This growing apathy is dangerous, particularly because it isn't generally accompanied by increased efforts to work against such reports. Many youth just give up, believing that there is nothing that they can do.
  Three organizations, however, are working to provide youth with the opportunity to speak out, to voice their own "truths," feelings and opinions. Conflict Resolution Catalysts supports the publication of "Balkanski Omladinski Most" (Balkan Youth Bridge), Schueler Helfen Leben offers "Nepitani" (Those who were not asked), and the German SFOR Information Office contributes with "Mirko."
  The contributors to these magazines are students from all over Bosnia, regardless of ethnicity. With each groups' financial support, they are able to publish their own side of the story and know that it has been distributed throughout the country to their peers in all ethnic groups.
  This opportunity teaches students that they can, in fact, do something and that their voice matters. Further, the growth in self-confidence and pride is immeasurable in dollar amounts, and the journalism experience gained ensures greater success in these students' educational and professional careers. This may not provide an end to erroneous news reports, but it does teach youth that they, as individuals, have the ability to work against them.

  "I had never seen a computer before I came to CRC," she told me. Needless to say, I was surprised. This young woman is one of the best students in my computer class, and it is difficult to believe that she had no prior knowledge of the software or equipment. I asked the other students how many of them had computers in their homes. None. How many had access to computers anywhere other than CRC? None. The students supported the first's comment, in that they, as well, had rarely seen, let alone touched a computer prior to enrolling in this class.
  This lack of experience has done nothing to dampen their desire to learn, however. Questions about the Internet, computer programming, E-mail, and CD_ROM games run abundant: How do they work, what are they, and do I know where to get access to them? I think back to my university where every building has a minimum of thirty workstations, all with fast Internet connections, free E-mail, and a multitude of programs. This is not the world they live in.
  Computers are not the norm in Bosnia. Banks do not use them, nor schools, stores, or libraries. Those things the Americans can take for granted are not available here. E-mail is available to a limited extent, primarily through the support of the Soros Foundation. Their services are unreliable, as their equipment is often overloaded. Internet access is hard to find, with the primary users being internationals living in Bosnia, such as SFOR or the United Nations.
  Because I know what can be gained from computer skills and familiarity with the wealth of information available on the Internet, my frustration with this situation is great. My students need more computers so that each student has the opportunity to learn hands- on, uninterrupted by those trying to see over his or her shoulder. They should be able to communicate over the Internet with friends and family living as refugees overseas and to share their thoughts and feelings with the rest of the world. Improving their computer skills will help them in school and in finding solid employment, something that is very difficult to come by in Bosnia today.
  As Bosnians, these students deserve such opportunities because their lives were put on hold during four years of war, wherein their concerns surrounded the daily survival of their family, not computer games and Internet. As children, these students deserve our support and respect for their desires to learn despite the obstacles which lie before them.

  I teach a conversational English class for adults. The class is designed for people who already have classroom experience with English and want to put their learning to use in a less formal arena. A while ago the class was asked to do a homework assignment. They were to bring in a favorite recipe; not the prepared food, just the recipe. They were also asked to write it in English as a practice in writing a sequence if events an American can understand. When they brought them in, I had each person read their recipe out loud, and I wrote interesting words on the board.
  When I gave the assignment, I made not-so-subtle hints that I wanted to take the recipes back home with me to try them out myself. For some reason everyone wrote out recipes for favorite desserts. It goes to show that dessert is ever the popular part if the meal.

  When they had shared all the recipes, I moved on to part two of the class. I handed out a thesaurus to each person, explained what it was, and said something about synonyms. (Synonym toast?) I listed several different "dishes" on the board, and asked groups of students to come up with "recipes" for them. These were Love, Hate, Freedom, Peace, and Friendship. As much as they looked up synonyms for the various ideas, they also recalled words on their own. I really think the class had a good time.
  The recipe exercise was successful, and I'll remember it fondly when I serve the desserts at home.

