Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia: 17 Years of Restarting Broken Lives:

Blog Post:  Posted March 31, 2010, 6:50 am by Marko Nisandzic

Thoughts as Mercy Corps Bosnia comes to a close

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Peaceful Change, Civil Society, Citizen Involvement

As the Mercy Corps Bosnia and Herzegovina office closes today after 17 years, our feelings are mixed, of course. Sadness and nostalgia from one side, and pride and satisfaction on the other. Those latter feelings are much more intensive and important, because of everything we've done here over the last 17 years — because of the following. Today, we feel pride and satisfaction, because:

During the 17 years of working as a team, we all gave a significant and very recognizable contribution to the post-war recovery of this country through collective centers; reconstruction and maintenance of thousands of houses for refugees; rehabilitation of necessary infrastructure such as schools, health clinics, electrical grids and water supply systems; building a spirit of reconciliation and understanding between war returnees and local populations; and economic recovery for individuals and communities.

We were, through our work, recognizable and distinguished by all the actors: beneficiaries, local authorities, donors, international agencies and institutions, and a wide variety of partners. We built an organisation that is truly devoted to its goals and which, through the highest standards of its professional work, helps individuals and communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the most effective manner.

During this entire time, we established high standards of team work and interaction in-country as well as in relation to the global Mercy Corps team. Many of our colleagues have gone on to other jobs around the world, taking a little bit of us with them.

We had a strength, willingness and desire to fight for our team's opinions, attitudes and vision, even when we were not understood.

We managed to — through all this period and having implemented dozens of projects — remain spotless, with only successful projects, with only satisfied clients, donors and of course headquarters colleagues.

We quickly gained the full trust of the global Mercy Corps team and, as a result, have worked strictly as a team comprised of local and national staff members that were able to achieve great results.

That trust has resulted in our team forming its own, local non-governmental organisation — the Centre for Development and Support. We realize that the time has come for our team to use its knowledge and vision in new ways. We will capitalize on the years of learning and collaboration to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina on its path to membership in the European Union through responsible development, sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Even though our office is closing — a decision that was reached by all of us — we have many friends throughout Mercy Corps, the organisation that helped us begin this great work. We will stay in touch with Mercy Corps and therefore remain part of the family.

Here at the end, I need to thank all of you at Mercy Corps — you've worked with us, you've supported us and you've believed in us. You've made it possible for this great story to happen.

That is the strength and legacy of Mercy Corps. And it will remain in our hearts forever. All the best!

Posted June 6, 2009

Bosnia: Solar Water Heaters

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

The town of Tuzla in Bosnia is now is now leading the way in proving the effectiveness of solar energy thanks to the backing of the Solar Water Heater project.

The town has one of the most air-polluted climates in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of poorly regulated emissions from the town's coal-fired power plant and local chemical plants.

The economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still recovering from the war and unemployment is high (official unemployment figures are at least 40 percent). There is a highly skilled local labour force, but little history of entrepreneurialism as a result of the previous Communist administration. As a result, widespread problems such as pollution go unaddressed by communities that lack a starting point for action.

The aim of the Solar Water Heaters project was to stimulate a demand for cheaper and cleaner energy from households, public buildings and small businesses that require constant supplies of hot water. This would then be matched this with an increased supply of renewable energy products by encouraging small businesses and entrepreneurs to set up production facilities. So far, solar collectors have been installed in the Banja LLidza Medical Centre, a meat processing company and four private residences.

"This is the first and very significant step in use of solar energy for water heating," said Dr. Enes Tokic, the medical centre's director. "We will in the future expand this system, which will provide its energy and economic savings, and will surely significantly reduce air pollution."

The awareness campaign — consisting of news items in local TV and print media — has successfully created a thriving market for the heaters, so much so that the initial pilot project in Tuzla has led to a new production facility in the nearby city of Gradacac. This factory is currently supporting three families with full-time jobs and apprenticing 15 previously-unemployed youth from the area. After three months of intensive training, they will have the skills to build solar collectors and open their own businesses.

The project has demonstrated that renewable energy has a bright future in Bosnia. It has shown that solar heaters are an affordable option for the majority of the community, that they reduce energy costs for households and businesses and that they have the potential for creating significant numbers of jobs in the emerging “green technology” market. All that plus reduced air pollution!

Posted June 6, 2009

Bosnia: Biodiesel from Recycled Cooking Oil

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Thanks to donations from our supporters, the town of Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina is now able to process its own biodiesel fuel from a new production facility. This innovative project is now fully funded, with the conversion plant installed and production of biodiesel fuel started.

