Faith Momentum

Mile has faith in a better future for his hometown, perched in the remote and breathtaking southwestern Serbian Sandzak alps. Photo: Layton Croft for Mercy Corps.

To get to him you have to maneuver stomach-churning switchbacks. Right before you reach his town, when peaking southwestern Serbia's gorgeous Sandzak alps, all you need is a little inertia to carry you the rest of the way.

And when it comes to momentum, of the community involvement variety, Mile seems to have an overabundance these days.

"When I started this kind of work, I never thought I'd get so involved," he said. "But when you start something and complete it, and then other opportunities open up, and this goes on and on, suddenly you become completely immersed."

Mile says he has never been busier, or happier, with 'this kind of work,' which, for him, is easier to do than to describe.

"Sometimes it is difficult to express my feelings related to why I am doing this work for free," he said. "It is difficult to explain my feelings of satisfaction, maybe I have this energy because I am relatively new at it."

Indeed, the growing numbers of those involved in community development work is a new phenomenon in this remote mountain town, known mostly as a socialist-era tourist destination. And though Slobodan Milosevic's inefficient state management of 'social property' allowed the infrastructure designed to lure tourists to deteriorate throughout the 1990s, it was the ousting of Milosevic and many of his communist colleagues in October 2000 that ignited a grassroots reform movement.

Mile, a mild-mannered mechanical engineer by training, suddenly found himself swept up by a vortex of homegrown activism.

"Before, a lot of people here wanted to leave this town," he said. "The Serbs wanted to go to Belgrade and the Bosniaks wanted to go to Sarajevo. It's hard to explain how it happened, but in 2000 a lot of us suddenly saw there could be real changes. Many of us who had left returned, wanting to do something for our town. I found that volunteering in local community development groups suits me. People in these groups have had ideas for years, but until now always kept those ideas to themselves. So we tried to do something, to bring some order to this place.

"Since I am an engineer, I like logic, things to be in a certain order. In the past, there was little logic in our government. Nothing was done based on priorities, or with any order. A small group of people made all the decisions for everything in town. Now a much larger number of people participate in making decisions, and people here are more active. Basically, we believe that in spite of our remote location and our small size, our community can develop and increase living standard for people here," Mile said.

It is precisely this belief in oneself that Mercy Corps works to capitalize on across economically depressed southern Serbia. Since July 2001, Mercy Corps has engaged local community groups and energetic and visionary activists like Mile in the USAID-funded Community Revitalization through Democratic Action program.

"I want to prove to myself and others what I have started, and I want to see the results," he said. "I want to show myself, and local citizens, that something can be done. Sometimes when people pass by and express their appreciation for my work, it means more to me than the money we lack."

Mercy Corps facilitates a participatory prioritization and decision-making process in which community development interests are articulated and responded to, in the form of small infrastructure projects. Mile is a member of a Mercy Corps-initiated community development council, which prioritizes community needs and decides how to spend limited funding to address these needs.

"Our council doesn't look narrowly at projects to solve the problems of individual members," he said. "Our work with Mercy Corps satisfies our community's needs in a qualitative sense."

Mile appreciates the financial support Mercy Corps provides, and sees it as fuel for the ever-growing legions of like-minded community activists committed to making a local difference. But he also notes a different kind of value Mercy Corps adds to community development. As he says, itÕs a qualitative benefit, and is manifest in the increasingly pluralistic and democratic methods used to make local decisions.

"As a leader, I try to make sure all issues are discussed by everyone, and that people bring their own ideas to our meetings," Mile said. "All ideas are clarified through discussions, which are democratic and tolerant. In the past, discussions were just one person who forced everyone else to accept his decision.

"Now, I allow discussion to be open and lively, but I make sure we come to a clear and final decision, that it is accepted by all. After decisions are made, the project or action must be completed. I always get to completion. Even the Serbian Socialist party has a positive opinion of me, they praise our work."

And when the opposition believes in you, it gives you the strength, or least the inertia, to start moving mountains.

[Editor's Note: Mile is a pseudonym.]