On Friday 15th June thirteen students and four staff made their way to the giant Learning Disability Centre at Stancic to continue there a rolling programme of work and to foster friendships and links built up over the last four years. As soon as we arrived we were treated to an outdoor pageant put on by some of the clients and staff as part of a festival day for parents, friends and the local community. It was good to be introduced to everyone present as 'our friends from England'.

This year we began work on another unit, concentrating on the ground floor which is home to a large number of male clients with a wide range of learning disabilities. The director of the unit wanted as much as possible to be given a 'face lift', so the students set-to and began preparations for the rubbing down and repainting of door frames lining the ground floor corridor, a mural to brighten up and provide some visual stimulus for the walls, and the painting and decorating of thirty plus concrete gates and flower pots which lined two outside patio areas where many of the clients spend their days. One of the staff members on the unit who had an artistic flair had already done a lot of decoration to some of the client's rooms, and it was good for us to be able to consult and work with her on ideas for the theme of the mural.

In fact, partnership is a word that might describe what went on at Stancic this year, and gave us much cause to hope that the years of friendship and cooperation offered by Mission Croatia had begun really to take effect. When we arrived at Stancic, to our dismay we saw that the large fire escape which had been condemned last year was still being used by staff and clients! (It is a chief source of access to the upper floor of the unit, and is in constant use). The hospital reported to us that despite a strong desire to replace it, there was no money to do so. It was Graham Whicker who then stepped into the breach, and reminded us of what Mission Croatia was about; working against the odds and 'turning round' and making good a task that might intimidate the strongest of heats and wills. (See the tale of the patio laying in Matt and Bob's Kraljevica report!) Consequently a large team of students set about the daunting task of chipping and scraping off acres of rust, sanding down and finally painting with hammerite. It was undertaken however with the agreement and understanding that if we were prepared to grapple with this task, then the powers that be at Stancic had to meet us 'half way' and be prepared to weld and make safe the parts of the fire escape too badly worn to repaint; in effect, to work with us on the project. Thanks to Graham (with his polite but insistent building control hat on!) they did just that, and by the end of the week, albeit after hours and days working in the searing heat, Graham's vision had become reality, and we left a restored, re-vamped, gleaming fire escape.

It was great having a bigger team at Stancic this year, which enabled us to start and finish these big projects. It also enabled students to do lots of much needed smaller jobs round the site though. Two of the clients living in one of the flats on the site wanted some re-decoration done in their apartment, and some of the trolleys used by the clients to transport food and materials round the Centre for the others needed to be rubbed down and repainted. One of the students spent many evenings repairing and restoring over forty of the hospital's wheelchairs. And of course two students each day joined Jan and Michael on another of the units at Stancic, working alongside them and the Croatian staff helping to care for the clients. Later in this report Jan writes about this work and what happened this year.

It's not easy working and living at Stancic. As well as working long hours in very high temperatures (and this year was particularly hot) students and staff sleep in two rooms on mattresses on the floor, in very cramped and close-knit conditions! It demonstrates the necessity of students on Mission Croatia being able to live and work together effectively as a team and being able to live in community with large amounts of give and take. This year's crew once again demonstrated those qualities magnificently. They were truly ambassadors both for their University and their country, and all who work for Mission Croatia are very proud of them.

Ivor Moody