Tuzla has suffered from a reputation of being one of the most polluted in Bosnia, but this initiative hopes to reverse that label. This “greener” fuel — which began life as waste frying oil collected from a local pastry manufacturer — will be used in the town’s municipal buses. The bus company will be monitoring emissions to evaluate the social and environmental benefit from replacing mineral diesel with cleaner biodiesel fuel.

Funding from Cool Carbon donors has also meant that we are now embarking on a widespread educational programme (including TV spots and radio broadcasts), designed to raise awareness of the economic benefits of converting a waste product (rather than disposing of it down sewers), as well as the health impacts of using a cleaner fuel.

This has already generated considerable interest. Since Tuzla likely has enough waste frying oil to supply at least ten conversion plants, there is ample scope to provide fuel for all the town’s buses.

Project replication also provides very real opportunities for alleviating poverty by creating jobs in a country still struggling to emerge from a post-conflict situation.

Biodiesel has significant environmental benefits when compared to mineral diesel:

• It burns more cleanly than mineral diesel, reducing the emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulphates and particulates.
• Biodiesel also has a very low toxicity and quickly biodegrades — as a result, it presents a far lower hazard on spillage than mineral diesel fuel and is safer to handle.

The hope is that project replication will eventually provide sufficient fuel for all municipal buses, in addition to a range of private and agricultural vehicles.

Bosnia: 17 Years of Restarting Broken Lives:

Posted June 7, 2007 by David Snyder

Finally Home

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Civil Society, Emergencies, Women's Empowerment

Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Refija Halilovic sits on a small stool bathed in late morning sunlight, her son Maumer resting quietly against her knee. It is a scene of almost bucolic tranquility, but one whose quiet belies the trauma that led these two to a tiny apartment here.

When fighting engulfed her home village of Krizevici at the outset of the Bosnian War in 1992, Refija and her family joined the estimated two million people uprooted by the conflict — nearly half of the entire population of the country. Local officials directed Refija's family to an abandoned home as temporary shelter; they settled in as best they could, making the site home for more than two years.

Though peace returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, thousands of homes across the country were damaged or destroyed, leaving many like Refija with nothing to return to.

Adrift in the war's aftermath

Despite being displaced, Refija tried to make the best of her situation. She married in 1996, and moved with her husband to yet another abandoned home. Though they had little, the birth of her son Muamer in 1998 seemed to mark a new beginning for Refija — the nightmare years of the war now increasingly distant. But just a few months later, the war came back in an unexpected and shattering way.

"My husband was killed when he stepped on a mine after returning to check on his family home," Refija said. "So I went back to the house where my parents lived."

She was displaced yet again, this time with an eight-month-old son.

The next years of Refija's life were spent largely adrift, until she finally found a small apartment in the city of Tuzla — one of 220 units built by an international agency and provided free of charge by the local municipality for those still displaced by the war.

"I keep chickens and plant food in the garden," Refija said. "Here, being alone with a child, it's difficult. It's better to have family around."

It was here in Tuzla that Refija first came in contact with Mercy Corps. One of the agency's staff members came through Refija's neighborhood, posting notice about the availability of housing built through Mercy Corps' local office.

She immediately envisioned something better for herself and her now eight-year-old son.

The keys to a new future

Refija applied to the Mercy Corps programme, and in November 2006 received the news she and Muamer at first could not believe: they had been chosen to receive a home.

"I was first surprised, and confused, but I was very happy," Refija said. "My boy came to me three times that day to see if the contract had been signed."

In May 2007, Refija received the keys to her new home — one of more than 10,000 that Mercy Corps has built in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1995. The house, located in her home village of Krizevici, is only a few hundred yards from her family, who were eventually themselves able to resettle.

After more than 15 years of homelessness, much of that time spent in cramped confines amid the tension of war and its aftermath, the move this summer will mark both an end to the stress of these past years and an important new beginning.

"What I'm looking forward to most is the privacy, the peace and quiet," Refija said. "And for the first time, I will have my own home."

Bosnia: 17 Years of Restarting Broken Lives:

Posted May 5, 2006 by Roger Burks

The Power of Friendship

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Citizen Involvement, Civil Society, Peaceful Change, Women's Empowerment

Bratunac, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Stanojka Avramovic risked everything by becoming friends with Zejneba Sarajlic.

As a Serb woman befriending a Muslim in the aftermath of the Bosnian War, Avramovic not only alienated her family and friends, but weathered threats of physical violence. Those threats persist today, more than a decade after the war ended. However, Avramovic has never questioned her decision to stand by her friend.

