies to Albania by boat can takeweeks, however, and many of the items are neededimmediately.

One St. Mary's parishioner who was going toAlbania on business came up with a bettersolution--he stuffed a suitcase with about 50pounds of much-needed children's medicine.

Many parishioners have shown similarinitiative.

William B. Botka and his wife Harrietteintended to volunteer as translators with theAmerican Red Cross in the planned Guantanamo Bay,Cuba refugee camp.

"Initially when we heard that they were goingto send the 20,000 refugees to Guantanamo, wecalled the Red Cross and volunteered to go downand be interpreters," Botka says.

Now that the government has decided not toplace all of the refugees in a camp, Botka doubtshis services will be needed.

"I don't think they're going to needinterpreters now because most of the people cominghere will have relatives here," he says.

But Botka and other volunteers in the Bostonarea will continue finding ways to help.

Many worry that media coverage of the war inKosovo will wane, but those with ties to the areasay their efforts will not.

"Right now the Kosovar refugees are sufferingterribly. This is a topic A, page one story now.Six weeks, it'll be on page nine," says LeonLonstein, president and founder of NEARO.

"But NEARO will still be raising money, becausethis is going to be an ongoing thing for the nextfive years," he says.CrimsonAlysson R. FordPRAYERS FROM SERBIANS ANDALBANIANS:St. Sava Church (L) and St.Mary's Church.

One Life at a Time

On the second floor of the Islamic Society ofBoston (ISB), a Kosova Task Force poster urgesMuslims to allot five minutes each day for helpingthe Kosovar refugees. It lists activities,including calling one's congressperson and prayingfor those in Kosova, that anyone can do. Nearby,another poster from the Holy Land Foundationencourages Muslims to donate money to buynecessities for the ethnic Albanian refugees.

The posters articulate what many Muslims say isa founding principle of their religion: helpothers.

"We have to support any nation that has adisaster, Muslim or Christian. This is our dutyand Islam ordered us to do that, but we have aspecial support for [those] in Kosova because theyare Muslim," says Imam Basyuny M. Aly, a religiousleader in the mosque.

He illustrates his statement with a passagefrom Surah 5, verse 32 in the Koran: "If anyonekilled a person....it would be as if he killed allmankind, and if he saved a life, it would be as ifhe saved the life of all mankind."

To this end, the ISB has established its ownfood and money drive.

"Just in the last month we've been able toraise about $25,000," says Walid S. Hegazy, athird-year student at Harvard Law School and chairof the communications committee at ISB. Heestimates that combined, the Islamic groups in thearea have raised over $50,000 in the last month.

ISB plans to ship a freight-car sized containerof food to Albania next week. Once in Albania, thefood and money will be distributed by two Islamicaid organizations.

But ISB is not content with just sending moneyand supplies to Albania. It is planning to sendsome of its members, at least half a dozenphysicians and psychiatrists, as well.

"[The aid organizations] already have peoplethere, but we really want to be involved as muchas we can," Hegazy says.

For those remaining in Boston, however, ISBprovides multiple opportunities for its members toget involved.

Three weeks ago, ISB held a rally with otherIslamic organizations in front of Boston City Hallto demonstrate support for the NATO airstrikes,demand that Milosevic and other top Serbianofficials be tried as war criminals, and advocatefor an independent Kosovo. Another rally isplanned for May 16.

ISB and other Islamic organizations are alsoemphasizing the provision of up-to-dateinformation about the events in Kosovo.

The Islamic Society of Boston University (ISBU)held an informational and fundraising event thisSunday. After prayer and refreshments, theorganizers showed a video from Global ReliefOrganization documenting the hardships beingexperienced by those in Kosovo. All of the moneyraised was donated to the relief group. ISB alsogives its members updates of the latest news fromKosovo each Friday.

"We concentrate on humanitarian efforts andraising awareness among Muslims and non-Muslims,"said Imam Talal Y. Eid, the religious director ofthe Islamic Center of New England, at the ISBUevent.

Several Islamic organizations are alsoencouraging their members to register with theU.S. Agency for International Development to hostrefugee families that the U.S. has agreed toaccept. A letter posted on the second-floorbulletin board at ISB from the Muslim AmericanSociety explains the importance of placing therefugees in Muslim homes.

"We must not allow what happened to the Bosnianrefugees to be repeated this time. They were takento non-Muslim families and institutions, thusjeopardizing their ability to practice theirreligion," the letter reads.

Other mosques are also preparing to welcome therefugees to Boston.

"There will be Kosovars coming to the Bostonarea, so we are trying to prepare a list of peoplewho are willing to host them and a list of peoplewho are willing to volunteer services to thesefamilies," Eid says.

Generous Giving

Saint Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church inWorcester has had an over-whelming response to itscall for aid.

After it held a press conference in early Aprilto let people know about its efforts to help theKosovar refugees, so many people called theirhotline offering help that the church had toinstall five more phone lines. Since then, LouisR. Pero, president of Saint Mary's, estimates thathis church has raised $90,000.

Other Albanian organizations in the area reportsimilar responses to their aid efforts.

In Natick, the Albanian and Kosovo Relief DropOff Center has received so many donations in thethree weeks it has been open that it hastemporarily run out of boxes in which to packthem.

