Stories and reports

MCIC in action for repairing the damaged houses
Constructing material for the damaged houses in Brnjarci

The Macedonian center for international cooperation, on September 21 this year, distributed construction material for the damaged houses in the village Brnjarci, which is nearby Arachinovo, a village in the Skopje region that in the past period had been caught in the terror of war. Eleven households for their damaged houses received sand, cement, heat, troughs, tinplate, glass, tiles and other material with which, after the previously concluded agreement, the locals themselves have took on the responsibility go perform all house repairs.

The extent of the damage to the houses and the necessary construction material for their repair was assessed previously on the spot by a commission comprising representatives from the Ministry of transport and connections, the local self-government, NGOs, including MCIC, coordinated by UNHCR, in the presence of the owners of the damaged houses. The commission estimated that eleven houses were damaged from the war actions, albeit on the day of distribution of the construction material three more complained that their houses have received damages, yet they are not included in the repair program. The MCIC representative listened to their requests, saw the damages to this houses and interceded to resolve that problem in the future as well. MCIC conducts this sort of help in agreement with UNHCR, and the donated means for the construction material come from the Canadian Government/CIDA.

The people from Brnjarci, i.e. the majority of them, during the military actions going on near their village were moved from their homes and were settled in the collective centers in Skopje. Part of their houses were damaged. Those that remained to live here the whole time witnessed everything that happened. They helped each other survive in those dire times, they shared food, worries... They say that even now, after almost every one has come back home, they will persist to help each other, fix the houses with mutual help and continue everyday life.

The couple Boshkovski, Jordan and Spasenija, are one of the few that were in the village during the "firing". "There was a lot of firing. The shots came from neighboring Arachinovo and the surroundings. The extremists themselves never entered the village, it was secured from our security forces all along. However, grenades fell here too. They hit several houses in the village. Their roofs were left with holes. Luckily, you are helping the people. Here, you have brought construction material. Other organizations too bring help in food, clothing, bed covers. The region is quiet now, the villagers of Brnjarci have returned. Our village is inhabited with Macedonians. However, we lived well before the war with our neighbors from Arachinovo and the other neighboring village, Strachinci, who are Albanians. We didn't believe that it would come to something like this. We are going to have to live together again and help each other, they are our neighbors", interchangeably said the middle aged Jordan and Spasenija.

The village Brnjarci is about 10 kilometers from Skopje. It has about 120 houses with a populace of about 400 people.

The Macedonian Center for international cooperation two days earlier, through the distribution of construction material, similarly, officially started this kind of help in the village Lopate, Kumanovo region.