Heartache and wonder

We have been having some terrific thunderstorms nearly every day the past two weeks.  I love to watch lightening and hear the thunder roar.  The storms haven't disappointed.  I don't recall hearing such loud, ferocious thunder in a long while.  It is usually late afternoon, after a warm humid day.  Some days it is humid enough to change my perfectly coiffed hair into my "African" do.  I can feel it curl as we walk down a street!  On Tuesday we were driving between Mostar and Bihać.  The rain was so heavy we had to pull into a petrol stop to wait it out.

Almost a 6-hour drive Mostar to Bihać

We were in Mostar again to meet up with the LDS Charities vision specialist from Utah.  He and his soon to be replacement were following up on the latest vision screening project in Mostar and to present equipment to the local hospital.  We went to an elementary school first to visit a third grade classroom and watch how they conduct the vision screening.  It is very basic and the teachers are trained to do the screening.

Eye screening at Zalik Elementary School in Mostar

The cantonal (county) minister of education met us at the school.  He is very personable and was very appreciative of what LDS Charities has done in his city.  He was so impressed that he offered his assistance with anything we might need.

Specialists Ike Ferguson & Dr John Tanner, school principal, Minister Rašid Hadžović, Karen & John

Next we went to the cantonal hospital for a press conference with the director of the hospital and the ophthalmology department, and the minister of public health.

Press conference at the Mostar Cantonal Hospital

They all had a prepared statement to read, then opened it for questions.  The first question to the minister was asking his stand on a local issue.  Ever the suave politician, he diplomatically said that was unfair - we are here to talk of the vision project and how it is helping our canton.  Good for him!  During the press conference, LDS Charities presented several pieces of new equipment to the hospital to aid in additional testing when school children are referred from the initial screenings.

One of four autorefractors donated to the hospital

Not to complain, but the major initiatives like vision screening and greenhouses have a huge budget.  And they need it, but this one project was double what our entire budget is for one year!  Here is a link to an article published in the local paper.  You won't be able to read it (unless you Google Translate everything or are fluent in Bosnian) but you can look at our pretty faces.  We were also featured on several TV news stations.

https://dnevni-list.ba/mostarska-bolnica-dobila-opremu-vrijednu-112-tisuca-maraka/

We drove to Bihać (Bee-hawch) after the press conference.  It is about a 6-hour drive from Mostar on 2-lane roads. Bihać is about 17 kilometers from the Croatian border.  It is located on the Una River, population around 60,000.   We arrived at 8:00 PM, checked in to the hotel, had dinner and called it a night.  The hotel's dining room overlooks the river.

Nice home and dock on Una River across from the Hotel Opal in Bihać

This reminded us a little of the river by the Idaho Falls Temple

We were in Bihać for two reasons.  The first was to hopefully kick off a new vision screening project in that canton.  We met with the hospital director, the assistant minister of education and a doctor from the public health institute.  Ike gave a little presentation and they all readily agreed to go forward.  They had already heard positive things from previous cantons where we've had vision screening projects.  Dr. Tanner asked if he could look at their equipment in the ophthalmology department to better assess what they might need.  I have to say I was aghast.  The hospital buildings where the clinics are housed are literally falling apart.  Even I recognized the equipment was so antiquated, I wondered how they function.  Just a new eye chart would be an improvement.  They still use old charts that hang on the wall and the doctor points to the letters.  Each of the various clinics we passed had long lines of patients waiting.  The doctor said they may wait as long as two months or more for an eye exam.

We said goodbye to the specialists and went to our second reason for being in Bihać.  A new refugee camp has emerged in the past month.  Bosnia is not an EU nation and has very little to offer refugees.  We knew there were 300-400 refugees staying in one area of Sarajevo but no one has paid much attention to them.  Surrounding countries have tightened their borders and cut off the route refugees were taking.  The ultimate goal is to reach an EU country, who will offer more assistance.  So now they are coming via Greece, Macedonia and Montenegro into Bosnia.  There were a few hundred camped in a city park and they were bused down to Mostar.  It's a mystery how they all know where to go, but they must have a strong network to pass info along.  They like Bihać because it is so close to the Croatian border.  The Red Cross estimates there are around 450 people there already; just in the past two weeks.  And growing each day.  The conditions are deplorable and the Red Cross is struggling to manage the situation.  The German Red Cross donated a field kitchen that is in their warehouse in downtown Bihać.  They can afford to feed them only one meal each day.  Lunch is served at 2:00 PM and that is all they get.  The food is transported from the warehouse to the camp about 2 miles away.

