Bosnian Bulletin #2
September 26, 1998
Greetings from Banja
Luka!
We've now been here for two months and thought it's about time to
update all of you. We first want to say thank you to all of you who have sent us
mail or e-mail. It is such a precious gift to us. We are trying
to respond to all personal e-mails we receive, and send a
postcard to everyone who sends snail mail. (Is that incentive for
the rest of you? :) It's very important to us to keep in touch
with all of you over these next 3 years.
Hopefully most of you received our first "bulletin" se
we'll try not to repeat ourselves. The last month has been filled
with orientation to IOCC and their programs (our future work),
language study, and general adjustment to living in Banja Luka,
Bosnia!
First, the most difficult and commonly asked question: What is
our work here? (Our hope is to keep you informed as time goes on
so you can feel like you understand our updates) Honestly, we are
still trying to figure it out! The conflict in this region is
extremely complex, and we never talked to anyone before we left
that said "Oh, yes, I know all about that situation!"
So, I hope it's not insulting to anyone if we give a brief (very
brief!) overview of the conflict.
There are 3 major ethnic groups in Bosnia: Serbs, Croats and
Muslims (also called Bosniaks). In 1991, as the bonds of
Yugoslavia were crumbling, Croatia (mostly Croats -but also large
regions of Serbs) declared independence to become a sort of
homeland for Croatians. Serbia (mostly Serbs, but also minorities
of Croats and Muslims) was very upset at the thought of their
fellow Serbs being in a Croatian nation. So, those Serb regions
within Croatia tried to declare independence. And soon, the
conflict between Croatia and Serbia began. (Slovenia and
Macedonia also declared independence from Yugoslavia, but being
almost entirely of other ethnicities, there was little conflict.)
In a way, Bosnia just got caught in the crossfire between these
two countries and the conflict spread throughout Bosnia. While
that is a grand over-simplification, it gives you the basic idea.
People said an ethnic war could never break out in Bosnia because
the 3 ethnicities were so intermingled . But, it did. That's why
the conflict is so hard to understand -even for those that live
here. Neighbors, friends, even families with mixed marriages were
all caught up in the conflict. At some points in the war, Croats
and Muslims were allied against Serbs, and at other times, the
Croats and Muslims fought against each other. Almost any
combination you can think of! Sparing you the gruesome and
confusing details (no one can agree on the details, anyway!), the
Dayton Peace Accord enforced peace in Bosnia. Today, Bosnia is
divided into 2 entities as the Dayton agreement dictates.
Republika Srpska is the Serb-dominated entity (in which we live)
and the Federation is the Muslim/Croat-dominated entity.
Relations between the two entities are still tense, although
movement between the two entities is becoming easier. Up until
about a year ago, the border between Republika Srpska and the
Federation was guarded by IFOR troops. All vehicles were checked
for weapons. Today, however, there are no checkpoints.
IOCC is working with Return and Rehabilitation -part of the
Dayton agreement. They are trying to locate refugees (people who
left their homes, but never left the country) and displaced
persons (people who left their homes, but never left the country)
that want to return to their homes. IOCC assesses the homes,
hires local contractors to repair the homes and then assists the
beneficiaries with their return. This situation becomes
complicated when, for example, Serb families want to return to
their village, but their village is now in the Muslim/Croat
Federation. Hostilities still exist and municipal authorities are
not always cooperative. In addition, the people returning are not
always prepared for the fact that their old neighborhood has
changed. While IOCC is an Orthodox Christian organization (the
religion of the Serbs), it is working in both the RS and the
Federation repairing homes for all 3 ethnicities.
Until January, we will be assisting this program in whatever way
they need. IOCC has indicated they would like us to work with the
human aspect for the program (i.e. talking with the
beneficiaries, making sure they understand all of the
implications of their return, finding out their needs, etc.) This
will be much easier when we can speak the language!
So far, we have been reading the project proposals for the donors
and traveling with co-workers into the communities where IOCC is
working. It's very interesting to see the countryside and the
people. In many areas, the damage is unbelievable. Our most
recent trip took us to a small, previously Croat village now in
the RS. IOCC was invited to come and assess the homes by some
Croats who have moved back and are looking for someone to fund
the repair of their village. They are staying in terrible
conditions. As we walked to look at different homes, we were told
to be extremely careful to keep our feet on the path as it is an
area that was heavily mined. We happily complied. Even though we
want to see these people's homes repaired, it became very evident
that these people have a great deal of unresolved hostility. We
struggle with this, as IOCC doesn't currently have programming to
deal with the need for the psychosocial needs of the people. Our
learning about the conflict, IOCC's programming, and how we will
fit into that, will continue for quite some time.
Many of you have asked about Kosovo and Albania. Neither of these
situations directly affects us. IOCC is planning to open another
office in Podgorica (formerly Titograd) near the region of
Kosovo. While we don't know everything about the situation, in
many ways, it seems to be Bosnia all over again. Slobodan
Milosevic is the Yugoslavian (Serbian) leader that was integral
in the Bosnian conflict and now again in Kosovo. The situation
really causes us to struggle with our non-violent beliefs. Keep
this situation in your prayers.
Also, some of you may have heard about the recent elections in
Bosnia. The official results are still being announced, but it is
now official that the radical nationalist party won the
presidency of Republika Srpska. We want to remain optimistic, but
are afraid this could have negative effects of return and
rehabilitation and on healing and tolerance in general.
Second, our language studies. Some of you have asked if we are
starting to get a handle on the language. We chuckle at those
questions and would simply request that you hold that question
for about 6 months!! It is an extremely difficult language with 7
cases and 7 verb tenses. So far, we have been introduced to 3
cases and 1 verb tense. Our teacher, Sandra, is extremely good
and very complimentary. Unfortunately, in mid-October she will be
returning to Belgrade to continue her studies in theology. She
has a friend who will continue to teach us and we only hope she's
as good as Sandra. Currently, we have enough words to buy things
in the market, take a taxi and communicate (with a great deal of
time and effort) a few phrases with our landlords. We are now
able to sometime think of 2 or 3 word phrases and given enough
time, perhaps a sentence! Of course, if we can put together a
sentence, people assume we know the language, and rattle back to
us in the local language!
Overall, we are beginning to feel at home in our apartment and
comfortable in Banja Luka. Of course we have had the usual
interesting overseas experiences: accidentally buying baby food,
unknowingly eating brains, struggling on the phone to communicate
"wrong number", being unable to find a public bathroom
-and when you do, you wish you hadn't!, etc. We even had our
kitchen cabinet full of dishes come crashing down off the wall
while we were standing there! (We now have 1/2 as many dishes!)
We know our adventures have just begun.
Our biggest prayer concern continues to be our lack of church
community and lack of people we can call our friends. Of course,
meeting local people is very difficult with our lack of language
skills. We know this, too, will take time. In the meantime, we
are very appreciative for all of your e-mails, letters, thoughts
and prayers. We're sure we have not hit the most difficult times
yet!
Please ask us any questions you might have -big or small. We're
happy to try to answer them. Also, if these monstrous e-mails are
too long for your computer (or you!) just let us know, and we
will take you off this list. We hope to try to send an attached
photo sometime in the future -we'll see.
We would love to hear how your lives are! Thanks again for your
continued support! Peace to all of you.
Love,
Karin & John
John and Karin Kaufman Wall
c/o IOCC
Karadjordjeva 227
78000 Banja Luka
Republika Srpska
BOSNIA
Home ph: 011-381-78-13-297
jandk@inecco.net
"In Bosnia, say 'YES' to food, and 'NO' to war!" -Zoran
(our landlord)
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