m

WARRANT Officer Gallant shows Smoijana’s com-
munity representative how to fill out applications for
humanitarian aid. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

Keep

SIX years after the conflict
in Bosnia ended, refugees
are still returning to their
homes to pick up the
pieces of their lives.

In the smal! town of
Smoljana, Bosnian Serbs
ousted from their homes
during the conflict are
starting to rebuild.

What greeted them
when they came back
were brick farm houses
with no roofs, windows,
doors or running water.
Everything they owned
was destroyed.

But a division of the
Canadian peacekeeping
contingent called Civil
Military Cooperation
(CIMIC) is working to
‘help refugees return to
their homes.

- Part of that involves

helping people such as
those who live in Smolja-
na to to rebuild.

The Canadians work
with local contractors wha
receive money for the re-
pairs from international
humanitarian aid agencies.

Local people are hired
in an effort to bolster the
Bosnian economy.

“All the work we do in
the CIMIC cell is to get
people in the area to work.
That’s the goal,” said
Warrant Officer Sylvain
Gallant, who is based at
Camp Maple Leaf in
Zgon, Bosnia.

Gallant acts as a go-be-
tween for the contractors
and aid agencies.

He has the task of in-
forming local people whe-
ther or not their aid re-
quests are appraved.

'On a cald November
day Gallant arrives in
Smojjana to teli four fami-
lies they’ve been approved

to. receive windows and

4,
1

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 12, 2001 - AS

Refugees return to homes destroyed in war

A BOSNIAN-SERB couple fisten anxiously about how to apply for humanitar-
ian aid to put windows and doors on their home. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO.

doors for their homes.

The Brankovic family
was very excited to hear
the good news. Just last
year the Brankoyvics and

Part two of a special report by Sarah A. Zimmerman

Cpl. Christian Drouin steps into the armoured cab of a mine clearing machine

called an Aardvark. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTC.

Clearing land mines
safer for Canadians

BURIED beneath Bosnia’s rolling hills,
next {0 mountain streams and in fields lay
three million undetonated land mines.

Children in Bosnia’s countryside play
on roadways and paved areas ~ it’s tao
dangerous to play in the fields.

In an effort to make Bosnia a safer
place to live, Canadian peacekeepers
have the task of removing those mines.

Teams of Canadians go out with for-
mer Bosnian soldiers searching areas
known {o have mines. They are are deto-
nated or removed from the sites.

Depending on which estimates you be-
lieve, clearing this small central Eur-
opean country of its mines could take
anywhere from 25 to 1,000 years.

To make the dangerous mission safer,
Canadian soldiers also use a specially
designed machine called an Aardvark to
clear expansive fields of the explosives.

The Aardvark is a British made ma-
chine that resembles a big tractor, The
front portion of the machine is equipped
with long segments of chains called flails.

The chains are fixed to a crossbar
which spins at 220 rotations per minute,

The flails strike the ground every 5.4
millimetres, detonating mines buried up

to two feet below the surface.

The operator sits in an armoured cab
set eight metres back from the flail. As
the Aardvark fires up, the cab jostles and
grumbies. It’s a rough ride.

Moving at a snail’s pace of 67 metres
per hour, the Aardvark slowly passes
through active mine fields, detonating
what explosives remain.

The machines are used by armies
around the world, including countries
such as Rwanda, And so far, there have
been no injuries to their operators, said
Bill Elliot, chief engineer for Aardvark.

Cpl. Christian Drouin says he has
every confidence in the armour built to
protect him.

“In this machine, I feel safe,”
said,

Despite the dangerous nature of the
job, Canadian peacekeepers charged with
demining activities maintain a good
sense of humour.

According to Set. Douglas Rognon,
being an engineer working with the Aard-
vark is quite possibly the best position to
have.

“The engineers get all the best toys,”
Rognon said.

Drouin

Former Prince George man sees the impact of war

Flight technician has

By SARAH A.
ZIMMERMAN
FLYING ABOVE Bosnian
skies in a Griffon 467 heli-
copter, the destruction to
homes and ranches in that
country during the conflict

there is evident.

It's a view that Cpl. Lee
Lussier sees regularly on
his rotation with the Cana-
dian peacekeepers posted
in Bosnia.

Lussier grew up in

Prince George and lived -

there until he was 20.
He said working in Bos-
nia has given him insight
. to how long it takes to re-
build a nation after war.
“The damage is still
there. and it’s six years
after the war,” Lussier
-said, “It makes you wonder
‘what their lives were like

before.”

Lussier is a flight tech-
nician with the 430 heli-
copter squadron based out
of Valcartier, Quebec.

While in Bosnia he
spends a substantial
amount of time in the air,
allowing him to see the
realities of day to day life
of Bosnians.

Seeing farmers tending
their fields using what
many Canadians consider
antiquated techniques
came as a shock to him,

“My eyes opened up a
lot when | saw somebody
farming with a horse and
plough,” Lussier said.

While most peace-
keepers are deployed over-
seas on six-month rota-
tions, Lussier is part of a

pilot. t Project, (bat sees

members of the helicopter
squadron based in Bosnia
for three two month rota-
tions over the course of a
year,

Lussier and other mem-
bers spend 56 days in Bos-
nia, go home for a month
and a half and then return
to Bosnia.

