Hello to all blog-followers!  I have to apologize for a long delay in posting and wanted to let everyone know what I have been up to in Tuzla over the past few weeks.

Following the Fashion Show, which turned out to be a great success, BOSFAM returned to its normal activities of handicraft production and psycho-social support.  The Fashion Show was covered by several Bosnian news outlets and you can see some pictures at the following URL:
http://www.tip.ba/2009/08/10/%CB%9Dmuzika-i-moda-mladi-i-ljeto%CB%9D/.            It was a great evening and BOSFAM’s staff and members were very pleased by the turn-out.

My colleague Kelsey Bristow returned to Washington, DC shortly after the Fashion Show and I am now living alone in the BOSFAM apartment. Things are definitely much quieter – and lonlier – without Kelsey around, but she is busy completing her senior year at Georgetown University.  We both hope that she will be able to return to BOSFAM next summer.  Kelsey still plans on putting together some video from the Fashion Show and our daily activities which I will be sure to post as soon as I receive it.

My recent work at BOSFAM has focused on providing English translations for several sections of our new website – please check it out and comment at
www.bosfam.ba , writing grant proposals and researching funding opportunities for BOSFAM, and trying very hard to obtain a Bosnian visa.  After six hours at the hospital yesterday compiling all the necessary signatures for the health certificate (one of only many forms necessary for the visa application), I sincerely hope that this process will soon reach its conclusion.

Although I have yet to receive any definitive answers regarding several grant proposals, I have gotten some positive feedback and am feeling generally optimistic about my fundraising efforts.  In the eyes of international donors, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not nearly as trendy (for lack of a better word) as it was in the ’90s, which can make fundraising for a small organization like BOSFAM quite a challenging process.  However, Beba Hadžić’s (BOSFAM’s Director) motto is “We will survive,” and I am sure that she is right.

I am looking forward to a trip to Linz, Austria in a few weeks to promote BOSFAM’s work.  We have been invited by the Zentrum der zeitgemaessen Initiativen – Austria, a group which promotes intercultural friendship between Bosnians and Austrians.  I have been surprised by how useful my knowledge of German is here, and am certain it will come in handy while in Linz.  If you can read German or Bosnian, I would encourage you to check out ZZI’s website and all the creative and useful projects they support:
http://www.zzi.at.

That is all the news from BOSFAM for now, and I will do my best to become a productive blogger once again.  I look forward to your comments, questions, and suggestions concerning ongoing work in Tuzla and BOSFAM’s projects.  Veliki pozdrav iz Tuzle (Greetings from Tuzla)!

Everyone at BOSFAM has had their hands full over the past week preparing for the annual BOSFAM Fashion Show. This coming Monday evening, models from the ABC Modeling Agency in Tuzla will showcase BOSFAM’s clothing on the newly reopened “Freedom Square.”

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.

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

I have been in Tuzla for only two weeks, but somehow it already feels much longer than that.  Everyone I have met has been so friendly and accepting – despite my lack of Bosnian-speaking abilities – especially the women at BOSFAM.  I think they may be starting to get annoyed with the fact that all I can comment on is the weather and my sisters’ names, and ages! Oh well, language learning is a slow process and I will persevere.

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.

After sitting on the runway at JFK for almost two hours, the first leg of my journey (New York – Düsseldorf) to Tuzla was finally underway. I somehow managed to make my connecting flight to Vienna, which was a miracle considering that everyone around me had missed their departures to Berlin, Zurich, etc. As the kid on a class trip reading a huge history textbook put it, “Wow, you’re going to make your Anschluss!” While I thought this was pretty funny, the Austrian friends I stayed with in Vienna for several days did not.

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…