This time two weeks ago, I was busy inappropriately packing my backpack for the Peace Route, or Mars Mira. I can now safely say that I am 100% physically recovered from the strenuous three-day hike.  Having naively believed I would be walking on paved roads for three days, rather than through small streams, over fallen trees, and up one of the largest mountains in the Podrinja (the eastern region of BiH which borders Serbia), I failed to bring my hiking boots, and opted instead for my normal sneakers. Next year I will know better.

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

Check out this short YouTube video AP Fellow Kelsey Bristow and I created following our attendance of the commemoration ceremony at Srebrenica-Potocari on July 11, 2009.  I hope it will give everyone following my blog a better sense of what my experience on Saturday was like.  Many thanks to Kelsey for her hard work on this!

Although I thought I was mentally prepared for the events of last week, sitting down this morning to write, I feel as though I am still processing everything I saw, heard, and felt at Potocari. The experience of attending the commemoration service for this year’s newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide has had a profound impact on me – one that I feel I am hardly capable of adequately describing in several hundred words.

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

Beba, Kelsey, and I traveled to Srebrenica on a rainy Tuesday during my first week in Tuzla. After having spent such a long time thinking about Srebrenica and working with BOSFAM and other Bosniak Diaspora organizations, this was a painful, but important experience for me to have.

It is easy to spot the former front-lines of the conflict as you drive out of Tuzla. One moment, everything appears normal, but then you drive through a small tunnel and are once again faced with one bombed-out, burned-down house after another. It does not take long to get from Tuzla to the Federation/Republika Srpska (RS) border. As we passed the “Welcome to Republika Srpska” sign, Beba pointed out a small village on our left.

This was the first village to have minority returnees (Bosniaks) to the RS following the war’s end. Returning home was, and continues to be, a courageous thing to do, especially in this former no-man’s land. Beba told us that these women used to joke that their chickens could much more easily go back and forth between the Federation and RS than they could.

We were soon in Zvornik and could see Serbia on the other side of the Drina River. After having driven by countless ruined homes next to sparkling new, foreign-financed mosques and churches, I was surprised to see what appeared to be a very old minaret standing. This mosque was not destroyed because it is on the Serbian side of the Drina in Mali Zvornik. When Yugoslavia existed, Zvornik was connected to its sister-city across the river. Today, you need a passport, and sometimes even a visa, simply to cross the bridge to the other side.

A mosque in Serbia - across the Drina River from Zvornik, BiH

In Kravica we passed the agricultural cooperative warehouses where over one-thousand men and boys were killed on the afternoon of July 13th. Last year, when a group of women went to place flowers at the entrance to the warehouses, they were detained by RS police and prevented from doing so. The women will try once again to commemorate their deceased relatives this year, but whether or not they will be allowed by the police to enter the Kravica warehouses is unknown.

Potocari somehow snuck up on me. I thought we were still in Bratunac when all of sudden Beba told me to look to the right and not the left. I was looking to the left because I had spotted the old DutchBat UN barracks at the Potocari battery factory and figured we must be close. Thousands of white and green graves extended from only a few feet from the road all the way up the hillside. Over 500 more people whose remains have been identified will be buried at Potocari this July 11th.

A Monument at the Potocari-Srebrenica Memorial Center

A grave at Potocari for a 14 year-old victim of the genocide

It was easy to see that international attention focuses on Potocari on July 11th only – there were perhaps five other visitors at the memorial. We walked around for a bit reading the different names and birth years. In many places you could tell that a father and son were buried side by side. Sometimes there was a space between them and Beba told us this usually means that their is another family member, maybe another son, or a grandfather, whose remains have not yet been identified.

We left Srebrenica and went on to a much more pleasant activity – a visit to Magbula!

Magbula Divovic lives on the side of a lovely hill overlooking Potocari. I had heard many stories about her from Beba and Iain Guest (AP’s Executive Director) and was excited to meet her. What I did not know about Magbula was that she grows almost every kind of fruit I have ever seen in her garden. In addition to the normal coffee and some delicious cake, we were offered raspberries, blackberries, plums, and cherries!

From L to R: Magbula Divovic, Beba Hadzic, and Alison Sluiter

You can tell from the instant you meet Magbula that she’s a very energetic lady. She hardly sat the whole time as she animatedly told Beba about her relatives, a carpet for her granddaughter which she is working on, and a recent delegation of Croat women who came to visit Potocari. It was a pleasure for me to meet Magbula, and I hope that someday soon there will be a BOSFAM branch in Srebrenica so that she won’t be all alone while weaving.

It had begun to pour and so our tour of the town of Srebrenica was not as extensive as it normally would have been. Beba drove us around to the school where she used to the work and showed us the street she grew up on. As a former teacher, Beba remembers when Srebrenica was a lively place, full of children. As we drove up and down Srebrenica’s main street, the city appeared dead. This may have been mostly due to the weather, but when I think of the current differences between Tuzla and Srebrenica, it is easy for me to understand why so many IDPs would prefer not to return to their former homes.

Two houses in Srebrenica: 1 abandoned, 1 restored

We returned to Tuzla through the downpour. After hydroplaning at least three times, Beba told me not to worry – she used to drive a UN Land Rover around during the war. I told her that she could drive however she liked in a Land Rover, but that I would prefer not to end up in the Drina! Needless to say, we made it back to Tuzla alright. I am sure my next visit to Srebrenica – for the July 11th commemoration – will be very different. However, I think it was important to see Potocari, and the town of Srebrenica, as they are most days of the year – gray, empty, and I fear, forgotten.

It’s been almost three months since I received the startled, expectant message on my voicemail:

“Alison, I’m waiting you! Why you no pick up me?”

Beba Hadzic, BOSFAM’s founder and director had arrived in the United States for a speaking tour jointly sponsored by The Advocacy Project (AP), The Heinrich Boell Foundation, and The Bosniak American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina. My train from DC was more than an hour late and I wasn’t at the airport in Newark to greet her.

As I now piece together my own travel plans, I am sure that my arrival in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be quite different. Beba has already assured me that she will be standing at the Tuzla bus station the moment I get there. BOSFAM’s motto, “Don’t promise, DO SOMETHING!” leaves me feeling confident that I will not need to leave her a desperate voicemail in my broken Bosnian.

Although I’m not flying until June 15th, reminiscing about Beba’s time in the US has gotten me really excited about heading off to Bosnia. I’ll be working with Beba, my AP counterpart Kelsey, and the women of BOSFAM on a number of important projects which seek to generate income and provide psycho-social support for women who were displaced from their homes and traumatized by the war which occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.

Many of the women were directly impacted by the genocide which occurred in Srebrenica in July 1995, and now must struggle to provide for themselves and their families without the support of their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to work with these women this summer and hope that my contribution will have a positive impact on the difficult day to day realities they are confronted with.

This year marks the 14th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, but the wounds remain fresh given the tense political situation in the country and an unemployment rate of approximately 35%. Perhaps most importantly, Ratko Mladic, the commander of the Bosnian Serb paramilitary forces during the war and one of the chief architects of the genocide, remains at large. As an Advocacy Project Fellow for Peace, I will be working to raise awareness about BOSFAM’s important work both in-country and abroad through this blog and other mediums. I welcome your comments and suggestions, and a special thanks to my e-mentors for their support!

Take a look at the AP-produced YouTube video below for more information on BOSFAM’s work.