Selma Bajramovic, a colleague from BOSFAM, hangs Posters for the Fashion Show

In addition to the fashion show, the Tuzla University Singing Club and three different dance groups (Flamenco, Sandoval, and Valentino) will perform. The fashion show is a great chance for BOSFAM to promote its products among the local population and I would encourage anyone in Tuzla following my blog to attend.

Here at the details:

WHEN: Monday, August 10th at 8 PM
WHERE: Trg Slobode, Tuzla, BiH

For those who cannot attend, I will be sure to put up some video and photos following the event.

Majda’s son lives in Canada, and the only way she can earn money is by renting out rooms in her apartment to tourists. Before the war, she was employed as a mechanical engineer near Mostar, her son attended primary school, and her husband worked (also as an engineer) for the Yugoslav airline company.

I give Majda as an example to illustrate how the war completely destroyed the lives of so many people, including those who did not die as a result. What does Majda have now? She sees her son once a year and her husband is dead. She cannot put her intelligence and technical expertise to good use by renting out rooms in an apartment. Mostar remains ethnically divided by the Neretva River and Majda no longer has contact to her former friends who are ethnically Croat. This is the day to day reality Majda faces fourteen years after the war in BiH officially ended.

“Glupi rat,” Majda said to me as we sat on her lovely balcony overlooking Mostar, the Neretva, and the surrounding mountains. I nodded in agreement and tried to explain (in Bosnian) some of the projects BOSFAM is working on to her. She had heard of BOSFAM and made a comment about the lack of initiatives which exist for women victims of war. I could tell something was upsetting her and asked what was wrong. Majda, like many others in Bosnia, feels that the international community has more or less abandoned BiH now that the country no longer makes the news on a regular basis. “The war was bad everywhere,” she said, “and people are still trying to recover and we all still need help.”

Speaking with Majda reminded me not only of the war’s far-reaching consequences throughout the country, but also of the importance of vigorous and continued commitment to BiH on the part of the international community. While fourteen years may seem like a long time on one hand, it is not long enough to expect life to return to normal. Majda’s life, in fact, will never return to the way it was. Reconstructing a multi-ethnic BiH and healing the wounds of war will require several generations, if not longer. Majda’s life experiences mirror those of many of the women who currently work at BOSFAM, and in particular those of Beba Hadzic, BOSFAM’s director.

Beba is also highly educated and had a great job prior to the war (as the principal of Srebrenica’s elementary schools). Beba often says that she never believed war was possible in BiH, but it happened. The important question now is how Bosnians and the international community can best work together to rebuild what was lost. It will doubtless be a long and difficult process, but organizations like BOSFAM and people like Majda have the right principles at heart. With the appropriate support and long-term vision, Beba and Majda’s grandchildren may have the opportunity to enjoy the same quality of life their grandparents can only fondly remember.

Mars Mira is both a physical and mental challenge for the growing number of participants who partake each year. From July 8 – 10, 2009, over 4,000 individuals retraced the route which Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) used to flee from the Serb-besieged “UN Safe Area” of Srebrenica to Bosniak-controlled territory in Tuzla. On Mars Mira, participants begin in Nezuk, a small village located in the Federation, and walk to Potocari, where the Memorial Center for the victims of the genocide is located. The route is slightly over 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) long and is completed in 30-40 km per day stretches. As Kelsey and I boarded the bus for Nezuk at 6 AM in Tuzla, we really had no idea what we were in for.

But, as is typical of my experience in BiH, we quickly found incredibly kind companions who assisted us with everything from carrying our backpacks to making sure we had food and comfortable places to sleep at night. The generosity and helpfulness of the individuals I met along the Peace Route mirrors the behavior of almost everyone I have met in this country so far. 

Well-Wishers in Nezuk, BiH

Marchers on the Peace Route

2009 BOSFAM Fellow Alison Sluiter with new Friends on the Peace Route

The Podrinja is one of the most beautiful regions in BiH, but also where many of the worst war-time atrocities occurred. Littered among the gorgeous views are the red skull-and-cross-bones signs warning of leftover unexploded ordinances. For the three day march, organizers are allowed to erect small signs indicating the location of exhumed mass graves and the number of victims found within them. These sites deserve a permanent memorial rather than the flimsy paper which is tied to a plywood stake. Undoubtedly, these signs are quickly removed or demolished by the local Bosnian Serb population following Mars Mira. Large Serbian flags flew over every Orthodox church visible along the Peace Route, and on the second day, several Bosnian Serb villagers set a field of dry grass on fire in an attempt to deter the marchers.

I am happy to report that not a single participant on the Peace Route reacted in a violent or destructive manner despite obvious provocations. These actions clarified for me the extent of ethnic divisions in BiH and the apparent state of denial in which a significant proportion of the population continues to live.

A Beautiful View on Mars Mira

A Sign Marks the Site of an Exhumed Mass Grave Outside of Snagovo, BiH

Looking towards the Drina River, and Serbia in the Distance

I would imagine the Bosnian Serb reaction to Mars Mira is most offensive to those who participated in the original march, also known as the “Death March” from Srebrenica to Tuzla. Many of the men, even those who are very old, make the trip from Nezuk to Potocari each year to remember their deceased friends and relatives. They provide first-hand testimony along the march at the stations where breaks are taken. Hearing their stories is heart-wrenching – one young man who was 12 in 1995 described hiding behind bushes while watching his father and brother get shot point blank in the back of the head. Listening to the story was troubling enough and then the man motioned to the left with his hand. He could still identify the exact spot where his brother and father were murdered 14 years later. Both have yet to be identified and buried at Potocari.

