Ardjana Mani

Everything happened on that accursed day in August 1999, when I went to visit my relatives in Pogaj village, bordering on Kosovo.

I used to go there every summer holidays because it was nice and there was fresh air. Mygrandfather’s house was 150 meters from the border. My distant relatives lived only 200 meters away in Kosovo on the other side of the border, but for 50 years we were never allowed to visit each other.

Now they get water from the same source as we do and they use the same grazing area, just as they did 50 years ago.

Since I was a little girl, I did not know that the Kosovo war that had just ended had left behind mines, cluster munitions and UXO-s. I was too young to understand the word “War”. Unfortunately the Yugoslav (Serbian) army had left a devil behind to kill the innocents. One of whom turned out to be me.

One day as usual I went to the bushes a few meters near my grandfather’s house to look for my other older cousins, also children, and to play as usual.

While looking for them in the bushes - I recall in tears– I saw a beautiful yellow toy which looked like a bell. I was too young to know that it was not a toy but a bloody cluster munition shelled by the Yugoslav Artillery.

It was like the bell that our teacher used at school. I picked it up and started to play with it in order to make it ring. I pulled a piece of string that was hanging at the top. There was an explosion and I fell down. I fainted. I could not see anything. When I woke up I saw I was in the hospital. I had a terrible eye pain. I could not even open my eyes.

I could never have imagined that the “nice-looking” bell was a KB1.

The doctor did the utmost to cure me. I was lucky that I was brought to the hospital within one hour. I thank the medical doctor at the hospital who did the utmost so I would not lose my eye.

I have been visited by Slovenian doctors and I have been chosen to be further treated in Slovenia. With the support of Vinod Alkari, an Indian working at UNICEF Albania, I have received a special eye operation.

At school I used to be an excellent pupil. Because of the accident, I missed some classes and faced some difficulties, according to my teacher. However, I have been supported by VMA with additional lessons to catch up with my peers. Thanks to this support, I have attended English classes, and soon I became one of the best students again. During the ”Night of A Thousand Diners” organized in 2006 by the US Embassy in Tirana, with the help of the US Ambassador and thanks to the hospitality of the Wilson Institute, I started at Wilson College. I am currently in the third year there. My vision has been improved.