In Zejneba Sarajlic, she saw a sister, a colleague and a kindred spirit. She saw a friendship that could not only succeed, but flourish and bring positive change to war-wracked communities across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was this unbreakable bond and unshakable commitment that brought Mercy Corps to work with these remarkable women in 1997. Since then, the agency has supported them as they've helped other Bosnian women heal the wounds of war and move on with their lives.

Women standing together

The town of Bratunac lies in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb-dominated Republika Srpska region. When the Bosnian War began in 1992, most of the area's Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks, fled their homes to escape the onslaught of Yugoslav troops and paramilitaries. During the war, houses and businesses belonging to Bosniaks were largely burned, looted or confiscated. Muslim families that chose to stay or were unable to flee endured horrific violence, including atrocities like the Srebrenica massacre.

Zejneba Sarajlic lost both her husband and son in 1992, as troops invaded her town to rid the area of non-Serbs. Her family and home taken away from her, she fled to Tuzla, a larger city where many Bosniak families sought refuge. Once in Tuzla, Sarajlic made the acquaintance of several other war widows and women who had lost their homes. Together, these women vowed to not only return to the cities they'd been forced to flee, but also rebuild their lives stronger than ever.

Avramovic, who remained in Bratunac, was leading similar efforts for Bosnian Serb women who had been affected by the war. She heard about Sarajlic's organisation in Tuzla, and began to consider the possibilities of working together. When the war ended in 1995 and movement around the country became possible again, Avramovic and Sarajlic were finally able to meet.

Even then, it wasn't easy.

A partnership is born

In many ways, the Dayton Agreement that ended the war failed to improve ethnic divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country remained sundered in two political entities: the aforementioned Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-governed Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was difficult for Bosniak families to return to their homes in Serb-dominated areas, and vice-versa.

"Even though the war is officially finished, to some people it still rages on," Avramovic said.

Soon after their first meeting in the town of Zvornik in 1995, Avramovic and Sarajlic joined forces to found the Women's Association of Podrinje, whose main goal was to help women return to their home towns, rebuild their houses and find ways to earn a living.

Avramovic immediately put this objective into practice by inviting Sarajlic to move in with her and her family in Bratunac. It was a courageous move that outraged her neighbors and local politicians, but cemented the irrevocable bond between the two women.

From Sarajevo to New York

Over the next couple of years, the association had to meet in secret. Republika Srpska officials banned the formation of any associations, and so Avramovic, Sarajlic and other committed women had to travel as far as Sarajevo — several hours away — to convene. They did so for five years, during which time dozens of women joined their cause.

In 1997, Mercy Corps joined their cause as well, helping 15 Bosniak families and 15 Serb families gain sustainable economic footing, return to the towns they'd fled and begin to start over from scratch.

"Although our association's members are women, we support entire families," Avramovic explained.

With support from Mercy Corps, the association grew in numbers, prominence and reputation. In 2000, this growth culminated with a conference of women in Srebrenica. Dozens of women, both Bosniak and Serb, convened to discuss how to coexist, reconcile and facilitate a return to peaceful, productive communities. They sympathized with one another over their war experiences and losses. They took time to understand. It was the first meeting of its kind in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, and started a wellspring of activism and social change that continues today.

In 2001, Mercy Corps solidified its commitment to the now-burgeoning association by helping them to procure and equip an office in Bratunac, and also providing training in various administrative and finance procedures.

"Mercy Corps' involvement has made people take notice of what we're doing," Avramovic commented. "Now we can meet openly with women in the area - they're not scared to meet with us any more. Also, we can meet with local officials, have coffee and discuss our goals with them as equals."

The association's hard work, directed by the dynamic team of Avramovic and Sarajlic, earned them recognition in May 2002. The two were flown to New York City, where they received the "Voices of Courage" award from the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Only four such awards were given that year.

Avramovic, sitting at her desk at the office in Bratunac, smiles when she remembers the fun they had in New York City. She glances at the award perched atop a pile of papers. Then she takes a few moments to gaze and ponder on her colleague's now-empty desk.

Driven by a memory

Just four months after they stood side-by-side accepting awards in New York, Zejneba Sarajlic was killed in a car accident. Stanojka Avramovic keeps her memory alive every day, and her friend's portrait provides constant reassurance that she is, indeed, always watching over the association.

Even legitimized by the "Voices of Courage" award and with hundreds of women around the world supporting their cause, Avramovic is still having difficulties with some hard-line elements in the area.

