Carol’s Column

As the wors sizzles, where did Renata spend Easter?

This past weekend should have been joyous for everyone. Christians and Jews celebrated Easter and Passover, and almost everyone celebrated the fact that there was a four day long weekend, that the weather was stunning and this was a welcome break in a year which has taken off at a gallop.

Perhaps you were hiking across the Drakensberg, surfing in the sea or camping at a game reserve.

Perhaps you were visiting friends, attending a rock concert or just chilling out at Zoo Lake.

On Easter Monday, a little girl called Renata Ismail turned five years old. Her mother Heidi and young brother Randall planned to make Renata's birthday a really happy day complete with Easter eggs and bunnies. Especially as already, an air of sadness hung over the small family, as Renata's young father lay in hospital in a coma - a result of an accident a few weeks ago.

Renata's mother had been determined to make sure her diminutive daughter had a wonderful birthday party. One that would make her laugh and, for a few hours, forget about her father fighting for his life.

Sadly, nobody knows where Renata spent Easter Monday because, as you will have read, a week ago, Renata, a child with an open, trusting nature and an infectious smile, was kidnapped from her parents’ home. Her aunt watched television in the other room and her mother popped out of the family's modest Kuils River flat.

The Ismail's family priest and fellow members of their church have prayed and cared for the family without a break.

On Monday evening, Heidi and Randall and other members of the family, gathered in their home, cut a small birthday cake made for Renata, then, led by their priest, prayed for her safe return.

For hundreds of thousands of people living in the Balkans, Easter has also been a nightmare.

There is the nightmare of ethnic cleansing practiced by President Slobodan Milosevic's brutal Serbian military machine against the Albanians of Kosovo. This, for those who don't understand the euphemism of ‘ethnic cleansing’ means ridding Kosovo of its Muslim population just because they are Muslims. There is also the nightmare of Nato air strikes against the Yugoslav forces carrying out the ethnic cleansing, where as in all war situations, innocent civilians become the victims.

Nobody can be untouched by the tragedy of thousands of refugees massing on the borders of Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, by the sight of wretched people, predominantly women and children huddled together in freezing weather with icy rain pelting down upon them.

But the reality is we do become immune to tragedies. In 1994, when in three months the Hutus murdered 800 000 Tutsis in Rwanda, we were shocked by the TV coverage, but even so, it seemed that Rwanda was far away from South Africa.

Like the fighting and atrocities in Chechnya over the past years, the fighting and atrocities in Kosovo are on another continent and it's easy to change channels and instead watch sport or another intellectually challenging sitcom.

Then build a little fire on the braai, open a can of cold beer, get the wors sizzling and sit back and complain about crime, lousy service in shops, the crowds in the shopping malls and the fact that one couldn't get a restaurant booking.

Ordinary life goes on but every time we change channels and switch off the tragedy of Kosovo, I believe we lose a little of our humanity.

I pray that Renata Ismail is returned safely to her family and

I pray that the war in the Balkans ends.

If I wish anything in this post Easter and Passover week, it is peace.

■