Tristate finding ways to help

Whether donating cash or risking their lives, Greater Cincinnati residents by the thousands are working - usually without a lot of fanfare - to lessen the suffering in Bosnia.

Those trying to help the people in Bosnia come from all walks of life, including:

David Crowley, 59, of Mount Adams, who coordinated food supplies to Bosnia for two years as a manager for Caritas Internationalis, the world Catholic relief organization. He now is preparing to return to central Bosnia this summer with a conflict-resolution group.

Susan Nuxoll, a 29-year-old Covington native, who delivered food and medicine for 18 months to elderly poor trapped in Bosnia's war zones.

Francis Obradovich, a 75-year-old retired Army engineer from Terrace Park, who spent the last four years finding various ways to mail food, medicine and money to the family of a first cousin - people whom he has never met - trapped in Sarajevo.

The bottom line for these volunteers and many other Tristate residents is that they want to help.

"It's something I feel very strongly about," said Mr. Crowley. "I just know that it can be better there, and I hope I can help make it better. I met so many good people. I believe they can achieve peace. Maybe not in my lifetime, but in a reasonable period of time."

Efforts to assist the people of Bosnia abound, from small churches in Clermont County to hospitals in Cincinnati. A Boone County couple, Jan and Addia Wuchner, have taken truckloads of donated medical supplies to Bosnia. Project Shelter, a group based in Northern Kentucky, has brought Bosnian students to stay with families here for a year.

Of all the stories of local aid for Bosnia, none is more stark than that of Ms. Nuxoll, a local painter who had worked in elderly care.

Two years ago, Ms. Nuxoll signed up with a volunteer agency from Texas working in the mountainous area near the Catholic shrine of Medjugorje and the southern city of Mostar. Three weeks after showing up, the agency she was working for pulled up stakes and left. Alone in a war zone, Ms. Nuxoll found herself living in an unheated apartment on $100 a month in a dangerous land where she did not speak the language. She decided to stick it out.

"I figured: 'Well, God, if you want me to be here, you will make it work.' And he did," she said.

She organized food shipments with the help of her parents and friends back in Northern Kentucky. She worked with an American nun, bringing food and medicine to elderly people - Muslims, Croats and Serbs - trapped because of the fighting. Friends were killed, and friends of hers killed, but Ms. Nuxoll remained safe.

But after a car accident, a dog bite, freezing cold and other problems, she decided to come home in January. Now, she plans on raising funds for Bosnia in the Cincinnati area. She already has given many talks to churches and schools. She remains haunted by the experience.

"There is no one in Bosnia, Croatia or Serbia who hasn't lost someone," she said. "I always remember the sad faces of the children in Bosnia. I hope I see them every day of my life."

While Ms. Nuxoll's aid was basic - supplying food and medicine for daily existence - other people in Greater Cincinnati are working to use the latest technology to help.

Several Tristate academics are hoping the Internet can become the road to peace.

Charles Ginn, adjunct professor of social psychology at the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College, visited Bosnia last December to meet with University of Sarajevo faculty members about what they might need to restore education. On his trip, he was robbed and survived shelling that terrified him. This summer, the 46-year-old professor plans to return with supplies.

"I really don't like going there. . . . It's not a nice place to be, but I had the chance to do something really worthwhile," he said. "I'm not Indiana Jones. I've got a nice family and a nice job. . . . But they have kids over there, too, and they desperately want to go on with their lives."

Professor Ginn also has helped set up an Internet discussion group, via UC's computers, between psychologists from all regions of the former Yugoslavia. The goal is to get people talking. So far, it's worked, with professors cautiously communicating with each other via Professor Ginn at UC.

"If we can get people talking, we can show them they have things in common," he said. "It's a start."

Robert Wallace, a professor of literature and language at NKU, also saw technology as his way of helping. While hosting a Bosnian, 18-year-old Emina Atikovic of Tuzla, at his house for Project Shelter, Mr. Wallace agonized about what he could do to help Bosnia's youths.

Mr. Wallace has hit on the idea of supplying each of the 23 teen-agers in Project Shelter, 15 of whom are set to return to Bosnia in two months, with laptop computers. He hopes to raise the money with the help of Huntington Bank and Tristate Computer Exchange.

They hope to gather $11,000 in cash donations and used computers before the teen-agers have to return.

The goal is to get some kind of Internet access for the teen-agers, perhaps through the U.S. Embassy, so they can communicate with friends in the Cincinnati area. They could also tap into the UC library on the Internet. Mr. Wallace hopes the computers will help the Bosnian teen-agers establish some sense of normality in their lives.

The ultimate goal of all the local efforts is a simple one: peace.

"I worry about these kids, what will happen when they go back," Mr. Wallace said. "There is so much hatred. But we have to hope things will get better."

Helping hands

International Rescue Committee
122 E. 42nd St.
New York 10168-1289
Phone (212) 551-3000
e-mail: irc@irc.com

Catholic Relief Services
209 W. Fayette St.
Baltimore 21201-3443
Phone (800) 235-2772
e-mail: crshq@igc.apc.org

American Refugee Committee
2344 Nicollett Ave. South - Suite 350
Minneapolis 55404-3305
Phone: (612) 872-7060
e-mail: kraus024@maroon.tc.umn.edu

International Orthodox Christian Charities
711 W. 40th St. - Suite 306
Baltimore 21211
Phone: (410) 243-9820
e-mail: iocc@igc.apc.org

Local project
Anyone wishing to aid Professor Robert Wallace's effort to supply 23 Project Shelter children with laptop computers before they return home to Bosnia can make donations of cash or used computers to any Huntington Bank branch before May, or write:

Project Shelter - Computers
Box 121
Union 41091

Published April 30, 1996