It was December, 2001, the electricity was gone again! A cold breeze chilled my bones. I looked outside the window and saw the first winter snow falling in Kosovo. It was one of the most astonishing sights I had ever seen. Although, outside temperature was below freezing, I put on some light warm clothes that I had brought from Bangladesh and went out. The snow was as soft as cotton balls. Slowly the whole world turned white. In an instant the neighborhood I knew, became very unfamiliar to me. Trees had shed their leaves long ago and now it seemed as if they had worn a white gown to hide their bareness. The rooftops of houses seemed as if they were painted in white.

Getting ready to ski down to a center meeting!

That night Mir and Mafiz, my two Bangladeshi colleagues sat down with me with worried looks on their faces, to discuss how to go for the center meetings the next morning. We were quite nervous how our project will work in area, now blanketed with upto three feet of snow. We apprehended that the road system of war devastated Kosovo would be disrupted very soon.

In the morning, Astrit and Margim,my local colleagues, came earlier than other days. All dressed up in overcoats, boots and gloves, they started to clean the office entrance and our rusty jeep, with a big brush, cleaning the solid ice with a shovel. Astrit also brought some ash and placed it beside the tyres. Margim found some warm water to pour on the engine to start the vehicle. Finally, the jeep was ready and we started our hazardous journey to the center meetings, on icy mountain road.

When we arrived at village Zabeli, we found our members all clad in warm winter clothes. They looked so different (compared to our Bangladeshi borrowers who wear usually light clothes and cotton saris even during winter) wearing heavy winter clothes. There was still another unforeseen problem at the center meeting. In summer, it was easier to organize center meetings as well as mini meetings or projection gatherings in the open space, in front of members’ houses or in the shade of their apple orchard or vinyard. But during winter things were much more difficult. During the war, Kosovars lost their main heating system and it was difficult to buy wood in advance for heating one’s home. As our members did not have many rooms, some of the centers suggested that center meetings be shifted to the mosque or some other places. In addition, we observed that in winter, it was inconvenient to sit on the icy floor. Still we openly discussed and shared their problems. Finally, members decided that they would on their own buy plastic stools and they can share fuel wood that they can individually bring for heating during the center meetings. This will help ease the burden of the member who had graciously agreed to host centre meeting at her home.

Our members had to face a terrible time in their first winter, after the war of 1999. They were displaced from their homes and they were unable in many cases to bear the cost of wood for heating facilities. They did not even have enough money to preserve food in advance. Before arriving in Kosovo, we never had the experience of the people who needed to preserve food for the household to survive the bitter winter. During winter, prices of all essential goods went up for dearth of supplies and Kosovo people must rely for such essentials on neighboring countries like Macedonia, Turkey and Bulgaria.

During winter, the sun would not be seen for days. It seemed as if the country was covered with a blanket of misty darkness. We had short days and very long nights. There was a very subtle difference between day and night. Even during day, our colleagues in the office had to use candles and charger lights.

Moreover, we found it so difficult to reach our members as we needed to cross mountains and often had to travel on narrow roads which were all snow bound. KFOR (Force for Kosovo) tried to clean the main roads, but we had to use the country roads to reach villages which were located high in the mountains. The snow on the ground became like a clear crystal glass and the roads were very slippery. Heavy fog covered the countryside. I remember being stuck in the dense fog while going to one of our centers in Bardimad along with Mr. Niccolo D’ Aqino, a senior journalist from a very reputed magazine, Io Donna, in Milan. Mr. Niccolo came to Kosovo to write our story. We started out for the center meeting at 8:00 am and the sky was clear at that time. However, weather began to change for the worse. When we arrived in Fush Kosova, one and a half hours drive from Peje, it became completely dark. Even things within half a meter range were almost invisible. Mr. Nicollo suggested that he get down and walk beside the jeep and show our driver the way. However, our driver did not agree, saying that it would be more risky for the journalist. Mr. Niccolo might not see other vehicles coming or other vehicles might not see him in the dark, and an accident might take place. Frightened and praying all the way, finally we reached our destination safely, because of a merciful God and a very expert driver.

We became quite worried in the first winter of our stay in Kosovo, as we saw many NGOs were closing down their activities and leaving the country. Many expatriates working in Kosovo, went on leave, but we had to stay put. In fact we became even closer to our customers, the center members who appreciated that we stood by them during a difficult time.

Inspite of the severe cold, our local colleagues were always punctual. They proved to be as hard working as ever. Our members remained steadfast and were regular in attending center meetings, even paying their instalments in time.

Jannat-E-Quanine was the first project Director of Grameen Trust’s Kosovo project