Delighting in the Small Stuff

So, after our meetings at the US Embassy yesterday, we gathered for lunch and found out that our two afternoon meetings had been cancelled. However, rather than being disappointed, we saw this free afternoon as an opportunity to go to the fruit market, shop around Old Town and chill at a cafe. After enjoying a bit of the afternoon with the group, I decided to peruse the shops of Old Town Sarajevo, walking over the worn cobblestones, under the afternoon sun. I turned one corner and headed down a small side pathway. The small alley was flanked by tables filled with silver and copper goods, along with bright colored scarves and skirts. An older man caught my attention while I scanned over the coffee sets lined up outside his shop. He was standing watching the tourists stroll by when I walked up. He said something in to me in Bosnian and opened his arms to welcome me into his shop from the doorstep.

I took him up on his offer and walked into his shop - a small room, with shelves lining the walls, holding rows and rows of silver and copper coffee sets. He pulled two different sets from a shelf and began talking and motioning to them, holding up the small silver cups. I frowned and slowly asked, "I'm sorry, do you speak English?"

"A little," he replied, and then continued with his presentation in English, with a German word thrown in every two words or so.This prompted me to ask, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" Thinking that might be an easier language of communication for him.

"Ein bisschen," he replied again and then proceeded the rest of his presentation in German. He pointed out the pure copper sets along with the silver plated copper sets. He distinguished the polished sets from the unpolished and told me that everything was not only made in Bosnia, but in Sarajevo - in that very shop. I just stood there smiling. When he had finished speaking, I asked for a few prices and then asked about the hours of his shop. He signaled with a motion as if turning a key in a door and said, "sieben Uhr" (7 o' clock). I have a feeling I will be back there...

After walking back down the steps into the small alley-like road, I decided to head to a little organic cafe called Vegehana. I had been there the night before, eyeing up the "chocolate, strawberry smoothie" on the menu, but was too full and broke after dinner to taste it. And yesterday's free afternoon, after a stroll through the streets in the hot sun, seemed the perfect time for some alone time, sitting in this little cafe with its green and orange wooden furniture, while sipping on a smoothie and writing in my journal.

However, when I walked in and asked about my long-awaited smoothie, the woman behind the counter said that they were all out of it.... I tried to hide my disappointment and asked when she thought they'd have it again...she wasn't sure. Then the younger girl behind the counter piped up, "If you really want it, we can have it for you in 15 minutes..." she said. I think she recognized me from the night before, when I had inquired about the smoothie the first time. "Really?" I asked. "Yes, we have the strawberries and chocolate, we just need to go get the soy milk..." I tried to convince the two women that it was truly no problem, that I could simply order something else off the menu. But, by this time, the other woman was also eager to make me the smoothie. "No, no..." she told me, "I have to go out anyway." And before I could protest, she grabbed her purse with a smile and headed out the door.

I was happy to wait. And so, I sat down at a table near the window, pulled out my journal and began to write to the sound of Imogen Heap and Fiona Apple in the background. And in about 5 minutes, there was a freshly made smoothie in front of me. And yet, despite the extraordinary service, the young girl still said, "I'm sorry about the wait," as she set it in front of me... The Bosnian hospitality is amazing - at least what I've experienced so far has been. And not only the hospitality in general, but the generosity astounds me.

For instance, after feeling refreshed from the opportunity to relax and write, not to mention finally taste the delicious chocolate and strawberry soy smoothie - which proved to be just what I needed, I packed up and headed back into the streets to search for some postcards. Most shops had a poor selection that seeemed overpriced. But, I thought perhaps if I searched hard enough, I could find another gem like the coffee set shop that I had stumbled across. And sure enough, once I had almost circled through the whole town, a flashy postcard caught my eye. I walked up to its rack and noticed a couple more beautifully designed postcards. Then a little boy, about three years old, walked out of the shop and smiled and me, before looking away, and running back up the shop stairs. A minute later, a middle-aged man walked out.

"He's a cute boy, no?" he asked with a smile, pointing to the toddler.

"Yea," I answered, smiling at the boy, who then quickly hid his face from me.

"He says, you are a pretty girl" the man followed up. But, it wasn't in a creepy sense, he just said it matter-of-factly, and explained the phrase the boy had used in Bosnia. He then noticed the postcards I was looking at. He explained that they were part of an art contest - which is why they were more expensive. He described which had won which award and also explained why some represented Bosnia better than others. I thanked him and said I would have a look to decide which ones I preferred.

He then went on to help other customers, along with a woman who came out - who I assumed was his wife. I eventually chose five postcards that I thought were worth the extra money since they were at least aesthetically more pleasing than most. I motioned to him which ones I wanted and handed him 10 KM. It was exact change, but yet, even after handing me a bag with my postcards, he asked me to wait - and then called to the woman in the store. He returned with a small wooden, painted, traditional-looking pen. He held it out to me, "for you - for free - to write your postcards with..."