"Last year, a local publisher did a book that smeared me, my friend and my family. It accused us of being spies," she said.

Avramovic has faced such challenges before, and isn't budging from her commitment. In fact, she's fighting back. She is suing the publisher and affiliated local officials in a national court.

She knows that more is at stake than her reputation; the fortunes of those women and families who have yet to return also depend on the future of the association.

"Even though it's hard, I won't leave. I will stay and fight," Avramovic vows. "I carry my friend's memory with me every day, and she continues to strengthen me."

Bosnia: 17 Years of Restarting Broken Lives:

Posted April 7, 2006 by Roger Burks

True Soul Food

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Citizen Involvement, Civil Society, Economic Development, Peaceful Change

Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Omer Spahic's culinary specialty is a savory bean dish called grah. Of all the meals I ate during two weeks in the Balkans, it is quite possibly the best.

And of all the stories I heard during that time — heart-wrenching tales that will forever haunt and move me — Spahic's was among the most inspiring.

As we sit around a white plastic table — one of seven in the tiny dining room of his ascinica, or short-order café — several people walk through the restaurant's front door. Some stay to eat, but most just come in to greet Spahic, catch up on news and get back on their way. He greets each like an old friend.

Spahic is a restaurateur by trade, but over the last 14 years he's been a refugee, a pioneer and a benefactor to war-torn families in the area around Srebrenica. His café is the focal point for Bosnian Muslim families who've received Mercy Corps aid to return to this small city, home to one of the 20th century's worst massacres.

Diminutive and wrapped in a white apron, Spahic seems an unlikely leader — until he starts telling his story.

Years away from home

Spahic has been in the restaurant business since 1958, when he worked for a state-owned hotel in Zvornik, a city about an hour north of here. In 1966, he decided to move back to his quiet, idyllic hometown of Srebrenica to try his own luck and open a small café. For 26 years, he and his wife Jamila operated the business on a tiny back street and enjoyed moderate success. He cooked the main dishes while she confected the desserts. They had dozens of regular customers that came in to enjoy a hot, traditional meal and easygoing conversation.

Then, in 1992, everything changed. As the Bosnian War started to rage and ethnic divisions turned violent, Spahic and his family were forced to flee Srebrenica. There was no time to pack. They abandoned their home, restaurant and the life they'd built for three decades and escaped to Tuzla, a predominately Muslim city two hours away.

They didn't even have a change of clothes.

For two years they lived in Tuzla, finding whatever work they could to survive as the front lines of a horrific war advanced ever closer. They were cut off from their children, who were going to school two hours away in Sarajevo, a one-time Olympic host city under constant siege and bombardment.

In 1994, Spahic and his wife made a brave decision to find their children and make their family whole again. They traveled from Tuzla to Sarajevo, hitchhiking and walking along mountainous roads. It took them more than 24 hours to traverse what is normally a two-hour trip. After reaching Sarajevo's outskirts, they made their way into the city through an 860-metre-long underground tunnel.

Reunited with their children, they rode out the remainder of the war in Sarajevo and stayed there until 1999, four years after the guns finally fell silent. At that time, Spahic decided it was time to go home to Srebrenica.

His was the first Bosnian Muslim family to return to a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina that was synonymous with death.

The courage to stay

Even though the war had ended, Srebrenica remained an inhospitable place for Bosnian Muslims, including Spahic and his family. This is the place where approximately 8,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred and thrown into mass graves. In many ways, Srebrenica was — and remains — the single biggest symbol for the cruelty and bloodshed of the Bosnian War.

To Spahic, though, it had always been home.

Unfortunately, the family returned to Srebrenica to find the city in shambles and, most painfully, their home and restaurant partially ruined. Two Bosnian Serb families had claimed those parts of the building that were habitable. Since Spahic was a returnee and a Bosnian Muslim in a predominately Bosnian Serb area, he didn't have any rights or recourse to evict those families from his house. To raise a grievance might have meant harm for him and his family.

So Spahic and his family moved into an apartment building that had been purchased and renovated by the U.S. Embassy for the use of Bosnian Muslim returnees. During his time there, Spahic made the acquaintance of not only other returnee families, but American and other international officials as well.

He became an advocate for the rights of returnee families and a voice for those who faced the challenges of trying to reclaim their homes and lost livelihoods.

In 2001, the families that had been squatting in Spahic's building finally left — but not before looting, trashing and burning what remained of the house and restaurant. Again, Spahic could only watch.

He continued to live in the space provided by the U.S. Embassy, and his reputation as a leader of returnees grew. He even met with the American ambassador to discuss the difficulties of once-displaced families returning to the area.

