[ALBSA-Info] Albanian groups helps Peru

[Kreshnik Bejko]

Albanian group expands mission

Monday, July 2, 2001

By Richard Duckett
Telegram & Gazette Staff


WORCESTER-- The name of the group is the New England Albanian Relief 
Organization.
     But the charitable nonprofit organization, based in Worcester, has been 
turning its attention southward to Peru, rather than eastward to the Balkans 
for the past week as it attempts to offer aid and relief to another part of 
the world in urgent need.
     Leon Lonstein, president of NEARO, said he hopes to ship at least one 
40-foot container of humanitarian aid for the victims of the June 23 
earthquake in southern Peru that killed more than 100 people, injured 
hundreds of others and left thousands homeless.
     But although NEARO has plenty of donated material, Mr. Lonstein said 
his all-volunteer organization does not have the money to ship a container. 
Ocean and inland freight charges total about $4,100 per container.
     Just as NEARO in the past appealed to the public for help in aiding the 
poor in Albania, it now is hoping people will support its efforts to lend a 
helping hand to the quake victims in Peru.
     “We hope that people will respond with donations,” Mr. Lonstein said.
     Asked why an Albanian relief group would want to assist Peruvians, he 
said, “We're still for Albania, No. 1. But if a county like Peru has an 
earthquake, we're there.”
     Mr. Lonstein said he has been talking to Mariano Garcia-Godos, the 
Consul General of Peru based in Boston, who has described scenes of horror 
in the wake of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake.
     “When I spoke to the consul he said you can't believe the devastation 
there. The earthquake has devastated the country,” Mr. Lonstein said.
     The temblor caused the most damage in Moquegua, a city near the border 
with Chile, and Arequipa, the second-largest city in Peru. In Moquegua, 
problems were compounded by a landslide, while in Arequipa people have been 
sleeping outside despite winter temperatures close to freezing in the city. 
Elsewhere near the epicenter of the earthquake, a tidal wave surged 
three-quarters of a mile inland, destroying homes and furnishings.
     “People don't have anything to sleep on. They sleep on the ground,” Mr. 
Lonstein said. “People are walking around barefoot and with just the clothes 
they have on their backs.”
     In a fax to Mr. Garcia-Godos, Mr. Lonstein said that NEARO wishes to 
send to the quake victims a container of humanitarian aid. The container 
would include 232 boxes of good-quality used clothing and shoes separated by 
age group -- newborn to 6 years, ages 7-14, and adult women and men. NEARO 
said it also may send sheets of rubber foam and medical items such as canes, 
crutches and walkers. Additionally, NEARO has some bicycles that could be 
shipped.
     Mr. Lonstein said Mr. Garcia-Godos was particularly interested in the 
sheets of rubber foam, which could be used as bedding, and the clothes and 
shoes.
     Mr. Garcia-Godos was trying to determine how much the government of 
Peru would be able to help with paying the cost of the freight charges.
     Somerset Marine Lines, of Hillsborough, N.J., operates a vessel that 
leaves New York City every Friday and has a 17-day transit to the port city 
of Callao in Peru.
     Mr. Lonstein said he could have a container shipped out on Friday. The 
problem, however, is “we don't have the money to pay for a container ... We 
could send five containers. We've got five containers of material to go 
today. There is a need for that,” he said.
     He was speaking last week inside the NEARO warehouse at 1048 
Southbridge St., where boxes of donated clothes and medical supplies reached 
the ceiling. Outside, three trailers had been packed with items by 
volunteers for shipment in the near future.
     Mr. Lonstein founded NEARO in 1990 to provide emergency medical 
supplies, food and clothing to orphanages, institutions and individuals in 
Albania as the country began its painful transition from Stalinism to 
democracy and a market economy.
     He said that $10 million in donated aid has been shipped to Albania 
over the past 11 years.
     Mr. Lonstein's wife, Mary Sahagen-Lonstein, is a native of Albania. 
Many people of Albanian heritage live in the Worcester area. A retired 
businessman, Mr. Lonstein set up the organization's distribution system in 
Albania and established a library in the southern city of Korce.
     Also in the warehouse last week were boxes of books that had been 
donated by pupils at Deerfield Academy. The books will soon be shipped to 
Korce.
     It remains to be seen when the first shipment of aid will go to Peru. 
Mr. Lonstein said that it appears that very few agencies have stepped 
forward so far to offer the country assistance.
     When Mr. Garcia-Godos heard of NEARO's offer, “he was extremely 
grateful,” Mr. Lonstein said.

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