By Tony Wall
Jahja Fusha has big plans for his newborn son, the first child born to Kosovar refugees in New Zealand.
"He'll be the first Albanian All Black," the proud father joked at the bedside of his wife, Mevlude, at National Women's Hospital yesterday.
But the new Kiwis are not forgetting the
country where the boy was conceived - a small Kosova flag is pinned to the side of his cot.
The couple are two of more than 200 Kosovar refugees who have come to New Zealand, and they plan to settle here.
They named the baby Bleron, meaning "beginning of new life," to symbolise their new start in the South Pacific.
Bleron was conceived in Pristina just as the Yugoslav Army was beginning its campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo.
The birth at 7 am yesterday was a lot less traumatic than that of the couple's first child, Liberta, in Pristina two years ago.
Tended by Serbian doctors, Mrs Fusha felt frightened throughout her stay in hospital and was left to care for herself immediately after the birth.
She did not see Liberta for 10 days and was left in a wet dress for two.
Yesterday, language difficulties meant Mrs Fusha could not let hospital staff know the frequency of her contractions.
A midwife arrived at the family's home to discover Mrs Fusha was almost ready to deliver, and Bleron was born just 30 minutes after his mother arrived at to hospital.
It has been a traumatic year for the family.
Serb soldiers forced them to leave their home and 24 hours later they were sent by bus to Macedonia, where they stayed with an Albanian family.
They came to Auckland four months ago to join Mr Fusha's sister, Besnike, who emigrated several years ago, and have since been joined by Mr Fusha's parents and other brothers and sisters.
One brother, Bekim, described yesterday how he was arrested and tortured by Serb soldiers, before being released and fleeing to the mountains with his elderly parents.
The Fusha clan, now safe in Glendowie, say they cannot thank New Zealanders enough for their kindness and hospitality.
"We are very happy that Bleron will grow up in a free land," Jahja Fusha said.
"My father and grandparents had a terrible time with the Serbs - they were never really free."
