Laura's Bosnia Blog-Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 11:00 pm
I think that my body just might adjust to the time change by next
Tuesday....when it's time to go home....fortunately, I seem to be
feeling quite well during the day. Perhaps it's all the Turkish coffee
I've been drinking.
We're staying at a very small hotel called Hotel Kavaci, right in the
heart of Sarajevo. It's a quaint little hotel with only 8 rooms, 6 of
which we are staying in. The rooms are nice-sized, clean and bright.
We have breakfast in the lobby area and the bread and rolls they serve
are just delicious.
We traveled about an hour this morning to a town called Visko where we
met with the women who run the Roma Association called "Be My Friend".
Roma (Gypsy) women are very vulnerable to being exploited and abused
but, at the same time are very strong.
The World Vision staff do everything they can to help the girls to get
an education. There are so many obstacles for these families.
Sometimes it is something as simple as having only one pair of shoes
that two children need to share. Only one child is then able to go to
school and of course, if there is a boy and a girl in the family, the
boy will be the one chosen to be educated. If the girls are placed in
school, they are frequently pulled out at age 11 or 12 for marriage.
One of the reasons that it is so important for the girls to receive a
diploma is that it is the first legal document that they receive with
their name on it. Since 80% of Roma babies are born at home, they
don't have birth certificates.
There are a lot of single young Roma women. Very often, their fathers
were killed and their husbands have left them. The families push their
pregnant teenage daughters out of their homes and the girls try to
live with the father of their children, regardless of the cost. There
is so much abuse and rape that these women are subjected to. When they
find themselves without a man to provide for them, they will sometimes
leave their children in orphanages because they have no means to care
for them.
This project exists to empower Roma girls and women in Bosnia....to
teach them ways to provide for themselves and their families because
women better understand the need for inclusion than Bosnian men. The
men are very old-fashioned, living in old tradition, not understanding
their families needs.
One of the businesses the women are taught is sewing and/or tailoring.
The loan provides them with a sewing machine, table and instruction.
After sewing for about six months, Women of Vision sets up an
exhibition for them to sell their goods.
Another business the women have started are greenhouses. World Vision
sets up a beautiful greenhouse on a woman's property. She agrees to
provide the land, the irrigation and the seeds for a period of 5
years. There is a group of women who share the workload of one
greenhouse. We were treated to a visit to Remza's home where we saw
her greenhouse. She and the 9 other women in her group had planted
tomatoes and peppers which were about ready to be harvested. They had
recently planted spinach which provides a very good source of income.
She was a wonderful
woman who was clearly a hard-worker. When asked who did the digging to
prepare the soil, she flexed her arm muscles, slapped her hand to her
chest and said in Bosnian, "Me!". We asked what her biggest challenge
is and she said that "life is a battle.". I'm sure she knows more
about that than any of us ever will. She indulged us by picking 9
tomatoes off the vine and sending them home with us.
Next we were off to visit Jasmina (not our interpreter), who is a
single mother raising chickens for the eggs. She had fixed up the
bottom floor of her home but the 2nd floor was left unfinished,
windows blown out. Her daughter is 18, in school working toward her
diploma and hoping to go to University. The biggest obstacle will, of
course be finances.
We then headed to the home of a Roma family living high on the side of
a mountain. They have 4 children who are in school and 12 others who
were at the house. They were an example of a family that have not
received any aid or help. They are living in deep poverty. There were
3 women living there, ranging in age from approximately 23-29 years
old (we think). They are married to brothers who were off collecting
tin, paper & iron. One of the women told us that she was married at 12
and had her first child at 13. They do not have a stove to heat the
home, so they don't know how they'll survive the winter. The rest of
the school age children were likely still at home because they didn't
have clothes or shoes to wear to school. The children were so happy
and loved the candy we gave them and LOVED having their picture taken
and then looking at it! The girls were separated from their parents
10 years ago and they have no idea where they are now. It was so sad
to see how poor, dirty and hopeless they were.
Finally we went to Jasmina's home. I was so looking forward to doing
this. No wonder Angela thinks so much of her....she is an amazing,
brilliant, kind and resourceful woman. She has been through the
unimaginable....after the war broke out, she and her family stayed in
their home for six months until they were forced to leave. During that
time, they would hide in a hole that they'd dug on the side of their
house (photo above from the war) and then at night, would crawl along a ditch to get food or go
to neighbor's homes. The snipers were up in the hills, just watching
for them....ready to shoot at all times. One day she went out on her
porch to get an item of clothing that she'd hung on the line the night
before and she was shot at twice (photo above from that day during the war.)
Her entire family was there-her husband, 3 kids, their spouses and her
grandchildren. They were a beautiful family, full of laughter, yet
there was underlying sadness, after all they've been through and the
stress of future.
They prepared a delicious traditional Bosnian lunch for us. We had
soup, dolmas, cheese and meat pie, salad (tomatoes, onions, goat
cheese), chicken, potatoes, and homemade bread. It was so
incredible....sitting in her very safe, happy home....knowing what had
gone on there only 16 years ago.
We stayed the entire afternoon, heading back to the hotel at around
6:30 pm. What an emotional day this was. I'll never forget all that I
saw and heard.
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