“For a good neighborhood” from Srebrenica
In Srebrenica, one can feel the full weight of the war and the post-war transitional Bosnian society. The consequences of destruction and devastation are difficult to see. The genocide of Bosniaks in the UN safe zone of Srebrenica committed by Serbian forces in July 1995, the most terrible court-confirmed crime in Europe after the Second World War, is one of the painful scars and stains on the conscience of humanity. The process of healing and revitalization is a maze of obstacles and challenges. Among those who are looking for ways to overcome them is peace activist Valentina Gagic, president of the “Sara-Srebrenica” Association, which is the organizer of the peace camp for young people “For a good neighborhood“.
The almost empty main street of Srebrenica, with only a few passers-by or cars, a contrast to the gloomy scene of numbed everyday life are the young people gathered in front of the Associaation “Adopt”, participants of the inter-ethnic camp “For a good neighborhood” from a dozen different areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Somehow we motivate them a little bit to get to know Srebrenica, to socialize, to get closer, to exchange experiences and to bring a bit of cheerfulness to this city”, says Valentina Gagic, president of the Association “Sara – Srebrenica”, whose focus is the improvement of interpersonal relations, trust, respect, building bridges and connecting broken ties.
Life is slowly returning to Srebrenica. It is difficult to live. Political and economic circumstances suppress and suffocate it. Recently, the trend of departures, especially of young people, has increased, as it has from most areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Unfortunately, the policies are such that they do not allow this area to move forward. There are no opportunities here for young people, or for families in general, to be able to realize their existence and provide normal living conditions for their loved ones”, adds Gagic.
The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina face various existential and security challenges, among others the challenges of the global crisis due to the war in Ukraine. The feeling of fear is intensified by the harsh political rhetoric in which there is no respect for the living, no reverence for the victims.
“They are afraid of people. You can feel it in some internal conversations. Even more than anywhere else, the rhetoric of “weapons rattling” digs into the traumas of people who have experienced their own misfortunes, and whose misfortunes are still being denied even today, so many years after the war. You can feel that burden”, says Gagic.
Circumstances are difficult, progress is slow.
“As much as we take some steps forward, it seems to me that in the election year we take a few steps back,” adds Gagic.
Srebrenica has rich natural resources and development potential. People leave because they do not see the perspective.
“The focus should be on young people, give them a little more space and opportunities, make them aware of how much potential we have. Incredible young people live here, who are carrying, on their shoulders, rather unfairly a huge burden that we left them as a legacy. They have nothing to do with it, but they have a lot of work to do. I think that our hopelessness is rooted in the tradition that brought us to the point where generations and generations are raised in fear”, points out Valentina Gagic.
In Srebrenica, there are few places that young people can go, and many that they should not, such as betting shops.
And this year, the choice of several of them, aged 15 to 25, was the peace camp “For a good neighborhood”.
“For a good neighborhood” peace interethnic camp for young people
The interethnic camp gathered about fifty young people from Gornji Vakuf/Uskoplje, Jajce, Brcko, Kladanj, Vlasenica, Milici, Kalesija, Donji Vakuf, Bratunac, Srebrenica and several other places in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The five-day meeting at the boarding school EMMAUS in Potocari was organized for the third time by the Association “Sara – Srebrenica” with the support of the American Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Young people covered a wide range of topics that concern everyday life, and are directed towards the future. They talked about interpersonal relationships, about human and social positive values, about how important it is to be human, about identities – personal and collective, about the formation of critical thinking, the wealth of cultural diversity, media literacy and manipulation, capacities, and potentials of young people.
“We tried to have young people as our presenters, who through their activism contribute to positive changes and have creative methods to convey what they know”, says the president of the “Sara” Association.
All social processes taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the topic of the workshops. The topic was also the ways in which these processes can contribute to the development of young people’s skills so that they can become active citizens in their communities.
“We focused on some life topics and what can make them better people and what can actually show them that their superpower is that they can make choices, with the aspiration that those choices are always right, the best for them and the society in which they live, in which they grow, in which they work”, emphasizes Valentina Gagic.
