It was not quite a scene from a holiday brochure, but it still draws Michelle Whittick back with greater force than sun-drenched beaches and villages quaint with romantic history. The sight of homes, without water, toilets or furniture, with only a dirty mattress on the floor for a bed, left a lasting impression on her when she travelled to Pristina, capital of Kosovo, as a volunteer for Hope And Aid Direct (HAAD) in October 2006. It is hard for her to comprehend, harder still to accept, that poverty and deprivation on such a scale could still exist in a region of Europe. Though now a protectorate of the United Nations, recovering from the savage violence of civil war, Kosovo remains in desperate need and cruelly exposed to the harsh Balkan winters which families have to endure in huts, tents or structurally unsafe and poorly insulated buildings.
Her previous visit left her emotionally and physically tired but determined to return again and again, using her own money. She has seen in the faces of the people she met the huge impact that gifts of clothing and other essential goods can make, and perhaps still more the encouragement which they receive from knowing that they are not forgotten. She has seen the faces of children light up when they were handed a teddy, from Teddies for Tragedies. The great principle of HAAD is that all aid must be delivered directly into the hands of people in need rather than left to be delivered by government agencies.
She takes a holiday from her duties as Rosehill Theatre’s Marketing Director on 18th March, flying from Gatwick on the following day with six other volunteers, to meet ten trucks laden with aid in Kosovo and there help to distribute goods to needy families. They also take money to buy things locally, for instance a supply of school books. She is impressed by the schools she has seen, especially by those that bring together Serbian and Alabanian children, and finds hope in the thought of people from different ethnic groups living together and helping one another.
It is no longer as dangerous to bring aid to Kosovo as it was when HAAD first organised relief convoys in 1999, when the country was still at war, but it can still be frightening to be stopped at Serbian road blocks by authorities that do not like to admit that people need help. Those authorities strongly discourage gifts of food on the grounds that these could disrupt the local economy. But things are improving and the aid they can bring makes a difference.
Readers who would like to help can do so by visiting the site:
www.justgiving.com/michellewhittick
Egremont Today will make its own contribution. Daily reports on the mission will be posted on the website:

www.hopeandaiddirect.org.uk.

The photograph of a gift that makes a difference shows why Michelle is determined to go back again and again.