The ambassador listened, took notice and contacted an organisation he was sure could help the Spahics and other families that had returned to Srebrenica.

A grand re-opening

The U.S. Embassy got in touch with Mercy Corps, which had been operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1993. The organisation was working with returnee families in other parts of the country, helping them return to their homes and restore their businesses.

Mercy Corps came to Srebrenica to meet and discuss its assistance programmes with Spahic and other returnees. Soon afterward, the organisation began rebuilding Spahic's house.

The American Ambassador even came to Srebrenica on his own birthday to help with the rebuilding of Bosnian Muslim returnee houses. Spahic marked the occasion by cooking him burek, a flavorful meat pie prepared for special events and celebrations.

In 2002, Spahic and his family were finally able to move back into their home. They were also able to re-open their restaurant, thanks to new kitchen appliances furnished by Mercy Corps as part of an economic development grant.

Since then, business has steadily been improving. A popular saying among locals is, "If you don't eat at [Spahic's restaurant] while you're in Srebrenica, then you've never been to Srebrenica."

Queen Noor of Jordan must have gotten the message; she's eaten here in recent years, her visit commemorated with a picture on the wall. Countless national politicians and international diplomats have dined here, too.

Still, Spahic's most important clientele remains the families he befriended during his first harrowing months back in Srebrenica. They still come here for food and fellowship, to commiserate about the past and offer each other encouragement for the future. Mercy Corps often comes up in their conversations.

"Mercy Corps has supported everyone who's returned here in some way - farmers, carpenters, businessmen," Spahic says. "Small or large, the assistance you offered was always timely, thoughtful and important."

Something sweet

After I've sopped every morsel of grah from my bowl with warm, fluffy bread, Spahic emerges from the kitchen with a treat from his wife: apple baklava drizzled with local honey. It is ambrosial and soul soothing.

And then my Mercy Corps colleague Darko tells me something even sweeter than the dessert.

"At the end of each day, Mr. Spahic takes the restaurant's leftovers and hand delivers them to poor returnee families in the area," he whispers. "He will never say this, but we've heard it from a lot of the families we're helping."

As we pay the meagre bill and leave the restaurant, Spahic hands me a to-go box, even though I'm certain I've finished all my food. He says something, and nods his head slightly.

"Burek," Darko translates. "He wanted you to try it."

I smile, shake the courageous restaurateur's hand and walk out into the chilly late-winter afternoon. Spahic calls out something else as we make our way to the car.

"He said to come back soon," Darko tells me.

I really wish I could.

Bosnia: 17 Years of Restarting Broken Lives:

Posted March 24, 2006 by Roger Burks

The Daughter Also Rises

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Civil Society, Economic Development

Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Selma Samail is a hero.

However, when she looks in her hairdressing mirror, she doesn't see it that way at all. Humble and quiet, she only sees a daughter who works hard to support her father, mother and older sister.

A Mercy Corps grant of a chair, mirror, hair dryer and other styling equipment has helped Selma earn the first income her family has seen in years. The last decade has been extremely difficult for the Samail family.

As Bosnian Muslims living in a predominately Bosnian Serb area before the bloody conflict of the mid-1990s, they were forced to flee their home when the fighting escalated. Threats of violence forced them to the city of Zenica, a town with a Bosnian Muslim majority, where they had family members. The family of four stayed in cramped quarters in Zenica for a few months.

Eventually, the Samail family was able to find a small house that they could afford on Mr. Samail's small disability pension of 160 Convertible Marks, or KM (about £60) a month. Life was still difficult, but they were together, safe and in their own home.

They had found peace, quiet and relative comfort in the aftermath of the Bosnian War. Unfortunately, their struggles were just beginning.

Nowhere to turn

In 2001, the Samail's older daughter, Aldina, was diagnosed with diabetes and kidney failure. The closest hospital that could meet her needs was in Tuzla, well over an hour away. As a result, the family incurred substantial transportation costs as well as medical bills, which cost at least 150 KM (slightly less than £60) per visit - nearly as much as Mr. Samail's entire monthly paycheck.

Aika, Aldina's mother, was identified as a kidney donor, and the two of them underwent surgery in late 2001. The transplant was successful, but the cost of required treatments and medications continued to pile up. In 2004, the Samail family ran out of money and was evicted from their house in Zenica.

