The British humanitarian aid worker, Sally Becker helped women and children during the war in Kosovo and Bosnia. Even though she was imprisoned, injured and beaten, she did not stop helping, especially refugee children.

Becker tells KosovaPress the path she went through, her challenges and experiences during the humanitarian mission in Kosovo.

Her mission in Kosovo started in the 90s, when she was bringing aid to mothers and children, and when the borders were closed; she climbed on foot to bring medicine for children in Junik.

She tells KosovaPress that MP Hydajet Hyseni helped her escape from snipers.

"So I remember probably every detail because it's ingrained in my mind. First of all, I was bringing humanitarian aid to the Kosovo region and then, as the war escalated, they closed the borders and the only way to reach the refugees was from northern Albania, because thousands of people were fleeing from the fighting. So we took about 10 trucks filled with humanitarian aid, delivered the aid to the refugees, and then I was asked if I would take some of the pediatric medicines across the border Junik in Kosovo. And the only way in at that time was across the mountains. So I went on foot and the medicines were carried on the back of a mule... We had to go across at night. I had a guide, but it was pitch dark and we had to run to avoid sub patrols. I fell, I tore the ligaments in my ankle crossing a stream, it was truly, people say everything is a nightmare, but this really was a nightmare and I still think about it now. And, when we arrived in Junik, delivered the medicines, then I was asked to go to some of the outlying villages, Nec and Smolica and there we had to get along the street, I had a couple of people, local people, who were helping me, including someone who is now a MP in the Parliament", she says.

Although her leg was injured, she did not stop and today she still feels the nightmare of what she had experienced in Kosovo, when the Milovseviq regime was at the height of its brutality.

"Anyway, they took me to these buildings that had been shelled just a few days earlier and there we found a lot of children living in damp, dark cellars with their mothers, sheltering beneath the rubble of their homes, and some of them were injured, some were sick, and a little girl of three was going blind and they asked me if I could take them out so they could get medical treatment because the area was now surrounded and they were expecting an offensive any day. The only way out, of course, was back across the mountains, so we set off the next morning and we walked from dawn till dusk. Some of the children were carried on mules because they were unable to walk. Mothers carried babies. It was difficult, a very difficult journey and worry as well, because I had responsibility for 24 women and children. And finally we made it to the top, then we sat down at the edge of the forest so they could rest, so the mothers could feed the babies and the children could eat some biscuits, drink some water and nobody was worried", she recounts.

But, this calm situation, although in difficult conditions, did not last. The British humanist tells how after a while they heard the sound of machine guns and grenades exploding nearby.

"And then suddenly we heard the sound of machine gunfire and grenades were exploding and everybody raced back into the forest, but as I turned, I saw one woman, Hana, with two of her children, a baby called Dorentina, who was 16 months old and a 10 year old called Drita, they were trapped in the crossfire, so I managed to reach them and we stayed there, covering the children for over an hour, and there was a helicopter gunship overhead. There were explosions and I really thought they were going to be killed, and the baby was screaming all the time 'Mama, mama', she was so frightened. And finally I thought they they're just going to die here beneath this tree if I don't do something. So when the helicopter moved away and it was quieter, I called "nema pucaš" - stopped shooting, it's women and children and like a miracle everything went quiet and a voice in English said come out with your hands in the air. So I did, and he told me it's fine, you can tell the others to come. So I called to Hana to come out with the children and they took care of them. They put blankets around their shoulders. They gave the children food and sweets. And then I was marched back into the forest by one of the soldiers, he said please tell the others to come. And I saw they were taking care of them, so I wasn't worried and I called out, it's fine, you can come out now, come on. Nothing, not a sound. So I called again, nothing. And then he took his gun and he jabbed me with his gun and he said, tell them if they don't come out right now I'm going to shoot you and instead of being frightened, I was so angry because it was a long journey. My ankle hurt, the children, the screaming, the trauma of everything and the fear of the where were the others, and I called out ‘run, run as fast as you can’, and then he marched me back up", Becker continued.

The forces of the Serbian regime then took all of them to the police station in Gjakova, where Becker was given a 30-day detention, to be released two weeks later.

"We were taken over land to Gjakova, to the police station. We were questioned for about 3 days. Hana and the children were released and I was told by a judge that I had to serve 30 days in prison for crossing the border without a visa. But I was released, I was pardoned and released 2 weeks later and I heard that all the families had made it safely across the border... So I heard that the families had made it safely across the border. So on my release, I immediately went to northern Albania and I found them all and more that needed help. But while I was trying to arrange medical treatment abroad for them, I was shot. But I was OK, and I'm here now, and I've been to many wars since then, during the last 25 years and I've seen a lot of suffering. But I've never forgotten the mountain, and I've never forgotten those children, and I've never forgotten the baby screaming 'Mama, Mama' in fear, and that sound still haunts my dreams", the British humanist confesses.

And when Becker was wounded by the Serbian paramilitary forces, it was the then president of Albania, Rexhep Meidani, who offered her help, but she could not leave without the children.

She tells how she managed to get permission to send a 3-year-old little girl for treatment.

"The bullet passed straight through my leg... it hurt, but it wasn't too bad. It's just that the President of Albania kindly sent his Minister of Health to evacuate me to Tirana because we were in Bajram Curri at that time, near Tropoja, and I said to him, can we take the children? And he said no, it's just a small helicopter, so of course I couldn't leave them, so I had to stay and I was there, I think another two or three months with this horrible wound in my leg. It wasn't pleasant, but in the end, we managed to get all the families abroad and the little girl who was going blind, Marigona, I managed to get permission to bring her to the UK. She came for two weeks. She had surgery and then she was able to see her parents properly for the first time when she returned", she said.

For her, the moment when she found the Albanian mothers from Kosovo eating and drinking in Albania, together with their children, remains unforgettable.

"I suppose, when I saw them all and when I went to Albania after being in the prison and I saw them all, they were waiting for me in a restaurant. I couldn't believe it. It was so different, you know, I'd seen them on the mountain, I'd seen them in the middle of this dangerous place. I'd seen them being shot at. I'd seen them running and now they were sitting, they were eating spaghetti and the kids were having milkshakes, it was incredible”, she said.

And now when she came to Kosovo through regular airlines, she says she felt great satisfaction. Meanwhile, she adds that the peace process is very important.

The British humanist, Sally Becker, days ago gave a speech at the 2nd annual conference on "There is no peace without women", held in the Assembly of Kosovo. Otherwise, apart from Kosovo, she has also contributed to wars and conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, in several other countries, and recently in Ukraine.