IT does not seem a decade ago that Hanife and Bedri Venhari left their native Kosovo to seek refuge along with almost 800 other Albanians at Singleton Army Base.
It was the European summer of 1999 that the couple and their two sons Fisnik and Buki witnessed bloodshed and the slaughter of friends and family in war-torn Kosovo.
"Every day we feared for our lives," Mrs Venhari said.
"We would live day to day not knowing what the next day would bring and we were not game to go outside or turn any lights on," she said.
They were sent as refugees to "Singleton Safe Haven" but a few months later returned to their homeland.
On their return to Kosovo, Mrs Venhari was heavily pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter who was born with heart problems and died when she was about six weeks old.
"Perhaps if we were still in Australia she would have survived," she said.
The family later was sponsored to return to Australia and became one of only a handful allowed to emigrate to start a new life. Today they live in Newcastle while many of the other refugees made their homes in Victoria.
Mr Venhari has recently suffered a stroke but is well enough to help his wife manage a take-away food business in Hamilton. Fisnik, now 21, is training to be a security guard while Buki, 19, is studying physical education at university.
"We still have family in Kosovo," Mrs Venhari said.
"It was hard going back there after being at Singleton but we are so grateful to be back here now. It is OK to return for a holiday but Newcastle is our home now," she said.
A reunion will be held for the refugees and the Singleton community. Red Cross response team member Lorraine Whiteman is a driving force behind the October 18 reunion at Rose Point Park.
She remembers vividly one of her first days at Singleton Safe Haven.
"I saw a young pregnant woman crying and another woman trying to comfort her. None of us could communicate but I just looked at the woman who was crying and I said: "I know, I know. It's OK."
I said: "This is from my heart."
"I put my hand on my heart and I pointed to her heart," Mrs Whiteman said.
"She flung her arms around me and by the time I left she was smiling. Actions do speak louder than words."
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