Two medical students from Kosovo and the dean of the Pristina University Medical School spoke in the Dickey Center yesterday as a part of a cross-cultural mission with Dartmouth Medical School to aid in the rebuilding of Kosovo's medical and educational systems.
Students Melihate Mustafa and Valbon Ajazaj are in the six-year medial program in Kosovo.
During the war, ethnic Albanian Kosovars were expelled from schools and facilities, including the only hospital. A parallel system of education was then established in a region where 90 percent of the population is Albanian, Dean of Pristina University Medical School Dr. Mazllum Belegu explained.
Although deprived of access to the hospital, medical school classes continued with inadequate facilities in houses volunteered by civilians.
While the bombing campaign did not incur physical damage to the hospital, the Serbian workers did, Belegu said.
With Albanians barred from working at the hospital, control of the facility was temporarily in the hands of the Serbs until the war ended. Returning Albanian personnel discovered, however, that what medical equipment had not vanished, remained in poor condition.
The strife outlined in Kosovo by the speakers carried over into the discussion. A student of Greek heritage criticized the Albanian visitors for only presenting one viewpoint. The student proceeded to sympathize with the Serbians and the Milosevic regime, saying they suffered heavy casualties, too.
A tense and emotional exchange ensued as the student defended the Serbian viewpoint. Belegu said a distinction must be made between Serbian civilians and the Serbian government and paramilitary forces. The dean said he only faulted the latter, and that he would refuse to continue the dialogue with the student if the student voiced support of Milosevic's regime.
Belegu offered more opinions and then recalled his experiences in Pristina during the bombing, when three families sought refuge in his apartment.
"When we heard the hard bombing in Pristina we were very happy," he said. "It was the only way to stop the crimes in Kosovo. As a human, I am against bombing, but at the same time when paramilitary forces kill innocent people it's completely different."
The liaison with DMS was established when DMS Dean John Baldwin visited Pristina last summer.
The relationship benefits both medical schools, Belegu said, since those affiliated on the Dartmouth side of the program will gain satisfaction by assisting other human beings who face large obstacles.
The DMS-Kosovo project includes reinstituting a curriculum and reorganizing students and faculty.
Collaboration in helping to rebuild the education system, Belegu said, will be over the long-term.
Education and medicine in Kosovo are both embroiled in ethnic divisions. Currently very few Serbs work in Kosovo's hospital or schools.
"It's not good to be clean ethnically, but it was their decision," Belegu said of the Serbs who left their jobs upon the return of the Albanians.
"We have a chance to live together, but we need the time. One day we will be living together, but it may not be tomorrow or very soon," Belegu said.
Ajazaj explained that while electricity, heating and water service often remain unavailable for a few days at a time, the situation in Kosovo has improved because Kosovo has won its highly-coveted freedom.
"[DMS] gave us energy to be hopeful that things will be okay in the not so far future," Belegu said.
Former DMS Dean James Strickler heads the DMS-Kosovo project.