   During my first Beginners' English class, I taught the meanings of left and right, and arms, legs, and head. The purpose of this was to lead into teaching the kids the Hokey- Pokey. They loved it. Later in the week, I met up with Nina, one of my students. She had mentioned the dance to some friends, and suddenly there were eight other children wanting to learn the song and dance. Well, word spread of this hot new dance craze from the USA.
  Whenever the core of this group is at the center, I hear cries of "Hokey-Pokey!" They are now known far and wide as Kenric's Hokey-Pokey group. Well, at least at CRC.
  One of the things I learned out of this was the steps, if not the words, to a Srpski version of "If You're Happy and You Know It." I'd like to learn the words, too.

  A recent trip had me (CRC Entity Coordinator for Republika Srpska) traveling to Sarajevo with five young people from our center in the quest of the elusive passport. Most of this group had traveled before (3 of them) and two who hadn't were DP's from Jajce (now in control of the Federation).

  They were a little nervous (we drive right by Jajce) driving but kept pretty cool. As we approached their city, I recognized the anxiety many of them felt, the emotions the fears in their faces. I asked them if they wanted to stop at this overlook on the highway that brings the city in clear view. After a few seconds of thinking, they both said yes. We spent about 15 minutes looking and me listening to them as they reminisced about playing on a ridge overlooking the river. Then it happened, they asked me to drive into the town and to go by the house they used to live in. I thought for a moment and after deciding it would be safe, I agreed. We crossed the bridge into Jajce and followed the street up to a hill with several apartment buildings. Just in front of the apartment buildings was a school (it was pointed out to me, as all I saw was a bombed out building). They told me that was their school, the last place they studied here, where they'd play basketball after school. We arrived in Sarajevo in early afternoon. The first sights were of destroyed homes and buildings. The group began making comments amongst themselves, it seemed clear they didn't like what they saw. We proceeded to try and get passports, not a particularly fun process (we only partially succeeded and sadly they had to put up with some negative comments about being Serb from some Bosnians at the passport office). Later, we visited our colleagues at our center in Ilidza where we would be staying the night. The rest of the day was finished hanging out, where they had the chance to meet some of the locals that hang out there. Later, we went to dinner (where one university student who works with us bumped into a girl he went to school with in high school who later left Banja Luka during the war for Sarajevo; the meeting was positive and they talked for a while and exchanged phone numbers) and walked around with the goal to meet the Sarajevo Coordinator at some place called King Kong. We finally found the place and proceeded in where a band called Ricochet was playing (I had met them previously). They played a very participatory kind of music that brings people together. It was great seeing my group completely interacting with locals here and playing music. There was no concern for nationality; only for having a good time.

  I was meeting with a small group of demobilized soldiers, young people who served when they were still teenagers. They said they had some questions for me and they wanted to have an open discussion. Loving an opportunity to debate, discuss, and exchange ideas, I replied, "Great." The couple of beers we'd had ensured this would be a lively exchange. I'd had this conversation on many occasions and it's usually a signal that someone is trusting of the relationship they have with you if they're ready to bring up a discussion such as this. Usually the US government is the bad person and responsible for most of the sins in the world. The treatment of black people is usually brought up (they did, "Don't 70% of Americans hate black people?") and the Vietnam war (Didn't American soldiers do bad things there, like kill civilians? Why wasn't there any war crimes tribunal for that?) It's always a lively exchange. They reminded me this was a friendly discussion and not to become angry and I asked the same from them. We talked about war for a little, occasionally using cigarettes and a lighter for props for my explanation to them. One example was explaining the Geneva Convention concerning war. I told them war is bad and that we all could probably agree on that. They did, but that, unfortunately, it does happen. The convention recognizes that but drew up some standards for war (as strange as that sounds) and all countries signed a document recognizing that. I explained using the cigarette lighter that there's a line of what's "OK" in combat. Just fighting in a war doesn't make you a war criminal. It involves behavior that crosses that line that does. They told me to be a killer (like Karadzic has been accused) you must kill someone. So they wanted to know how he could be held accountable. We discussed that for awhile, I brought up Hitler. Did they feel he was a war criminal or he was unjustly accused of crimes. We discussed how people can be responsible for crimes (murder, genocide) even if they didn't pull the trigger. It turned out to be a long good discussion, we ended when a beautiful girl walked by and the topic of conversation changed instantly.