With nowhere else to turn - and with the war years in the past - they decided to return to their hometown of Doboj and move back into their old house. When they arrived, though, they found their house a complete shambles: squatters had looted and burned it. What remained was rain-soaked and useless, as the roof was severely damaged. The family again packed in tightly with relatives, moving into a small house in Doboj owned and occupied by Mr. Samail's brother.

Although they had a roof over their heads, the outlook was bleak: Aldina's health continued to waver, Aika's health grew gradually worse and Mr. Samail was unable to work to support the quickly-failing family.

Then young Selma rose to the occasion.

A family rebuilds

Selma had heard about Mercy Corps' assistance to returned families from her friends. She encouraged her father and mother to apply to the local municipality for help with the reconstruction of their house, her older sister's health and their economic dilemma. They did so, and their application was reviewed and accepted. Days later, a Mercy Corps caseworker and engineer visited the family to determine what assistance was needed.

The Samail family signed an agreement with Mercy Corps in September 2004, at which time the organisation committed to provide materials for reconstruction and a small business grant. Adisa, a Mercy Corps engineer, worked with the family to make sure that the construction was done in a safe, complete and timely manner. Since the family couldn't complete the rebuilding on their own, friends and family helped with the construction.

"Adisa kept us to a strict schedule," Selma commented, smiling as Adisa sat across the room. "It was difficult, but we appreciate her hard work, guidance and support."

Aldina and Selma did their parts, picking out the colours for wall paint and helping out however they could.

The rebuilding was completed in March 2005, at which time the Samail family was able to move into their home again. Soon afterward, an unseasonable cold snap froze and busted a water pipe in the house. The family didn't hesitate to call on a reliable friend.

"Adisa came out right away, all the way from Tuzla to help us repair the pipe," Selma said. "Mercy Corps has also gone the extra mile, for which we're very thankful."

An economic makeover

Their home restored, it was now time to concentrate on the family's economic prospects. Again, Selma came to the rescue.

She had started hairdressing as a hobby while still living in Zenica, but soon developed a devoted clientele. When the family returned to Doboj and were faced with both medical bills and day-to-day living expenses, she turned her hobby into a profession.

The small business grant from Mercy Corps enabled Selma to buy some better equipment, with which she has been able to improve her techniques and expand her client base. Today, she spends two or three days a week as a hairdresser in Zenica, and the rest of the week working from her small salon in the family home in Doboj.

While she doesn't make much - she charges 2 KM (about £1) for a haircut - Selma is keeping the family afloat. She even manages to buy something nice to cheer her older sister from time to time.

It's been ten long years but, with the persistence of a loving daughter and a little help from Mercy Corps, the Samail family is finally back.

Posted August 22, 2004

Balkan Region Is Slowly Rebuilding

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Peaceful Change, Emergencies, Economic Development

Question: When did you first become involved in Bosnia?

Answer: I first became involved in Bosnia in the late winter and spring of 1945 when I was a war correspondent in World War II. I was with Tito's Partisan fighters during that time and was present for the liberation of Sarajevo from the Germans. I visited the former Yugoslavia several times in the postwar years.

My longest, deepest involvement with Bosnia began in December 1995, only a few weeks after the completion of the Dayton Peace Accord that brought to a formal end the civil war. After a short visit as part of a Mercy Corps assessment team, I helped to prepare plans for Mercy Corps to undertake humanitarian relief and reconstruction projects in northern Bosnia, financed primarily by USAID. Beginning in February 1996, I lived in Sarajevo and spent three years working with Mercy Corps on a variety of projects in various parts of Bosnia.

Q: What was the role of Mercy Corps in rebuilding Bosnia?

A: Mercy Corps was one of the dozen major international relief and development agencies working in Bosnia during those years and is still seriously involved. Much of our work was concerned with the rebuilding of the basic infrastructure in and around the principal city in northern Bosnia, Tuzla. Our engineers (practically all of whom were local people) played very significant roles in the re-establishment of water supply systems of various sizes and degrees of complexity for many towns and villages. (Most people don't realize -- I certainly didn't -- that just about the most urgent need of desperate people after their communities have been wrecked by war or natural disasters is for safe drinking water. If they don't have that, a lot of people get sick and die.)

Mercy Corps also was engaged in the rebuilding of a number of damaged schools and clinics. Also we assisted in the repair and reconstruction of several thousand houses and helped to get their owners back in their homes. We had a rule that we would help with such rebuilding efforts if the house was at least 25 percent destroyed, but not more than 75 percent destroyed. In the houses with the lesser destruction the owners could be expected to do the needed repairs over time on their own, though even there we might help with providing some supplies. If a house was more than 75 percent destroyed, it was considered wiser simply to finish tearing it down and start over. But we were not in the business of building new homes.

