The Building Blocks of International Relations
By Brock Bierman
(Bowling
Green News, 9/12/02)
As we approached the airport the scene from above appeared one of tranquility
and beauty. Small villages sprawled throughout a rural landscape, country
houses with tiled roofs and farm animals roaming in nearby fields.
It wasn’t until the plane started its final approach that the true
detail of Kosovo set in.
Deserted homes one after the other, armored personnel carriers driving
through empty streets and churches surrounded with barbed wire flanked
by armed guards.
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| Brock Bierman, left, assists in the sheep
distribution project financed by USAID. (Photo by USAID/Serbia
and Montenegro) |
| |
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| Bierman rolls up his sleeves and help distribute
Merino sheep to community of sheep breeders. All families receiving
sheep this year
will provide the same number of sheep to their neighbors next year.
The project was identified by the community and developed with assistance
from ACDI/VOCA under the USAID financed CRDA program. (Photo by USAID/Serbia
and Montenegro) |
| |
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| Bierman shakes hand with Mayor Vlatko Rajkovic
after lunch hosted by ACDI/VOCA. (Photo by USAID/Serbia and Montenegro) |
Distance can soften almost any image but the reality of close inspection
sometimes tells a much different story. This was my first temporary tour
of duty experience, as chief of staff for a bureau that delivers almost
a billion and a half dollars of aid to 27 countries in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia, at the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID).
It has only been about two months since my arrival at USAID, but in that
short time I have developed a deeper and better understanding of foreign
assistance. I would spend about a week in the Yugoslav republics of Serbia,
Montenegro and the province of Kosovo learning more about our agency’s
programs and regional initiatives, but would take away a lifetime of memories,
as well as better appreciation of our country and the everyday things
we take for granted.
The three regions of the Yugoslav republic are all very different, yet
all have the same common challenges of unemployment, sagging economies
and too many dishonest politicians.
Kosovo is among the poorest and most destitute areas that I visited.
Montenegro’s beautiful mountainous terrain and sandy beaches testify
to a wonderful tourist potential, and Serbia’s capital city of Belgrade
looked like a modern Western city with metropolitan ambiance.
The first leg of my journey was in Kosovo where I spent three days observing
projects that touched almost all facets of human life. In an area riddled
by ethnic tension and the atrocities of Slobodan Milosevic, I was particularly
impressed with a program designed to ease tensions of one town’s
mixed ethnic population.
The rebuilding of a small stretch of road by local villagers in a multi-ethnic
town taught more than redefining infrastructure, but how to work through
differences to accomplish a goal. This main street reconstruction was
made possible by U.S. material assistance, but the labor came from the
villagers themselves. Working together they learned more about themselves,
their community and the ties that bind.
It was easy to see the pride in the faces of the workers as they showed
us their accomplishment, but perhaps more important was their effectiveness
in working together. Their desire to accomplish this goal helped break
down the racial barriers that have caused so much pain and anguish in
the past.
While in Serbia I had another unique experience helping rural farmers
replenish their livestock. In the village of Luzince, I was asked to participate
with the distribution of five sheep to each farmer.
The only requirement placed on the farmers was that within one season,
they breed the sheep and give five more sheep away to a neighboring farm.
This distribution process was an extraordinary event for the area, as
tractors pulling wagons lined the street with families in tow.
It didn’t take much to see the deep appreciation these farmers
had for the help they were being given. One family who had come to participate
in the program brought three generations to take part in the exchange.
It was clear that this was more than the giving of aid and developing
international good will; it was the building of a community’s very
spirit.
During my time in the region I witnessed a number of wonderful projects:
the rebuilding of a center for physically challenged citizens, the renovation
of a school damaged by earthquakes and the rejuvenation of an economy
by helping give loans to small startup businesses. These programs are
designed to promote more than good relations between two countries, but
are meant to help those in need to prosper and become more self-sufficient.
I also had the privilege of meeting several local officials, including
the president of Kosovo. These were men and women whose struggle for an
open and democratic way of life could be sensed in their passionate plea
for assistance.
As I ended my time in this region I had hope that this area was picking
itself up from a terrible time in its history, but I knew as we labored
down the pitted road to the airport covered with armored vehicles and
United Nation peacekeeping personnel that it would be some time in coming.
Brock D. Bierman, who accepted a position with President
Bush's administration in June, is finishing his third term as State Representative
from Cranston's 23rd district. A 1986 graduate of the School of journalism
from Bowling Green State University, Bierman became involved with foreign
affairs after being selected to participate in two national exchange programs
while at the legislature. His experience overseas eventually led him to
his current position as Chief of Staff for the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia
at the United States Agency for International Development.
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