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RedR TSS gravatar image
RedR TSS

Your request brings back memories of the massive shelter program in Kosovo, '98-'00, that I helped design. I've heard that some contingency planning was underway on a possible exodus to Serbia, but will confess that similar work elsewhere (e.g., Cuba, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Chad, etc.) has kept me quite busy, so I know few current details about the Serbian case.

Given the assumed likelihood that the exodus population will be almost entirely ethnic Serb, it is likely that strong social/familial ties exist in Serbia itself, which could as the basis for self-selected host-guest family (HGF) arrangements, which could be supported programmatically as a short-term alternative to housing construction. HGF arrangements have, at times, entailed some minor expansion of existing host family houses (e.g., closing in a back porch to create another room, or creating living space out of an attic, basement, or out building), but have typically featured upgrades to wat-san facilities, perhaps more beds and mattresses, food, fuel wood, pots and pans, i.e., a flexible package of assistance, as opposed to more conventional construction activity.

Support of HGF arrangements could be done either in winter or summer, and is thus not necessarily a season-based response. That said, the more structural end of the HGF spectrum could be viewed as a "one warm/dry room" form of shelter provision.

Other options come to mind, esp. those in response to the special needs of elderly and handicapped households, of which their are many among the Serb population in Kosovo. However, I'll stop here before going on, and instead request that you send an e-m with a bit more detail, as well as names of your USAID contacts here in DC that I might speak with, if needed.

Regards, Charles