Kosovo, July 5, 1999
Ostrozub is up in the hill country, 25 kilometers north of the city of Prizren. Its blackened houses are a stark contrast to the surrounding green hills. Over the last year, the village has suffered three devastating offensives.

Only one of Ostrozub’s 250 houses is untouched by the war that began more than 12 months ago. Serbian forces looted the houses and set them on fire. Everything of value was stolen. What they could not carry was destroyed or burnt to ashes. Even agricultural tools and water pumps were taken to Serbia. The face of Ostrozub has changed dramatically. Before the war around 2,700 people were living here, now only 20% have returned.

Isuf Morina, 54, and Bajarm Morina, 48, are brothers. The Morina’s extended family consists of three households with 22 members, but 17 are still in Albania. The three houses stand close to each other. Bajarm’s wife, Sanije, returned two days ago from Albania. They plan to fetch their three children, who are staying with relatives, once they have cleared the house and repaired the roof.

Isuf Morina lacks the money to go to Albania and wants to repair his house first. The three houses are in a terrible condition, especially the house of another brother who is still in Albania. Only the outer walls, made of traditional stone, are standing. The wooden floors, the roof, the window frames and doors have all been burnt to a cinder. The house is nothing more than a skeleton.

ACT International plans to start reconstructing homes in the regions of Mitrovice, Prizren and Pec. The aim is to repair as many houses as possible before the winter starts in October. This means replacing the roof and floor so that people can move back into their houses. Other families will get emergency housing kits to make the houses wind-proof. In spring, these houses will be included in the reconstruction program. Once the houses are roofed, the villagers can finish their houses themselves.

The area between the cities of Prizren, Pristina and Pec are among the most affected. On average, 70 per cent of the houses need to be repaired. The need is urgent and work must start soon. People cannot return to the villages if their houses are uninhabitable. Winter is hard in the Balkans and it is only 3 months away.

The Morina brothers fled into the hills in April. They stayed there for 79 days, only returning to the village at night to collect food and water. The brothers separated from their families as they knew that the Serbian police and army were looking for men aged between 15 and 50. In Jovic, the Serbs rounded up 6,000 people. Forty were massacred.

Isuf and Bajarm Morina have been wearing the same clothes for nearly three months. Isuf’s shoes are completely worn out. His house has been damaged by a mortar round. Now, he wants to demolish it, but does not know how as he has no tools. Isuf is desperate. On the wall of his house, the Serbs painted graffiti cursing NATO.

Bajarm Morina insist on offering a cup of coffee in his house. The inside is grey from the ashes. Together with his wife, he has cleared away a lot of debris, but the work is not finished yet. You can hardly identify what had been the kitchen, bedrooms or living room. In one room, there is a pink egg on the ground.

"The Serbs celebrated Easter in our house", sighs Sanije. Bajarm is a sociologist and speaks good English. "We worked twenty years to build this house and now look. I don’t want revenge, but I fail to understand what happened. Despite the misery we are living in, I’m relieved because we’re free and secure at last. No more policemen that threaten and shoot randomly at us."

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