All in all, it was one of my favorite days here in Bosnia. I am just always amazed by how people who have so little can give so much. Not just in material things, but in small gestures and random acts of kindness...Even though the stories regarding the politics of Bosnia have proven frustrating and discouraging at times, my experiences with people on the ground have had the opposite effect. Regardless In the streets of Sarajevo, Sanksi Most or Mostar, I have found exceptinal beauty and kindess within the Bosnian people - Bosniak, Serb, and Croat alike. And that gives me great hope, amidst all the current challenges, for the future of this gorgeous country.

Finding Opportunity in Everything: Delight with Diplomats

We met with Peter Van Ruysseveldt, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and Resident Coordinator, on Tuesday. "If you just look at things and say, 'it's not going to work,' then I might as well pack my suitcase and go home," He followed by saying that you essentially have to look for opportunities in everything. He was talking about trying to find innovative and creative solutions to all of the challenges facing BiH despite its fractured and rather dysfunctional government. Many organizations that we have met with named the dis-harmonization of the government as a hindrance to their work, however, Mr. Van Ruysseveldt didn't feel hindered by the government, because, as he explained he didn't feel obligated to work with them, there were many other people, or "agents of change" in Bosnian society to turn to instead. If the ministries and other political bodies weren't part of that, then so be it. He wasn't going to force them to cooperate, he would find opportunities for change in other areas.

Our group truly appreciated this sentiment. It was a bit refreshing to know work could be done and solutions could be found, even in the absence of a functioning government. We also related this sentiment to our own lives and experiences...and decided that for the rest of the trip, we could either see things in a negative, dismal light or we could find the opportunity, and the optimism in everything. The silver lining, if you will...not to say there will not be moments of disappointment, disbelief or even depression at times due to our experiences here, but we are determined not to let those moments discourage us from being "agents of change" - at least I'm not. This went well with a discussion that my roommate, Michelle, and I had the night before about appreciating the small things in life. We both find joy in a good cup of coffee, a sunny day, and friendly smiles at the market. And so, I'd like to share some of the small delights I had yesterday with you. The first of which, was actually a huge delight: our meeting at the US Embassy.

We started off the day with a visit to the US Embassy to meet with both USAID and the US Mission to BiH. Now to be honest, I have heard a lot of criticisms of USAID and of course the US's involvement in other countries. But, meeting with them first hand, really gave me a positive perception - they really are doing good work in BiH! It seemed like everyone in our group was impressed after that meeting-including our Bosnian participants. And people who previously never thought of working for the government were suddenly saying how they had gained a new respect for them and would maybe even consider checking out jobs in the state department or with USAID. So, they won over our hearts and minds at least.

I especially enjoyed our meeting with USAID. They showed us a short film, which included interviews with actual participants of their programs - which was a stark difference from some our previous meetings of powerpoints, numbers and statistics. Others have claimed that they do awesome work, but I was always left wanting to hear from actual participants in their programs. USAID was the first organization that had concrete examples instead of vague statements to explain their programs. In fact, one of their programs especially impressed me - it was a landscaping project, which looked like a community garden, being used in Srebrenica to promote reconciliation. And it was implemented through the Srebrenica Dialogue Center. The representatives of USAID explained how there has been a shift in their work in recent years and that they are now focusing on partnering with local NGOs to implement projects, so that they can be sure they are projects that truly benefit the community and also projects that the communities take ownership of. Using community gardens as a means of peacebuilding and reconciliation is something that I have been fascinated by since hearing about the P-Patch Gardens in Seattle, Washington. But when I tried to pose a question regarding agricultural as a means towards peace in a previous meeting, I was told that agriculture is not an important area to invest in, since people are constantly moving into urban areas...I was therefore even more delighted when I saw that project in the film.

In addition, we met with the US Embassy's Cultural Affairs Officer - who was from Wisconsin! He told us about programs that he runs, which uses culture - such as the arts, sports and such, to bring people together here in BiH. And in fact, when he found out that I will be spending 9 months in Sanksi Most, he told us about how he organized a country-wide spelling bee (in English), and the winner was a 9 year old from Sanksi Most! So, there were jokes of CIM (the Center for Peacebuilding) hosting spelling bees with the US Embassy in the future - but who knows, it could happen! We also met with the Deputy Chief of Mission, Jonathan Moore, who talked to us about everything from having a relationship and social life while in the field of Foreign Service to his experience as a desk officer for the Yugoslavia Office in DC during the war. It was truly quite a morning!

Ok, now off to our next meeting! I hope to share some of my small delights from yesterday with you soon!