About 200 boxes of goods destined for Albanialine the walls, while several more bags of cannedgoods, clothing, and medicine sit by the doorwaiting to be sorted and packed.

The center is staffed almost entirely byvolunteers from the Albanian Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation, located just a few blocks away,and even the use of the former water departmentbuilding was a donation from one of thecongregation members.

Saint Mary's has earmarked some of the donatedmoney for 10,000 pairs of underwear, since so fewpeople have donated this desperately neededarticle of clothing. Members of the church arealso contacting pharmaceutical companies to try tobuy medicine at wholesale prices.

Most of the money and material donations fromboth churches will go to the New England AlbanianRelief Organization (NEARO), with which many ofthe church members are affiliated. NEARO, whichhas been shipping supplies to Albania since itsfounding in 1990, sent 400,000 pounds of suppliesto Albania by boat last Wednesday, according toPero.

Sending supplies to Albania by boat can takeweeks, however, and many of the items are neededimmediately.

One St. Mary's parishioner who was going toAlbania on business came up with a bettersolution--he stuffed a suitcase with about 50pounds of much-needed children's medicine.

Many parishioners have shown similarinitiative.

William B. Botka and his wife Harrietteintended to volunteer as translators with theAmerican Red Cross in the planned Guantanamo Bay,Cuba refugee camp.

"Initially when we heard that they were goingto send the 20,000 refugees to Guantanamo, wecalled the Red Cross and volunteered to go downand be interpreters," Botka says.

Now that the government has decided not toplace all of the refugees in a camp, Botka doubtshis services will be needed.

"I don't think they're going to needinterpreters now because most of the people cominghere will have relatives here," he says.

But Botka and other volunteers in the Bostonarea will continue finding ways to help.

Many worry that media coverage of the war inKosovo will wane, but those with ties to the areasay their efforts will not.

"Right now the Kosovar refugees are sufferingterribly. This is a topic A, page one story now.Six weeks, it'll be on page nine," says LeonLonstein, president and founder of NEARO.

"But NEARO will still be raising money, becausethis is going to be an ongoing thing for the nextfive years," he says.CrimsonAlysson R. FordPRAYERS FROM SERBIANS ANDALBANIANS:St. Sava Church (L) and St.Mary's Church.

Generous Giving

Saint Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church inWorcester has had an over-whelming response to itscall for aid.

After it held a press conference in early Aprilto let people know about its efforts to help theKosovar refugees, so many people called theirhotline offering help that the church had toinstall five more phone lines. Since then, LouisR. Pero, president of Saint Mary's, estimates thathis church has raised $90,000.

Other Albanian organizations in the area reportsimilar responses to their aid efforts.

In Natick, the Albanian and Kosovo Relief DropOff Center has received so many donations in thethree weeks it has been open that it hastemporarily run out of boxes in which to packthem.

About 200 boxes of goods destined for Albanialine the walls, while several more bags of cannedgoods, clothing, and medicine sit by the doorwaiting to be sorted and packed.

The center is staffed almost entirely byvolunteers from the Albanian Orthodox Church ofthe Annunciation, located just a few blocks away,and even the use of the former water departmentbuilding was a donation from one of thecongregation members.

Saint Mary's has earmarked some of the donatedmoney for 10,000 pairs of underwear, since so fewpeople have donated this desperately neededarticle of clothing. Members of the church arealso contacting pharmaceutical companies to try tobuy medicine at wholesale prices.

Most of the money and material donations fromboth churches will go to the New England AlbanianRelief Organization (NEARO), with which many ofthe church members are affiliated. NEARO, whichhas been shipping supplies to Albania since itsfounding in 1990, sent 400,000 pounds of suppliesto Albania by boat last Wednesday, according toPero.

Sending supplies to Albania by boat can takeweeks, however, and many of the items are neededimmediately.

One St. Mary's parishioner who was going toAlbania on business came up with a bettersolution--he stuffed a suitcase with about 50pounds of much-needed children's medicine.

Many parishioners have shown similarinitiative.

William B. Botka and his wife Harrietteintended to volunteer as translators with theAmerican Red Cross in the planned Guantanamo Bay,Cuba refugee camp.

"Initially when we heard that they were goingto send the 20,000 refugees to Guantanamo, wecalled the Red Cross and volunteered to go downand be interpreters," Botka says.

Now that the government has decided not toplace all of the refugees in a camp, Botka doubtshis services will be needed.

"I don't think they're going to needinterpreters now because most of the people cominghere will have relatives here," he says.

But Botka and other volunteers in the Bostonarea will continue finding ways to help.

Many worry that media coverage of the war inKosovo will wane, but those with ties to the areasay their efforts will not.

"Right now the Kosovar refugees are sufferingterribly. This is a topic A, page one story now.Six weeks, it'll be on page nine," says LeonLonstein, president and founder of NEARO.

"But NEARO will still be raising money, becausethis is going to be an ongoing thing for the nextfive years," he says.CrimsonAlysson R. FordPRAYERS FROM SERBIANS ANDALBANIANS:St. Sava Church (L) and St.Mary's Church.