The third of my wife’s posts from her trip to Bosnia. Enjoy!
Cause for Celebration
We had no idea to what to expect walking into a packed room in the community center in Kakanj, a village about an hour away from Sarajevo. The room was overflowing with excitement, standing room only, as Alexa and I followed the mayor of the town and the crew from Women to Women to the front row seats that had been saved for us. 260 women, some dressed in traditional attire, had come here for their graduation. They have completed the one year program and are now prepared for whatever is next. Before the program, many women stayed primarily at home, often isolated in rural villages. The program has given them all a strong bond and the hope and tangible skills to earn a living and rebuild their lives.
Seida, W4W’s vibrant country director, kicked things off and after a couple more short speeches the certificates were distributed. The mayor presented the diplomas for the first group of 22. Sometimes beaming, sometime more demure, women made their way to the front to accept their certificates. I was madly snapping photos, trading between my phone camera and my regular one when I heard my name above the din of incomprehensible Bosnian. As honored guests from America, the four of us were beckoned to the front of the room to distribute a group of certificates. I was to go first. Feeling completely unworthy of this honor, somehow my legs carried me to the front where I began handing certificates and shaking hands as the names were called, adding a “čestitam” for each woman as she took this small representation of the transformation she had made in the past year.
Back at my seat a little while later I could feel the tears starting to well up as I pondered just how awestruck I was in the presence of these women. All of them had lived through a war during which they were constantly under siege, had struggleed to feed their families, waited in line everyday for water, in some cases endured rape or having to move forward after every man in her family, father, husbands, brothers, uncles, had been killed. The struggle has continued for the past 15 years as the country moves forward from loss of 90% of their infrastructure and contending with daily life in a society with 50% unemployment and where the balance between the ethnic groups is highly political. I am so grateful for my life, but felt completely unworthy to be honored in the presence of these heroines.
After the ceremony it was time to celebrate. A feast of more than 100 different traditional home-made dishes of baked goods, cheeses and sweets was assembled and then the accordion got going and the traditional dancing and singing began. What a party! Many women brought their crafts to sell. I found sweet knitted hats for the girls and was gifted these fantastically warm knit slippers (which would come in real handy later). It was surreal to have started our day with 2 sessions in the conference room talking about Google Apps, then to be a part of this. What could the rest of the day bring? Serendipity continued as we were invited to visit two of the women’s homes.
Have I mentioned it is snowing here and the temperature is in the teens? It makes for a winter wonderland but also for a tricky drive to houses nestled in the hills off dirt roads. The first home was of Naila, a graduate of the program and living example of the impact of the program. Naila now has a flourishing handicraft and produce business, thanks in part to having won a green house in a business planning competition (she learned how to create the plan thanks to a W4W post graduate course). We trekked up a hill through a small orchard to the green house where Claudia, W4W’s Marketing and Corporate Programs manager, was to interview Naila with the video crew. After a brief look at the thriving produce in this greenhouse in the dead of winter, the rest of us gave the interview team necessary silence and trekked back down the hill where we were greeted by a warm house and an even warmer grandma. To help us thaw out, she made this magic tea from Rosehips. It was truly liquid from heaven, being made from pressed then dried rose hip berries from their land. I had never tasted anything like it. Following the tea, Naila started bringing out plates and plates of homemade comfort food – Bosnian Burek pies, livorno cheese, Avjar (a relish made from red peppers), fresh baked bread, pickled vegetables and fruit. Nine of us, W4W staff from Bosnia and the US, the video crew, our translator and Alexa and I gratefully accepted the warm hospitality which is the cultural norm here.
The adventure continued at a second house, about 20 minutes away on the other side of the hills where Marica and her husband live. Marica makes different types of spirits, from fruit, nuts or herbs. She prepared a sampling of her wares for us along with another amazing feast of home baked bread, different relishes, cheese and cured meats, and apple strudel for dessert. Marica and Naila met in the program and have been best friends ever since. We were so grateful for their hospitality and the abundance they shared with us. Marica shared that she was the only one in her group during the W4W program who didn’t get a letter from her “sister”. I think I found myself a new pen pal.
After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to town where we were to have one last adventure of the day. Through Xbox Live and more recently a common interest in landscape photography, Scott has a friend, Suad, from Bosnia. Turns out Suad’s family lives in Sarajavo. His sister Una is a PR consultant and knows everything about everything in Sarajevo. She graciously agreed to meet us at our hotel and join us for dinner. Una is a high energy, vivacious woman with a passion for her country and for playing a personal role as a catalyst for improvement. In addition to her PR business, she spends a lot of time with different non-profit organizations in the country. Everyone here has a story about their experience during the war. Una’s was unique amongst those we had heard this week.
Una and Suad’s father, retired now, was a famous actor in Bosnia. They grew up with a close connection to the arts. Una shared with us that the arts became a sanctuary and important refuge for the community in Sarajevo during the war. She told us about Susan Sontag, an American writer and activist, who came to Sarajevo during the war to direct a production of “Waiting for Godot”. There was no money for actors or for people to pay for tickets, but the performances came together to give people a purpose, an escape and sense of hope. As with most foreign press, Susan was in residence at the Holiday Inn where food was plentiful, despite its scarcity outside the hotel walls. Susan would load her plate each morning at the breakfast buffet and bring it to the theater for the actors. In common with the other stories we have heard this week, the resilience of the human spirit and the solidarity that forms in a community in the face of crisis is always a true inspiration for me.
Our adventures continue tomorrow with our last day of training in Sarajevo before we head to Zenica on Friday. In the meantime, you can learn more about the program here.
What better gift for yourself or a loved one this holiday season that to sponsor a woman? Use this link.