Field kitchen in the Red Cross warehouse-not very sanitary conditions

Warning: this place broke my heart and moves me to tears just writing about it now.  The building is a former college dormitory, damaged during the war and never restored.  It has been vacant for years.  No windows so it is open to the elements whenever it rains or the wind blows.

Refugee camp near Bihać

Entrance to building front

One room for single men

A family room

Hole in the concrete floor by a sleeping mat

No place yet for new arrivals that day

A sweet moment - children always bring joy wherever they are

Whew, that was a hard day for us!  We're waiting for some direction from Frankfurt as to what and how much we will be allowed to do.  On our way back through town two days later, we saw several men walking along the road.  We knew immediately they were refugees, headed for the camp.

This is becoming quite a lengthy blog and we still have another adventure to get through!  This one is much more pleasant.  We took a couple days off and went to Plitvice (Pleet-veet-seh) Lakes National Park across the border in Croatia.  The Rick Steves tour book describes it as one of Europe's most spectacular wonders.  "Imagine Niagara Falls diced and sprinkled over a heavily forested Grand Canyon.  There's nothing like this lush valley of 16 terraced lakes, separated by natural travertine dams and laced together by waterfalls, boat rides and miles of pleasant plank walks."

John at the park entrance

It took us a few minutes in the park to realize what was different - it is strictly look and don't touch.  You can hike on the plank pathways only; there is no recreation happening - no swimming, boating (except the official park boats), fishing.  Just busloads of Japanese tourists with their selfie sticks.  And we thought they were all on Temple Square... The park is awesome and well worth the drive but it does take us through one of the poorest, remotest areas of inland Croatia.  This part of the country is still war torn.  We saw bombed out churches and homes in many villages.

The lake water was so clear we could see the fish swimming

We took so many photos it's hard to choose which ones to include.  Here's a video of one of the falls.

Electric boat ride to the upper lakes area

We hiked the lower lakes, then rode a boat the the upper lakes area.  From there we hiked back down to catch the tram to the parking area.  You could probably hike for a few days in the park to see all the lakes and falls, but four hours was plenty for us.  It was a hot day so we went back to our hotel to swim and sit by the pool.

View of pool area from our hotel room

We stayed at House Tina in Grabovac (Grab-oh-vats), a few miles from the park.  It was in a quiet, peaceful area away from the tourist chaos.  It is family run and the dad does "BBQ" for the guests each night.  The menu is always the same - meat platter or trout.  Both come with grilled veggies, potatoes, fresh salad and bread.  The meat platter is a chicken cutlet, a pork chop, a sausage, 2 ćevapi (local sausages), and two pieces of bacon.  Way too much food, but so delicious.

John had the local trout our second night at the hotel

It was such a relaxing, serene place we were sad to leave.  The drive home on Friday was about six hours.

Today we viewed the Western Europe Regional Conference broadcast.  Elder Kearon conducted, Elder Uchtdorf presided.  They both spoke; we also heard from Sister Jones and Elder Hallstrom.  It was streamed live via the internet and went okay except for a few moments of buffering when we missed the intermediate hymn.  We had visitors from Taiwan, Las Vegas (originally from South Africa) and Washington DC today.  And three investigators.  The gentleman from Vegas was alone and has been traveling for a month.  He said his wife is 86 and won't go with him anymore.  He is 89.

The Tuzla Elders were here today so we had six dinner guests.  We did haystacks and I cooked 24 cups of rice.  They ate it all but a few grains and a large pan of brownies after.  Elder Evans told me that everything I cook is divine.  I guess I'll invite them back again - how can we not after a remark like that?

This has been a good week for reflecting on all we have been blessed with.  I am reminded of Elder Kearon's remarks from his April 2016 conference talk, "This moment will not define the refugees, but our response will help define us."  There has never been a time in my life when I went without food or clothing or a safe place to sleep at night.  I always knew that I was loved and cared about by someone.  May we all be full of gratitude and respond to others with kindness, love, compassion and generosity.