"Hey, I hear 3 BOOMS now! I must go."

"I am so afraid...this is an irony. I am talking with you, and in the same time, your country is attacking my country."

It was Day One of the air strike, as Serbs sat in their homes with yet intensified anticipation for the sound of the bombing. They didn't know just when it would come, or where. But it did.

This conversation was one that took place during that first night of the air raid, a discussion between a Serbian young woman and one of our team members. Irony is the word that best describes the moment, the anticipation, and the reality. It was the first night of the air strike by NATO and the USA. Flashes glowed as the huge clouds of fluorescent bombing shook the ground. At the same time, two girls were conversing live over the Internet, both in their own homes, with similar interests; ordinary friends. That is when the first bombing hit Belgrade. Two ordinary girls; two different worlds yet one in the same. For one was an American, and one was a Serbian. Their countries were at war.

And what was really happening, anyway?

That is what many people were asking themselves during this time. What was going on? Ignorance. Many sat unaware, not even the slightest bit clear or concerned. It is hundreds of thousands of miles away, on the other side of the world, practically. Why should they be concerned?

It was far away, but more and more it seemed closer to home. The first bombings came and then Day Two. More fluorescent bombing appeared on the news. The USA was bombing Serbia. But why? Not everyone was clear. Not everyone cared. Some sat trying to fathom and grapple in their minds the reason, the cause.why? Questions started to fill the minds of people all around the world. Some people could care less.if it didn't pertain to them, and their own country, why should they be concerned about it themselves?

What many didn't know, and came to realize, was that it was concerning them, and people like them, ordinary men, women, and children. Those in the USA became even more inquisitive. Here their country was bombing some nation in the Balkans, because of - was it some group of refugees? - what about those people they showed trekking across the country, homeless and desperate?

Then came the reality. These were people, no different than anyone else, and yet caught up in the midst of some boiling conflict that grew more serious by the minute, more intense, more real.

This wasn't something to think about lightly. This was an incredible ignorance. This was a dreamlike irony; an unfathomable reality. And it dealt with two countries struggling for power, in the midst of which was two ethnic groups, one being driven from their homes, and the other being bombed.

The following story and conversation speaks for itself. It shows two girls struggling to understand each other's countries, and the conflict. It shows their pursuit for the reason of war, and it shows the reality.

Most of all, it is the plea of the people.