Hodovo

July 2007 Visit
From July 21st to August 7th 2007, a group of young people from our parish went to work in a Refugee Settlement in Bosnia Herzegovina.

The Settlement is attached to a village called Hodovo; we have been trying as a parish to help these people for four or five years now.

In 2006, we approached the mayor of the local town, Stolac, to ask what sort of project our young people could engage in.  He suggested that we try to renew the sports facility adjacent to the settlement and the village.

Over the intervening months, we raised thousands of pounds both for travel and accommodation in addition to the materials we would need in executing the project.

The group of young people and adults who were supporting them arrived in Hodovo in July when the temperatures were soaring into the high 30s and forest fires were raging all around.

We had already paid for fresh tarmac to be laid and for the pitch to be lined for football, basketball and handball.  Our task was to provide benches for spectators..

..and to erect posts for netting to stop the balls going into the rough.

We also had to prepare signage for the site.

In all of this, the main aim was to bring together the young people from the village and the young people from the Settlement to work together on the project. This they readily did.

On the completion of the project the local mayor and the local priest came to open the facility..

..and afterwards we were entertained to an alfresco meal.

All of this attracted the interest of the local media, TV and radio.

The Bakery
The next phase that we are working towards is to help set up a Bakery near the Settlement. There are five qualified bakers living there.

The local Council has agreed to let them have a ten year rent free lease on the derelict unit below the school.

The school was restored a few years ago by charitable donations, but the area below it, which used to be a parade of shops, remains derelict from shell and bomb damage.

We are raising money so that the ceiling and walls may be made good, doors and windows installed, electricity and water supplies connected.

The Equipment
Recently the transportation of bakery equipment began. The equipment was donated by one of our parishioners, Aidan Monks from the renowned Munx Bakery in Staveley.

David Neil (right) of Holy Trinity & St. George and David Reeks of Edinburgh Direct Action discuss the plan for loading the truck.

This is Munx’s Lakeland Bakery in Staveley Wood Yard. Aidan Monks, owner of the bakery, generously donated all of the equipment and has been so patient throughout the six months it has taken for us to arrange to take it off his hands and transport it to Herzegovina.

That’s either a very small forklift truck or a very big oven! It is a very big oven: three stone-lined ‘drawers’ that are each independently controlled so that you can bake three different breads all at the same time.

The oven was loaded with surprising ease and pretty soon we had the Proving Cabinets aboard too. Here’s the mixer being lifted. In the foreground you can see some of the three cooling racks that Aidan gave us.

Wise precautions for the road to Herzegovina in Winter: snow chains, towing line, spades and a spare wheel.

One oven, two proving cabinets and one mixer. David and Aidan bid farewell to the kit that will make delicious bread in Hodovo, Herzegovina. Our kit plus all of the aid from Edinburgh Direct Action is fully loaded at last. As a security measure, David Reeks will be sleeping in the back of the truck for four nights in sub- zero temperatures.

And then they were ready for the off! In addition to this, we hope to provide funding for essential supplies to start up the business and also some initial funding for salaries. As ever, donations for this work will be gratefully accepted via the Parish Office.