Perhaps the most significant, long-term help we provided was in the areas of "micro-enterprise" and "civil society" development. The best way to help people to become self-supporting was through small loans (usually up to about £1,800) they could use to start small businesses -- raising chickens, operating a car repair shop, making and mending clothes, etc., etc. The success of these projects was astonishing. The people who received these loans used the money responsibly, for the most part got their businesses going satisfactorily -- and repaid their debts fully and on time. The repayments made possible further loans to other people, so we were able to establish a revolving loan fund that made a real contribution to the improvement of the local economy.

The "civil society" projects were concerned with helping communities and groups of people organise themselves as volunteers to tackle a great variety of local problems and deal constructively with suspicions, fears and disagreements that were a carry-over from the period of civil warfare. In these matters and many different projects, we were able within a couple of years to turn over these activities to local groups which would carry them on on their own.

From the beginning, we were determined to help where we could and get out as soon as we could "work ourselves out of a job." I personally was involved for more than a year in helping the religious leaders -- Roman Catholic, Serb Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish -- to develop the Inter-Religious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina through which they could undertake various ways of working together and overcoming mutual suspicions and hostilities.

Q: Tell us about how Bosnia has changed over the past 10 years?

A: One of the biggest and most obvious changes in Bosnia over the past 10 years has been the completion of so many physical reconstruction projects -- blown bridges replaced, damaged or destroyed houses put in order, new public buildings erected, roads repaired, debris carted away.

Clearly, there are more goods in the shops, people are better dressed, there are more and better and newer cars on the roads. However, many of the bigger factories destroyed by the war have not been rebuilt and probably never will be. Economic recovery takes a long time. There is still much unemployment and under-employment.

The dream of developing efficient, honest, open democratic government is still far from being fully realized. Politics is still a somewhat dirty game, with parties in power manipulating the government offices and the media (particularly radio and television) to maintain themselves in power. The dominant parties (and memberships in all parties) are tied to religious/ethnic identity. Independent, issue-oriented parties have not fared well. Corruption is widespread and largely taken for granted.

Still, the family and friendship circles are intact and much enjoyed and appreciated. Life, though on a lower level of comfort and luxury than in America, is less hectic, less frantic, less tense than in America. Quite honestly, many Bosnian families I know seem to enjoy their daily lives more than many American families I know. The have more time, they take more time for relaxed socializing in family groups.

People are crazy about movies and about sports -- particularly about football (which they call football) and basketball. And the young people are into rock 'n' roll and all the other forms of pop music as much as any other young people. And they are able to buy current hit CDs at bargain prices, due to pirated copies made in China and elsewhere that are widely on sale.

Q: What role have the peacekeepers played in Bosnia?

A: The role of peacekeepers in Bosnia, as in other troubled or once-troubled areas of the world, is to keep people who hate each other from killing each other. It's as simple as that. That hasn't been too difficult or too dangerous an assignment for American troops -- right from the beginning of their arrival in Bosnia. People were fed up with the warfare they had lived through. They truly wanted peace and quiet and order. They weren't exactly wild about having all those foreign NATO troops around -- but they liked having Russian troops even less. In any case, none of the foreign troops could be seen as occupiers: they really were peacekeepers.

Q: Has NATO fulfilled its mission?

A: Without having to fire a shot at anybody -- and few such shots have been fired by U.S. troops in the whole past eight years that we have had a military presence in Bosnia -- our presence as a military force has undoubtedly prevented a good deal of violence that might well have occurred.

It is known that we are there, mostly staying in our camps or making necessary supply trips about the country, but we are not an oppressive factor in their lives. We never had to fight our way in, and, unlike Iraq, we don't take casualties for being there.

Insofar as the NATO mission was to provide a period of quiet and safety and order during which normal life could return after bloody years of civil warfare, it can be said that NATO has indeed succeeded. If anybody saw that mission for the Americans and other NATO powers as some how being concerned with establishing democracy and eliminating religious and ethnic rivalries, our self-congratulation should be cautious and restrained. To be sure, we and the European community were deeply involved in promoting early free elections. They were not really ready for completely free, open, honest elections between truly genuinely competitive political parties on a level playing field, but we helped them hold elections that were almost certainly more democratic than any they ever experienced before.

As they gain experience and distance from their time of troubles and mutual killings, their governmental processes will almost certainly become more fair, more responsible and more democratic. But for that to happen and the good effects to last, the initiative and driving force must come from within the minds, spirits, and willing determination of the local people and their leaders. Democracy is not something an outside power, not even the United States, can impose on another people.

