UNMIK On air

Novo Brdo Health Center

By Gezim Kasapolli

Hello and welcome. You are listening to UN Radio in Kosovo.

Driving through southeastern Kosovo towards Novo Brdo, the view leading to this mountain town of 4 thousand inhabitants is stunning. Local historians assert that Novo Brdo is among the oldest towns in the Balkans, but despite its long history Novo Brdo today is a very poor municipality facing various problems ranging from lack of water to unpaved roads and dysfunctional facilities.

However, over the last month, things have started to improve with Novo Brdo’s health care, thanks to a new health center made possible by a donation from United States Agency for International Development or USAID.

Sound of the village (animals etc)

The program in Novo Brdo is the first for the Municipal Infrastructure and Support Initiative or MISI, and the humanitarian aid group Mercy Corps is managing its implementation throughout Kosovo. Project coordinators say that MISI is designed to help municipalities take a leading role in improving conditions for their own communities. So far 9 municipalities have qualified for MISI funding.

Michael Maturo is MISI program director. He says all 9 municipalities qualified to receive funds only after a rigorous justification process. Luckily, says Maturo, Novo Brdo was the first municipality to fulfill the MISI funding criteria.

Cut 1. In about one year Novo Brdo has come up with a priority list of projects that qualified for the program and through their good work this clinic was one of the first projects finished under the MISI program and USAID donated about 28.000 US$ with the community coming up with something like an additional 8 thousand, but it is not a fully equipped clinic yet. There is still more work to get it fully equipped, however it is partially equipped.

Dr. Rrahim Veliu is the director of the clinic and the only doctor for the entire Novo Brdo municipality. He says that the importance of the health center should not be underestimated when considering that lack of basic sanitation in the village.

Cut 2. Considering the location of Novo Brdo municipality, the dispersed population in the villages and that other health centers are rather far, this clinic is very important. Considering the lack of transport in this area, this is the only health facility where the population can get help.

The population in this case means both Serbs and Albanians. During the implementation of the MISI funding, particular focus is being placed on strengthening communication links between municipal officials and the leaders of the Albanian and Serbian communities.

Tihomir Petrovic, a Kosovo Serb, is one of the old inhabitants of this village who praises the work that is being done because of the MISI funding.

Cut 3. For the health center that was renovated I can say that it is very important and everybody, no matter who they are can get help until the center works. Hats off to the Dr. Veliu, so far he has never sent me back or failed to give me proper care. All the medication I have needed, I have received, although I know they cannot give me something if they do not have it.

Novo Brdo’s clinic is the size of a one-story house, and although the medicine shelves are sparse, another resident, Habibe Cubaj says it does not diminish the community’s appreciation of the service. Although she does express hope that the services offered will continue to improve as it becomes more relevant to the outlying villages.

Cut 4. This health center is very important especially for the people since their hopes lay here. We would like to have a specialist although our doctor is going to be a specialist, since we always requested a specialist and this is more a fortune for us. We still have problems with water but this is more then welcomed for us. It is a great fortune for these people to see this repaired like this.

The foundation for the new clinic was built on the ruins of the original clinic destroyed in 2001 after a major storm hit the area. Currently, the clinic is seeing up to 15 patients a day, but Dr. Veliu says, additional improvements to the clinic need to be made soon to accommodate the patients during Novo Brdo’s particularly cold winters.

Cut 5. The entire facility has been renovated but what we need is some kind of a heating system, because it is very hard considering that until now we used wood and stoves and it is impossible to heat all the rooms. We have difficulties in rooms where we vaccinate children, in x-ray room because if we don’t have the right temperature they will freeze, and we cannot ask from a patient to undress for an EKG if the temperature is close to 0ºC.

The MISI program will last for 18 months and its continuation will depend on the results achieved during this first part of its implementation that is due to end in April 2005. Speaking to villagers in Novo Brdo, the preliminary assessments are more then satisfactory and as a result, more municipalities have expressed their desire to be Municipal Infrastructure and Support Initiative beneficiaries.

And this concludes today’s edition of our program. Stay tuned as UN Radio in Kosovo continues its coverage of the MISI program and other municipal initiatives in Kosovo.