Hello all, from Vrelo, Bosnia–Herzegovina!

Today's update is about a normal rural patrol in the Cazin Area. This patrol was conducted by Mortar Platoon, in the area of Vrelo.

The area that surrounds the town of Vrelo

Vrelo is a small area, kind of like a gathering of houses more than a town. Prior to the war, the population was predominately Bosnian Serb, but it is now Bosnian Muslim.

The following slide show is along the road coming into Vrelo from the west (left side of the above map). The road we are traveling is shown as a "secondary" type rural road (in red) similar to what you'd find in Ontario... kind of...

The Patrol through Vrelo Browse to a picture you like and click "GO".

The following is a description as you go through the photos at the left 1. This is a house that was destroyed during the war. It is listed on the map as House. 2. The next thing you pass is an old Bosnian-Serb graveyard. This site is grown over, which shows there are very few Bosnian-Serbs left in the area. 3. This is an orthodox church. This is a common indicator, on who was or is the local inhabitants. 4,5. Passing some open fields and wooded areas on our way to Vrelo 6,7. Unfortunately seeing destroyed houses is a common site in the rural areas. Several have been abandoned 8,9. Finally we pass into the town of Vrelo 10. MCpl Gamble with help from the translator, discuss problems with Zahid Macanovic (in muscle shirt). He is supporting his wife and three children on a military pension of 50DM/month (approx $35), and with help from his family and friends 11. MBdr Kirk Parlee with help from our translator, discuss problems with Mrs Semic. This is a family of 6 kids, aged 6-13. Neither her, or her husband has worked since the war, and are not supported with any government aid, just with family help and what they can grow themselves 12. On left, MBdr Kirk Parlee, with Cpl Marc Leroux and on right MCpl Blake Gamble. We save up and scrounge for some of the needy local families and kids. This is how some of the Treats from Canada end up, always a good cause 13-15. Sharing lunch with the children

One of the things we do is stop, get out and talk to the local inhabitants. We try to find out some of the problems in the areas & see what we can do to help, whether it be direct action or by passing the information higher through or Headquarters, or on to various other aid agencies.

In Vrelo, most of the people are unemployed, living on minimal or no government assistance. On this patrol we wanted to stop in and visit with some of them, to see how they are doing and pass some things we have pooled & "scrounged up".

Whenever we drove into these depressed areas the first thing you usually see is children... and plenty of them. They wave & come running when they hear the vehicle. In town, as they see us more, they usually come yelling "Bon Bon, Bon Bon..." which means they are on the hunt for candy. Quite often the things sent over to us from our families at home end up making a child a little happier. In more rural areas they wave & come up, not really expecting anything as they do not have as much contact with SFOR. Today we gave out some things in this area to some of the more needy people of Vrelo.

One of the many funny stories along our daily travels

During these patrols you never know what's going to happen, and good surprises do happen. Here is a brief explanation on what happened today to our visit to Vrelo.

As per usual, whenever we stop the kids and an adult or two will come out to greet us. This (left) is Hamida Porcic. She is 61, and suffering from heart problems and has been a widow for quite some time. She is somewhat the "woman about town", kind of like the official greeter & knowledge bank for Vrelo. Most of her children & grandchildren live in this town, and she spends her time helping everyone out however she can. She came out to greet us, and was expecting us as I told her the day prior we'd be back with some stuff for the children. She was very happy to see us.

When she came up, I told our translator to let her know that we had some stuff for her and the children in the area. We then proceeded to provide her with some food & other items. She then started to smile even wider at me, and began to talk to our translator. He blushed, and I asked him what she was saying. Our translator told the patrol that she was very happy to see us... in fact she was even happier to see me! (my turn to blush) He then went on to tell us how she would like to have a coffee and spend some time with me. The patrol members thought this was quite funny, as everyone there did, including her daughter, son-in-law & their 3 children! I then told our translator to let her know I was flattered, and also married and have a family in Canada. After relaying the message for me, he then told us that she'd said she didn't mind and it was ok that I was married. We all laughed & had a good chuckle.

The situation ended with Cpl Marc Leroux snapping a picture of us together (after she had fixed herself up a bit), and a promise of "only" a coffee on our next trip.

At this point we packed up and headed back to camp, our patrol done for the day.

Tomorrow is another day, and another patrol. This one, an urban patrol of Cazin. I will be sure to post it soonest, so you will be able to see the differences in the patrols and the people.

As always, if you would like to see certain topics covered or would like to have any specific questions answered, feel free to email me, MCpl Blake Gamble, by clicking here. I'll try to answer all as soon as I am able.

And for other information on Bosnia, other Operations or the RHLI in general you can contact the Public Affairs Officer.

See you all soon!
Pro Patria! Semper Paratus!

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