Laura's Bosnia Blog-Part 11 - 9/18/09

Bosnia Blog Part 11 - Fri., 9/18/09, 11:30 p.m

We spent the day in Olovo today and visited the Women’s Association there.  We visited a greenhouse and we met Safija, a widow who has 7 children.  They are a very poor family and she has just joined the Women’s Association 10 days ago.  

She works when her oldest son is at home to take care of the younger children and he works when she is a home.  Her work is digging potatoes and other agricultural work.  She did not go to school and feels fortunate to be able to send her children to school.  She said that when she is at the Women’s Association, she is able to relax and she was so thankful to be a part of it.  Her hope for the future is for her children to stay in and finish school.                                  

She said that it is very difficult because the books are so expensive that it is difficult to come up with the money.  She found out this morning that we were going to be visiting her in her home, so she dyed her hair in anticipation of our arrival.  She was a very proud and strong woman.

After visiting with Safia, we went to Taiba’s home where she keeps and cares for the cow and heifer (a young cow that has not yet given birth to a calf) that she and another woman haverecently received from World Vision.  It is called the 2 for 1 program because the heifer is delivered to the women pregnant….  The vaccinations and all veterinary care are covered by World Vision.  After giving birth, the cow is then used for dairy and the women are able to support their families with the milk they produce.

Our final stop for the day before heading back to Sarajevo was to the EKI office, which is the Microfiniti (Micro Finance) office in Bosnia.  

We went to the market place where we met a loanrecipient.  She had received a loan 2 years ago and opened a booth to sell clothing.  One year later she received a 2^nd loan and opened more stands.  She has one year left to repay her loans and then she hopes to receive another loan so that she can continue to expand in the market place.  Someday she would like to have her own storefront.

During this past week I have learned in bits and pieces about a tunnel that was dug under the runways at the Sarajevo airport during the war.  I will try to piece it all together and hopefully my information will be accurate.  This tunnel was built by hand by Bosnian Army soldiers and volunteers under the airport runways during a period of approximately 4 months. 

Because it was built in secret, the work had to be done at night and the problem of where to put the earth was a challenge.  They ended up scattering it in the hills close-by.   The tunnel originated in the garage of a home and was 720 meters (approximately 2400 feet) long and 1.60 (5 feet) meters high.  It linked the city of Sarajevo, (which the Serbian Army had cut off entirely) to the U.N. controlled area at the airport, which was considered “neutral”.  

While it was originally meant to be used by the military as their means of routing soldiers and weapons in and out of the city of Sarajevo, it also became a lifeline for Bosnians trapped in the city forfood, water and humanitarian aid and freedom for some.  In order to pass through the tunnel, civilians had to know someone and/or pay a steep fee.  The home is now a museum and it is a symbol of the courage and resilience of the Bosnian people during the war.  You can walk about 20 meters through the tunnel, which must be a humbling experience.