Serbia 2005 / 2006
"The time seems to have flown by and I've had the chance to travel and meet loads of people from all over the place. I've also had to work hard too!" - Phil
Phil has spent the past six months with Christian charity Oak Hall delivering humanitarian aid to refugees living in camps in and around the cities, towns and villages near to Belgrade, in Serbia.
Phil's Serbia Diary:
Sept 05
I leave work and make my way to Otford and life at Oak Hall. Looking back it was very strange living and working in the same place (although the 2 minute journey to work was very appealing!). I start working on the House Team and get stuck into the world of cleaning toilets and showers to looking after the guests staying at the manor - The team (about 20 of us live at the manor and they make every new person very welcome)
Oct 05
The month starts with a "team" visit to Bruges and around 150 of us cram onto the 2 Oak Hall coaches for a day trip - it's a great chance to meet some of the wider Oak Hall family some of which I get to see again later in the year - we return home after a great day and laden with the obligatory chocolates. Soon I am back on the Coach with approx 70 others travelling out to Serbia on one of Oak Halls ATOM trips (A Taste Of Mission) - 40 odd hours later we arrive in Pancevo (half an hour drive from Belgrade) and meet our host families for the week. We deliver humanitarian aid to around 660 refugees living in and around Belgrade and Novi Sad over the next 7 days bringing help to those with virtually nothing - thank you to all who donated parcels for this trip
Nov 05
Returning back to the UK makes us all realise how much we have and take things for granted and I decide to book onto the March trip to Serbia rather than having 10 days break before returning to work - at the same time the other guys on the House Team leave to seek new jobs etc and I find myself on my own looking after the house with help from various "volunteers" - new team members are promised but they won't start straight away - Lots of groups are coming to stay at the manor so we are constantly cleaning and making the house ready for our next lot of guests - we also hold the Winter Team Training weekend where 160 Oak Hallers get together to prepare, train and study in anticipation of the Ski season - Although I don't know if or when I might go out on one of the trips the whole weekend shows how much work and how many people get involved in a seasons work
Dec 05
The winter season starts and gradually the number of us living at the manor drops as team go out to the resorts - meanwhile the manor is still very busy and groups of up to 90 are staying and there's plenty of work to - thankfully I get time off to spend time at home over Christmas and New Year - I even get a chance to see some Brighton matches whilst I'm home and to pick up my new car
Jan 06
The month starts with a last minute request for me to go out to Lauterbrunen in Switzerland to cook for one of the ski trips - there are 50 odd people to cook for and as it's my first trip out "on team" things are a bit daunting but the whole trip runs well and I even get several chances to ski (very badly) and even an hour on a snowboard but I think ski's are better for me - the trip ends with the coach breaking down before we even leave the chalet but at 12.45am a replacement arrives and I eventually return to Otford by 7pm after taking the guests up to Victoria Coach Station for their onward journey and catching the train back down - on my return two new team members arrive to help on the House Team namely Hannah and Kate -the guests keep coming to stay and there's also a reunion for the ATOM trips from 2005 and a chance to catch up with the guys from the Serbia trip
Feb 06
Another week in Switzerland looms at half-term where I am cooking at Chalet Arizona in Saas and this week seems easier because I now have the experience gained from the last trip and although it's hard work I get 2 days off at the end of the week as I wait for a trip home - we have loads of snow and I get a chance to catch up with some of the guys working in the other chalets who I haven't seen for a while - two weeks back at the manor after that and then its time to start to pack all my things - almost the whole of the full time team are back in the UK for my last week and we all get a chance to go out for a farewell do which makes it all that more special
Mar 06
Back to Serbia again but this time we fly out and although BA tell us our weight limit is 23kg we still manage to get 260 odd shoe boxes of aid into our luggage and out to Belgrade (that's about 800kg of weight in the shoe boxes alone) - 2.5 hours on a plane is much better than 40 odd hours on the coach! - we take cash with us to buy food out there and again meet up with around 600 refugees and distribute humanitarian aid to them - we have loads of snow out there which makes it hard to comprehend how difficult it is to live in the camps where there is no water or electricity for days at a time - we also get to visit some Romany families in their "camp" under the motorway and see how much squalor they have to live in - they earn a living collecting scrap paper and card - they get paid 3 Dinar for 1kg of paper but a loaf of bread is 30 Dinar and in one hut there are 13 people living in space no bigger than your usual bedroom - we'd be horrified if we were asked to live like that.
And then...
- We flew back into Heathrow on 10 March
- I moved back home to Brighton on 11 March
- I celebrated my birthday on 12 March
- and I returned to work for the Council on 13 March
And now... (2006)
I've just about finished unpacking and am slowly getting used to life in "the real world" but I'm so glad that I took the time out to spend time working for Oak Hall and living/working with the great guys at the manor having said that I'm back working for Oak Hall from 3rd to 12th April in Saas as a caretaker and will be returning to Serbia in October as a cook for the ATOM trip later this year - although I'm back home I'm still going to be doing part-time with them when ever I get the chance as to what the future holds for me, that's up to God and I trust he will tell me in time for those of you who I've yet to catch up with, I will get in touch but it may take a while. in the meantime thanks for all your support and friendship over the last 6 months.
Speak to you soon
Phil.