The new rotation sche-
dule has had mixed re-
views.

Some people like the
idea of getting their rota-
tion over with all in one
stint, while others like the
idea of being able to return
home to their families
more frequently.

Bot Lussier said the

time passes very quickly -

on the shortened rotations.

“I like it, but my. wife:
says she doesn’t like say-

Canadians in for

By SARAH. A
ZIMMERMAN
MANY CANADIAN sold-
iers are reluctant to guess
how long their presence in
Bosnia is required, but if
you ask Lieutenant-Colo-
nel Nicolas Matern, it will
take at least a generation
to flush out the conflict

that still exists there.
Matern, 41, is the battle
group commander for the
3rd Battalion, Royal 22nd
Regiment now in Bosnia.
This is the third time

_ Matern has been posted in .
. Bosnia singe 1992.05 >

“The war may. be over
but those memories are not
gone,” he explains.

He says it could take at
least 25 years — or an en-
lire generation — before the
country will be back on its
feet.

“Most af the people
pulling the strings are still
that generalion that ¢con-
ducted the war,” he says
about the current political
and economic situalion.

Rebuilding is difficult
in the face of a fledgling
democracy and a corrupt
economy.

“You've got sa much
corruption in this country
it's not even funny,” Ma-
term says.

Evidence of the black
market is everywhere.
Some people claim they
are unemployed, yel they-
drive expensive cars such
as Mereedes and BMWs.

Another example exists
in the town of Drvar. in the
heart of Drvar are two
identical apartment com-
plexes which stand side by
‘side.

» One building has balco-
nies covered with satellite
dishes, The other has only
two or three dishes.

That's because Bosnian

ing good-bye three times,”
he said.

The hardest patt about
leaving is saying good-bye
to his one year old son,

“Dropping my son off at
daycare was a tear jerker,”
he said of the last time he
saw his sen before leaving,
for his first rotation in Bos-
nia last September.

But the 36-year-old
flight technician has rea-
son to be happy this
Christmas. That’s because
the shortened rotations
means he’ll be home for
the holidays ~ something
he is plainly excited about.

He has extra reason to
rejoice this year. His wife
is: expecting their second
chiid.

And thal, said Lussier,
is something to celebrate...

Croats live in one complex
and are charged only 60
German Marks (about $45
CDN) for satellite hook-up.
Meanwhile, Bosnian Serbs
live in the adjacent build-
ing and are charged 600
German Marks (about
$450 CDN) for hook-up,
Croats essentially con-

trol the satellite service ——?

and there is no public po-
licy in place to prevent
such discrimination.

It’s an example not only
of the ethnic tensions that
remain, but of the corrup-

“tian! that permeates’ ‘the
'‘Bosiian society. ,

“Reestablishing peace
was relatively easy, bul
reestablishing the econ-
omy and political environ-
ment is the big thing,”
Matern says.

Despite the difficulties,
Matern says there has
been a tremendous change
in the state of affairs in
Bosnia since the first time
he was in that country dur-
ing the war.

“The most important
part is you’ve got peace
where it didn’t exist
before,” Matern says.
“Although it’s been im-
posed, it’s peaceful now.”

In the summer of 1992
Matern spent six weeks in
the city of Sarajevo while
it was under attack.

He was part of the first
peacekeeping contingent
to enter the city since the
war began the previous
year,

The sound of snipers
shooting and mortar shells
dropping was constant.

“It was street fighting at
it’s best,” he said. “It was
gang warfare.”

Peacekeepers at that
time were prevented fiom
intervening on either side

of the conflict. And for’

three other families re-
ceived new roofs through
money given by the Cana-
dian International Deve-
lopment Agency.

They are the Iucky four.

It'll take years before
this small village is re-
built, but for now some fa-
mities are on their way.

ng the peace

the long haul

LIEUTENANT Colonel Nicolas Matern is posted in
Bosnia far the third time since 1892.

many UN soldiers there,
they felt like sitting ducks.
“The way I like to put it
is, we were as close lo war
as we could get without
petting directly involved,
we were literally on the
sidelines,” Matern recalls.
“Tt was pandemonium.”
Ten years later, Matern
is proud of the work that’s
been done in Bosnia and
he feels the country and its
people have benefited
from the presence of the

peacekeepers.

Rebuilding is a slaw
process, but he believes
the peacekeeping presence
is crucial to maintaining
relative peace in the area.

Matern feels his troops
recognize the value of the
work they’re doing in Bos-
nia.

“Helping the population
is one thing, but convin-
cing people from within
that we're here for a good
cause is more rewarding.”

Acknowledgement

The Terrace Standard acknowledges the assistance of
Hawkair Aviation Services and Diane Francis af Uni-

globe Courtesy Travel.

bird’s eye view of Bosnia

CORPORAL Lee car ret over the Bosnian countryside from inside a
~ Griffon 467 helicopter. He’s there with the Canadian peacekeepers on @ trial
Project th ‘that seas him return home frequently. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO,