Dear Morrie
I couldn’t help but be moved by the plight of all
of those poor refugees from Kosovo arriving in Australia after fleeing their
homeland.
A couple of matters concern me about their situation. For a start, once
they have left Kosovo does their property – money, homes, goods and
chattels – still remain their own?
Is it all still there for them if and when they ever return after the fighting
stops?
Second, what concrete help can an individual like me offer to these poor,
desperate people while they are our country?
Concerned
Dear Concerned
I know a thing or two about fleeing, and it isn’t
much fun I’ll give you the tip.
Researching my answers to your questions raised brought some very disturbing
information to light.
First of all, there is no guarantee that when the refugees go home that
all their property and belongings will still be intact. Furthermore, depending
on any forced administrative changes in their homeland made in their absence,
they may lose all rights to what was formerly theirs.
Their own homes may already be destroyed and they could return home to nothing,
just an empty patch of burnt-out earth.
Imagine how you’d fell if all you’d worked for just disappeared
in a senseless and bloody conflict over which you had no control.
Many of these poor people will face the prospect of having to build a second
home if their first one no longer exists. And that takes money – lots
of it.
These chilling facts alone are enough to make all true blue Aussies want
to dig deep to help these wretched souls – especially while they are
guests in our free and friendly nation.
That’s why I’m offering all Australians a chance to lend a hand
in the most direct way possible.
I’ve established a special trust that can take charitable donations
to help the refugees when they return to Kosovo.
A special fund will pay for the construction of replacement homes for any
families from Kosovo who find out their first home has been destroyed in
the war.
The aim is to amass sufficient money that the trust fund eventually becomes
self-sufficient and generates its own income from interest and a number
of beaut little investments I’ve got lined up.
But, it will take a lot of money to make this crazy dream of mine come true.
Nevertheless, I’m prepared – as always – to give it a go
if it means helping others less fortunate than myself.
To put it frankly, I need lots of money and I need it right now if this
idea is to ever get off the ground.
So why don’t you – and other readers – send me whatever you
can spare in the way of some special K-dollars and I can get the ball rolling
at this end.
Send your cheques for a minimum of, say, $5000 to me at The Bug and
I’ll take it from there.
Make them out to: Cosovo Albanians’ Second Home.
Bugger it, to save your time and mine, just make it out to CASH.
I’ll be in touch.
- Morrie
I’m pleased to be back writing my regular column
after an unavoidable absence with what I told my valuable clients was a
“medical condition”. Luckily with the unexpected remission I was
only away for about 12 months. Keep the letters coming, after all, I’m
here to help - MB