"I can starve, I don't care - as long as there is peace"

Sanski Most, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH): Krajina Tear.

I can hear the evening call to prayer being sung from the minarets of the Sanksi Most mosque. And yes, minarets as Sanski Most actually has four...but we’ll save that story for later…

Most everyone else in the group has gone downstairs for a session on transitional justice. But, my mind is still reeling from today’s experience at Krajina Tear, so I have decided to stay and write.

Krajina Tear is an organization that was started by widows of the war. In a nutshell, “Kraijna Tear aims to improve the living conditions of women, children, and elderly regardless of their national, racial, or political identity. We have been actively promoting women’s and children’s rights and providing direct services for over 10 years.”

Part of the GYC Delegation includes three days of volunteer service or field projects. For my field project, I chose to work with Krajina Tear. In the descriptions of the projects, GYC explained that Krajina Tear “needs volunteers who can assist with some of the direct service delivery, especially work with the elderly population and women’s groups. Since last year, they have lost some international funding support and had to close down some of their programs, including the only center in the region that was assisting children with special needs and providing support for their parents. Thus, they need a lot of help with research on potential new grants, especially possibly for new EU sources. Finally, they would benefit from some needs assessment projects in terms of their other initiatives, especially focused on the elderly assistance.”

Although the organizations of our field projects are supposed to benefit from our time with them, today, I felt the biggest contribution we gave to Krajina Tear was a listening ear. And I know that I finished the day feeling that I probably gained more from our meetings with the women than they did from us. But, Miki and Elma (a fellow delegation member, but who is also Bosnian) assured us that simply our presence and our listening is a huge contribution to these women.

We started out the morning with a meeting with one of the founder’s of the organization who explained what the center does. She also explained what the center used to do, and what services they can no longer provide due to a lack of funding. She described the great need for assistance to the elderly in the community, but how the organization is stretched so thin, they cannot even think of where to save any more money. Krajina Tear started out with 100 volunteers to serve 400 “beneficiaries” (elderly people in the community). However, due to a lack of funding, they now only serve 170 beneficiaries with the help of 35 volunteers and 7 staff members (only 2 of whom are paid by the government). Last year, the staff members forwent their salaries for four months in order to be able to continue providing their services to their beneficiaries…There are so many stories that Almira shared with us about the difficulties that the organization faces. I wish I could share more with you...it seems that around every corner they turn, there is another brick wall that they have to figure out how to either break through or climb over. However, they continue to break through those walls and serve the people in their community.

Our group leader, Miki, who was our translator for that portion of our day, explained how every year he comes the organization has gotten more funding cut, it is smaller, but continues to go on. Despite their meager wages, Almira and her staff continue to go on…despite their own need to strive to survive, they continue to place value on helping the elderly in the community. Miki expressed his amazement of this to Almira, who explained, that all she needs in life is happiness. She gets her happiness from working with people, talking to them and helping them the little bit that she can. She explained out after living through the war, everything seems easy. “As long as there is peace, I am fine,” she explained. “ I can starve, I don’t care, as long as there is peace...”

The steadfast resilience of these women amazes and inspires me. We also met with a remarkable poet as well as another women who works at the center. The poet read us four poems, while the other woman shared her story with us for about two hours. I hope to share a bit about what I learned from meeting with them as well, because it truly was, albeit heavy, deep and difficult at times, a very powerful and above all, inspiring day.

Global Youth Connect (GYC) Human Rights Delegation to Bosnia

Better late than never...right? Well, after many requests over the years of traveling, studying and working abroad, I have decided to finally join the blogging world. I wanted to begin by blogging about my trip to Tbilisi that took place at the end of May. But, that week was a whirlwind of meetings and activities, which left little time for sleeping and eating, much less time for blogging. So, I am instead going to begin this blog by sharing experiences from Bosnia.

So, first and foremost, I have safely arrived in Bosnia! For those of you who aren't aware, or don't remember, I will be here until July 13th as part of a Human Rights Youth Delegation through an organization called Global Youth Connect (GYC). We are a delegation of about 15 members ranging from 18 - 27 years of age. We will spend these three weeks traveling around Bosnia not just to learn about the events of the Bosnian War, but more so to hear about people's past and current experiences, and to learn about what steps are being taken towards the long and continuously strenuous path towards peace and reconciliation. We started out in Sarajevo, are currently in Sanksi Most (where I will return to for my Boren Fellowship from September - May), on Thursday we will head to Banja Luka, then to Srbrenica, and we will end our journey full circle, just where we started - in Sarajevo.

I did not bring my own laptop with me, but I will keep you updated as I get the chance to have both internet access and a computer. I have already been here almost a week and so much has happened...I will share what experiences I can through this blog and try to give them the justice they deserve...

Please feel free to post any comments or questions; I look forward to hearing from you!