The participants of the peace camp participated in the activities of the XIV International Week of Remembrance, visited several exhibitions, watched short documentaries on the topic of dealing with the past, which were shown in Srebrenica in cooperation with the “Adopt” Association and the Sarajevo Film Festival. Young people had fun with numerous musical and sports activities.
“I am very glad that I participated in this camp, I created a strong empathy for this place, stronger than I had,” says Rado Milosevic from Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Armin Hecimovic also from Brcko adds: “We came to learn something together and we learned. Srebrenica has a strong story, history”.
For Andjela Gajic from Sekovici, the urge to come to Srebrenica was to gain new experiences and friendships. “During the workshops, I had the opportunity to hear and see various experiences. I think we should learn from them. These are mostly war topics, we should not feel guilty about it, but we should be responsible so that it does not happen again”.
The intention of the organizers of the peace camp was to send a different message from Srebrenica, a message of unity and peace.
“For a good neighborhood, it is our motto and our guiding principle to make small changes in our micro-spaces in the neighborhood and to motivate each other to create a good neighborhood,” adds Valentina Gagic.
About good neighborhood
The story “For a good neighborhood” was launched a few years ago in Srebrenica by the Association “Sara”, whose focus is on people and the improvement of interpersonal relations.
“People who help each other also live here. People who are unfortunately burdened by different political and media pressures, but dignified neighbors who support each other. People who somehow, regardless of Srebrenica’s difficult wartime past, manage to find the strength that the entire BiH society needs to leave a vicious circle and support each other as much as possible. It is no longer a matter of love, it is a matter of need,” says Valentina Gagic.
One such story is the story about the swimming pool and the neighborhood in the Srebrenica settlement of Baratova.
“The pool is a story I read in the media. The Baratovo neighborhood organized itself during the summer and decided to provide more carefree summer days for the children from the neighborhood with their own funds. They pooled their own funds, received some support from the local community and bought a large swimming pool to enable the children to spend their time together, not to be separated. Very inspiring, a great story that had media coverage, but not as much as it deserves,” adds Gagic.
In search of an even better neighborhood, the story “For a good neighborhood” of the Association “Sara-Srebrenica” continues.
“We stick to that vision that we share with good people who believe in this city, who believe in this country and who believe that this society has the potential to do better,” says Valentina Gagic.
She is aware that the price of peace activism is often high.
“There was indeed stress, worry and sleepless nights, but freedom really has no price. If nothing else, I have this superpower of my own to be able to choose what to do, who to hang out with, who to spend time with, how to speak and think, how to fantasize, after all, I work in the best possible way and the only way I possibly know”, Gagic points out.
Association “Sara” has no problem gathering people around some activity. They work long hours, they are trusted, people will come if nothing else because of the solidarity, neighborhood support and the like.
“Very often we are faced with the fact that people tell us I will come but please I do not want to say anything, or don’t ask me anything, or what is the topic and I will let you know”, says Gagic.
It is important to encourage young people to speak and express their opinions.
“We were not brought up to express our opinion publicly, we don’t speak publicly but between four walls, which may be a potential danger for some new bad things that could potentially come our way,” explains Valentina Gagic.
The fact that we do not talk about some topics has its roots in our tradition. Parents often tell children to just be quiet.
“We have so many limitations that simply do not allow us to be happy. Do not do it, keep quiet, do not start anything, be calm, do not stand out, that’s what we’ve been told since childhood, and I think that’s the key cause of some of the problems we’ve had,” Gagic believes.
We spend our lives hoping that it will get better, she says and adds that because of that she does not even want to hope anymore.
“I want us to force everyone to do their job, to make this place and the country what the citizens ultimately deserve, but not those who are politically eligible, but those free citizens who give everything to make changes in our country”.
The road to change is thorny and long, and one of the directions of peace activist Valentina Gagic is the fight “For a good neighborhood” in Srebrenica and throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