Q: Tell us about your most recent trip to Bosnia?

A: My love affair with the various peoples of differing nationalities and religions in the former Yugoslavia has lasted a long time. I always enjoy going there. They are warm-hearted, friendly, unpretentious, generous, energetic, simple (in the good sense), and talented. And they occupy one of the most beautiful lands in all the world. I was there most recently a couple of years ago, primarily to see the progress on some of the micro-enterprise (small-loan programmes Mercy Corps has developed). I was thrilled and delighted to see how, now almost entirely on their own, they have made a resounding success of this effort to improve their economy from the ground up. It's working. What more could I ask?

Q: What does the future hold for Bosnia?

A: The future of Bosnia, I believe, is promising. But that, I realize, is about as meaningless as saying, in that old political cliche, "our future is ahead of us!" What facts on the ground give reason for hope?

One, a vigorous, energetic and educated people.

Two, considerable natural resources: timber, minerals, a lot of good productive agricultural land, abundant energy in both coal and hydroelectric power.

Three, a lot of the most beautiful scenery you can find anywhere. The tourism possibilities for that region are enormous. (Remember that in 1986 Sarajevo, with its downtown only a 30-minute drive to mountain ski slopes, put on one of the most successful Winter Olympics ever.).

What are my concerns about Bosnia's future?

The slow pace of developing genuinely responsible, honest democratic government.

Lingering prejudices and hostilities among the several religions. However, up until Milosovic stirred up those religious/ethnic hatred, the Bosnian society, with its near- majority of Muslims, its substantial segments of Roman Catholic and Serb Orthodox and a lively, talented and respected Jewish minority, Bosnia was one of the most tolerant multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious societies on Earth. They had something very special, something that had grown naturally over several centuries.

That tradition is not dead. I believe it is already beginning to live vigorously again.

[Editor's note: this article originally appeared in The Richmond Palladium-Item]

Posted October 2, 2003 by Bob Newell

Bosnia: A Fractured Country

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Topics: Economic Development, Emergencies

Bosnia is not a country - it is a buffer zone between Serbia and the rest of the Balkans. Before the war, the majority of the population was Muslim, which, in this part of the world, is somehow perversely considered a nationality or an ethnic group. In fact, the Muslims here are either Croats or Serbs, but by being Muslim they lose that identity.

Mercy Corps' work here has gone on for years and has focused on repatriating refugees and rebuilding their houses. Identifying those who are likely to return and to succeed is a lengthy and detailed process. Imagine being driven from your home under threat of death and coming back to live with those who issued the threats.

We met a woman named Stana who is a Bosnian Serb living in a village called Bratovac. A friend of hers, Zahneba, was a Muslim living in the same village. Zahneba's husband was taken away by Serbs in the village and never returned. Zahneba's response was to call Stana and form a women's association to begin the process of reconciliation. The two worked together on all sorts of projects and ultimately won an award for courage from a UN agency. Zahneba even insisted on including in one economic development project the man who took her husband away.

In the next village, Srebrenica, we stopped at the memorial that President Clinton dedicated about a week ago. Mass graves have been found all over this area and they are at work now trying to identify the thousands of bodies that have been exhumed. There was no one at the memorial except for two gravediggers. After staring at row after row of relatively new graves, I spoke to one of the men to ask if he knew any of the dead. He paused, looked over his shoulder to survey the scene and slowly turned and said "90 percent." How does one bear that kind of pain without hatred?

The Serbs laid siege to Srebrenica, which sits at the bottom of a narrow mountain valley, and eventually drove the Muslim inhabitants out. They rounded up most of the men and boys and killed them. The women went to concentration camps where they were tortured and raped. The aim was to so humiliate and frighten the Muslims that they would never return. The Serbs also went to each and every Muslim house, not just in the village, but throughout the surrounding mountains, and burned them so that they would be uninhabitable.

Although the Dayton Accords put an end to this part of the war, there has been no acceptance of responsibility or apology by Serbia. Indeed, the boundary established in Dayton is not recognized by most Serbs, though it is for the time being by Serbia the country. Instead, there is an area along the northern and eastern borders of Bosnia which is called Republica Serbska and is announced as such by prominent signs throughout the area.

There is no sense of nationhood in Bosnia. Before the war, people considered themselves Yugoslavians. Now, they are a population that appears to be clinically depressed. The economy is in terrible shape with few prospects of improvement. Mercy Corps is doing small-scale economic development projects, but it will take more than that to get this "country" moving again.