ORTHODOX CHURCH IN ALBANIA PROVIDES $8,553,254 (US) FOR KOSOVO REFUGEES IN ALBANIA

The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, with the continuous concern of His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durres and All Albania, continues responding to the tragedy of the Kosovo refugees. The Albanian Government estimated that 473,429 Kosovo refugees had flooded into Albania. In response to these suffering people, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania's social, development and relief office--Diaconia Agapes (DA)--works together with the ACT (Action by Churches Together) Network and implemented a large scale emergency program.

Miss Penny Panayiota Deligiannis of Aurora, Illinois serves as the Director of the ACT/DA Emergency Program in Albania. Under Deligiannis' persevering leadership, the 87-person national and international team completed the $8,553,254 (US) ACT/DA Emergency Program during the period March 26 - December 31, 1999. Mr. Artan Kosti of Tirana, Albania was an integral member of the management team. Churches, agencies and friends from Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America provided financial support, field personnel and aid.

"During these past nine months, we positively tackled many challenges through consistent hard work on a daily basis," relayed Deligiannis.

The activities completed from March 26 - June 30, 1999 in Albania by the Orthodox Church's Diaconia Agapes and ACT included the following:

- In response to direct pleas by national and local Albanian government officials, more than 220 metric tons of ready-to-eat food was distributed to refugees in Kukes, Pogradec, Korca, Tirana, Durres, Mullet and other areas;

- Provided humanitarian support to 18,000+ Kosovo refugees in Albania;

- Established one fully operational refugee camp in Ndroq, Albania which cared for 1,332 Kosovo Refugees on a monthly basis;

- Coordinated nine common service programs for Kosovo refugees focussing on camp construction, camp management, education, food distribution, health, non-food distribution, psychosocial services (post war trauma counselling) as well as water and sanitation assistance to hosting Albanian communities and families;

- Provided a health unit at the refugee camp in Ndroq working in coordination with the Polish Medical Fire Brigade Mission comprised of five doctors and ten rescue workers;

- Established a small hospital at the camp in Ndroq;

- Treated more than 4,140 patients via the Church's local medical team which worked alongside the Polish Medical Fire Brigade Mission;

- Distributed monthly family food parcels, hygiene supplies and new summer clothing sets to 11,800 Kosovo Refugees and Albanian host families in two prefectures;

- Assisted 32 infants and 8 expectant mothers at the Mother and Baby Clinic in Tirana;

- Established a "Small Projects Fund" which financially supported emergency aid activities of local groups and organizations in seven locations--26 small projects each received a grant of $8,000 (US);

- The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania assisted pregnant Kosovo women. In Tirana, the two maternity hospitals called the Church daily requesting aid for newborns. The Church provided more than 300 families with clothing and supplies for mothers and babies; and

- Orthodox Church groups in Berat, Durres, Gjirokaster, Korca, Tirana and other cities offered aid to the refugees by packaging and distributing food parcels to refugees housed by local Albanian families. Along with the students enrolled at the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Theological Academy, these Orthodox Church groups volunteered at the various refugee camps.

In the second phase of the crisis from mid-June - October 1999, the Orthodox Church's Diaconia Agapes and ACT completed the following activities:

- With the rapid return of the majority of refugees to Kosovo, ACT/DA worked with a consortium of Albanian construction companies from July through October and built 500 pre-fabricated wooden winterized houses to provide warm housing for 4,000+ Kosovars. Over a three-month period, the Diaconia Agapes team accompanied more than 87 20-ton trucks transporting these 500 pre-fabricated units from Albania to Mitrovica and some of the most heavily damaged areas in Kosovo which were erected in time for winter (October). Working through ACT-Kosovo which distributed these units, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania was amongst the first in the international aid community to provide completed winterized homes to Kosovars; and

- Delivered more than 1,532 tons of humanitarian aid to Kosovo.

Currently, the United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees (UNHCR) relies on the Orthodox Church's Diaconia Agapes to maintain the largest winterized and fully operational refugee camp in Albania located in Tirana until April 2000 (and later if needed). The camp is comprised of 100 pre-fabricated units allowing a potential capacity of 600 persons. Diaconia Agapes continues to coordinate common service programs for Kosovo refugees focussing on camp management, education, food distribution, health, non-food distribution of hygiene supplies and new winter clothing sets as well as water and sanitation assistance. The Church's local medical team is providing treatment to refugee patients.

During the month of December, the Orthodox Church's Diaconia Agapes continues distributing humanitarian aid throughout Albania and to Kosovo.

THE PRESS OFFICE OF THE ORTHODOX AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCH OF ALBANIA December 13, 1999