THE cameramen and reporters have long gone. But the remnants of war in Kosovo are still very real.

Crumbling apartment blocks, burnt-out wrecks of cars and a countryside littered with thousands of land-mines serve as a reminder of just how long a journey the country has to make to gain some sense of normality.

Citizen reporter Shaun Gibbons travelled to Kosovo last week and saw for himself how troops of the KFOR (Kosovo Force) and NATO are maintaining hope for the country and its inhabitants, particularly the children.

And until Kosovo can cope on its own, British Army medics, currently serving in the country's capital Pristina, will continue to treat everyone -- regardless of race, religion or nationality.

Only last week a group of Albanian men were rushed to the UK Medical Group base following a near-fatal road traffic accident.

The same day a Norwegian bomb disposal officer Zlatko Vizilic was airlifted in after treading on a PMA3 anti-personnel mine.

Sadly, Zlatko's left leg had to be amputated from below the knee, despite the very best efforts of British surgeons.

Zlatko, for me, typified the sheer grit and determination of people working out in Kosovo to put right the many wrongs of the past.

It was the EIGHTH time he had stepped on a mine during his posting to Kosovo -- and eight times he had miraculously walked away unscathed. Until last week.

And as I talked to him with the help of an interpreter his only real plans for the future were to get back to his unit as quickly as possible to finish the job he had started.

The UK Medical Group, based on the outskirts of Pristina, draws its members from 17 different units in the UK, both the regular Army and Territorials. In addition, the Belgian medical contingent BELMED also shares the UK base, alongside five Latvian soldiers who provide medical care in the local community.

The lead unit within the base is 5 General Support Medical Regiment (5GS) based at Preston's Fulwood Barracks, which recruits its team of doctors, nurses and combat medical technicians from all over Lancashire, including the Blackpool area.

The unit was deployed on active service during both World Wars, the Suez Crisis and more recently on operations in the Gulf and the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

Their mission in Kosovo is to provide medical support and promote peace and stability in the Balkans region.

It has the equipment necessary to sustain itself in the field, treat, maintain and evacuate casualties -- whether in the theatre of war or in peacetime.

The overall success of KFOR's mission in Kosovo will only become apparent after time. "Time" is the only constant factor and the only road to take if Kosovo is ever to lift itself from its knees.

The images and the people I met through my short visit to Kosovo will stay with me for a very long time -- enough time for me to hopefully see the gradual rebuilding of a country.

A country and its people which deserves, above everything else, to nurture and grow and enjoy a sense of independence which we all take so much for granted.