 Ismet Kaplan
(see photo below right) returned to Pjesivac in Stolac Municipality
together with his wife and two children. The family
received assistance from UMCOR (funded through a U.S.
Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and
Migration (BPRM)
relief and reconstruction program) which enabled them to
rebuild their house (see photo left).
 Mr Kaplan owns some land and so he
generates income for himself and his family from farming.
His main crops are wheat, table grapes and other fruit as
well as potatoes which are for their own consumption and for
sale.
Much of the agricultural production in the area around
Pjesivac, known
as the Dubrava Plateau, was badly hit by the severe
drought in the summer of 2003, which caused problems in
large areas of BiH.
 In
response to this situation, UMCOR drilled 20 bore holes to
provide vital irrigation water for some small producers
adversely affected. Mr Kaplan and two neighboring
families were recipients of one such bore hole, drilled to
a depth of approximately 50 metres and producing about 0.6
litres of irrigation water per second. Beneficiaries also
received training to enable them to manage the resources
effectively through maintenance, fair distribution and so
on.
Mr Kaplan and his neighbors now have plenty of water
and are looking at ways of regulating the water flow. He
is looking forward to a successful crop this year.
Updated June 2004. |