A Man who survived the "Death March" Along the Peace Route

I would like to encourage everyone interested to consider attending the genocide commemoration in Potocari on July 11th, and participating in Mars Mira if possible. It was a very meaningful experience for me and the participation of internationals means a great deal to Bosnians. You can read more about the Peace Route at <marsmira.org>. 

Marchers on the 3rd -and Final- Morning of Mars Mira

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iihWM-RRdc

The remains of 534 individuals were buried this Saturday at the memorial center in Potocari, a village near Srebrenica in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). As coffin after coffin went by in what seemed like a never-ending procession, I struggled to think about what this meant to the families of victims who had come to Potocari that day to bury their loved ones. The individuals buried included boys as young as 14; children whose lives were cut short in the worst possible of ways. Others were old men who left behind entire families. How are their wives, sisters, and daughters expected to cope with this kind of loss?

Beba Hadzic, BOSFAM’s Director, introduced me to a 14-year-old girl who was at Potocari to bury a father she had never known. She was only six months old when the genocide occurred. I cannot personally grasp what she must have been feeling on Saturday. The only real memory of her father she will have for entire life will be the day that she watched the remnants of his body go into a hole in the ground.

While there may be comfort in searching for explanations, there is no logical reason why human beings would do such a thing to one another. It simply does not make sense. I am overwhelmed by the pain the survivors must deal with everyday, and hope that those who recently buried their friends and relatives are able to find closure. My wish, like that of the organization I have the privilege to currently work with, is that there will never be another Srebrenica anywhere, ever again.

A woman waits for the remains of her loved one to be delivered at Potocari

My days so far have been spent finding my way around Tuzla, visiting Srebrenica, and helping Beba with a few of the many issues the BOSFAM website has. We are updating the webshop and increasing BOSFAM’s presence on World of Good, an ebay-administered site for entrepreneurs directly involved in social justice initiatives. I will be sure to post the link for BOSFAM on my blog as soon as this is complete.

Another thing I’ve been working on is increasing communication between all AP partner organizations in the Balkans. To this end, I have been in frequent contact with Donna Harati and Simran Sachdev (volunteering with Women in Black in Belgrade, Serbia) and Tiffany Ommundsen (volunteering with the Kosova Women’s Network in Pristina, Kosova).

Donna is arriving by bus this evening and will travel to Vogosca-Sarajevo with us tomorrow. BOSFAM is presenting the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt project in Vogosca as part of the “Our Manifest: We Will Not Forget Srebrenica” program organized by the Municipality of Srebrenica, Association Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa Enclaves, and Women of the Podrinje. All six AP Peace Fellows in the Balkans will meet up on July 11th at the memorial service in Potocari for the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica.

I spent three lovely days in Vienna recovering from jet-lag and catching up with my friend Morgan who has been teaching English there for the past year. Morgan helped me lug my massive backpack across town and back, and by Thursday evening, I was on the 6 PM bus to Tuzla.

The Heldenplatz in Vienna, Austria

As the only female passenger, the bus driver helpfully escorted me to the front seat of the bus. This way I could enjoy the TV blasting what appeared to be Bosnian MTV and the myriad cigarette breaks my co-travelers came to the front of the bus to take. Apparently on a non-smoking bus, you can just come sit on the bus steps and smoke away.

The first few hours of the trip were gorgeous as the bus made its way through the Voralpen (the smaller mountains prior to the Alps) and we were soon at the Slovenian border. The Slovenes get to enjoy all the benefits of being in both the European Union (EU) and the Schengen Zone, while other countries of the former Yugoslavia continue to deal with frustrating visa requirements (more on this later!) and border crossings. Croatia has seen such a tourism boom in the past few years that the border guard there did not even feel the need to examine, let alone stamp, my passport.

The bus lights came on as we were crossing the Sava River and I was awake to see the “Welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina” sign, shortly followed by a second sign welcoming me to the Republika Srpska. The Bosnian border guards were so interested in my passport that the bus unfortunately began driving before I got it back! This situation, however, was quickly remedied when I started to have a mild panic attack in the front seat. Don’t worry Mom and Dad – I have my passport!

There are two easy ways to tell that you’re in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) instead of one of the other countries in the Western Balkans. The first is that the road conditions deteriorate very quickly. It took over two hours to go less than 100 kilometers. The houses are the second sign. In many towns we drove through, every second or third home was completely destroyed, and most of the rest are still undergoing the process of renovation almost 15 years post-war. Even though I’ve been to BiH before, the amount of destruction is overwhelming to see and offers a stark reality check on the slow progress back to normalcy in this country.

I wrote in my first blog that Beba would be on time at the bus station. This would have been true had the bus not arrived an hour the arrival time printed on my ticket. Thanks Eurolines! In any case, we eventually found each other and by 5 AM I was in my new home above the BOSFAM office. More from Tuzla to follow soon…