After weeks of rent negotiations, cleaning, painting and role-playing March 9th marked the opening of our CRC-NF Center in Banja Luka. A team of two locals and one international works a morning shift and another, the afternoon shift. The local staff are the primary facilitators with the international facilitators serving in a support function for clients' cases.
Due to the economic collapse and breakdown caused by Bosnia's civil war, most clients are seeking information about job openings or other employment related issues. Unfortunately, this is a structural problem not solved by 'quick fixes.' A team is currently working to identify solutions and to facilitate the clients towards creative problem-solving steps at a micro-economic level.
One of the best solutions at this time is the formation of Solidarity Groups (SG). An SG is formed by three or more persons who join together to create their own individual small businesses or joint partnerships, apply for micro-credit loans from international/local agencies and become contractually responsible for each other's repayment of the loan. SG's promote responsibility, trust, confidence, and true sense of ownership for individuals seeking to be self-employed.
Recently, a local facilitator on Jon's team interviewed a client who owns textile machinery and had two partners who wished to form a SG. Their goal was to obtain a micro-credit loan, start a small textile manufacturing business, and eventually employ refugees living in Banja Luka. Jon and one local facilitator accompanied her to the CARE organization to observe the micro-credit loan process, make contacts with the organization and support her during the initial steps of the process.
Other cases involve refugees in Banja Luka who possess no official documents, have lost them, or have documents located in their former homes. Because of the ferocity of the war, many civilians literally fled with only the clothes on their backs. Now they have no identification papers, pension papers, school diplomas, etc. Cases like these are difficult because many of the clients are afraid to return to their homes to locate their documents or because the procedure to obtain new ones is quite tedious and bureaucratic.
One progressive step we're taken to handle cases more efficiently is the formation of weekly CRC-NF team meetings to discuss client cases, seek out 'group wisdom' for client problems, and exchange information and ideas. We hope to facilitate problem solving techniques and creative thinking among the local staff and clients. In hand this ever-fluid process is a big cultural lesson in patience and learning how things are done the 'Balkan Way'!
-Jon Agullar
The black market is easily accessible here in Banja Luka. With everything from CDs (which sell for the equivalent of $3.50) to knock-off Chanel scarves, it's easy to purchase a wide variety of goods. Recently we were shopping for canned tuna fish and looked everywhere before finally finding some sitting behind a glass case at the local market. Excited by our new discovery, we paid for three cans and rushed home to eat them. It wasn't until we arrived and studied out new purchases that we noticed on the back of the can the large red letters DONATED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN'S WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME. NOT FOR SALE. Oops!
An important goal of the CRC-NF project is to assist in the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes.* NEP Team B has been assigned the task of developing a program of discussion groups in Drfvar, a three hour drive from Banja Luka on the northwest border between BiH and Croatia, to help address returnee's issues and concerns.
To understand the complexity of such a task a little background information is needed. The Drvar municipality lies on the Federation side of the IEBL (Inter-Entity Boundary Line created by the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995) that divides Bosnia into two separate states: the Bosnian Federation, comprised mostly of Muslims and Croats, and the Republika Srpska (RS), comprised primarily of Serbs. The situation in Drvar is both complicated and sensitive. Before the war, 97 percent population of Drvar was Serb. During the war it fell to the Bosnian Croat ARmy (HVO) in 1995, causing the pre-war population to flee. Since the end of the hostilities, about 6000 displaced Croats, also forced from their homes, have settled in Drvar along with 2500 troops and their families.
Drvar has been indentified as a priority area of refugee return for several reasons, not the least of which is a large number of vacant houses within its municipality. According to SFOR (Stabilization Force; NATO forces in BiH) estimates there are approximately 600 vacant houses in the town of Drvar and a further 2000 empty houses in the surrounding villages that could be made livable with only minor repairs. Further housing would also be abailable if the HVO would withdraw from the town.
The elections held in Bosnia last fall allowed people to vote in the regions they were orginally from whether or not they were curently living there. As a result, a Serb municipal authority was elected in Drvar, although Croats are currently the ethnic majority. Since then, displaced Serbs have begun spontaneously returning to their homes in the municipality, particularly in the outlying villages; the center of town is still considered to be very insecure and highly controlled/influenced by the HDZ, the ruling Croate political party. If Serbs are able to return to Drvar, this will free up housing in the RS for displaced Muslims and Croats. If the return of Serbs is obstructed, displaced Serbs elsewhere will be discouraged from attempting to return to the other Federation municipalities. To date, prospective Serb returnees to Drvar have been obstructed by both the authorities of the RS and by the HDZ.
These Serbs (referred to as 'Black Serbs') are seen as defying the RS leadership because of their desire to leave the RS in order to return to and live in the Federation (remember, one of the goals of the conflict in Bosnia and the creation of the RS wsa to create an ethnically pure state, etc). However, the greatest obstable to Serb return is the HDZ authorities that have attempted to consolidate the ethnic predominance of Croats in all areas under HVO control (including Drvar) in the last two years. In Drvar, Serb houses have been burned and/or looted with the tacit approval of the authorities and vacant houses have been advertised for resettlement to displaced Croats from Central Bosnia as well as Croat refugees in Germany. Croation companies linked to the HDZ leadership in Zagreb have invested massively in these municipalities, offering jobs to Croats willing to relocate, and the police force in Drvar, unfortunately, is ethnically pure Croat. Further obstacles to return inclide inadequate humanitarian assistance. The problem lies not with the lack of supplies but with poor coordination between international organizations.
If the Drvar Serbs are unable to return home, this failure is likely to discourabe other DPs in the RS and it will probably be exploited by nationalist forces as proof that different ethnic groups cannot live together. The goal of NF, in Drvar, is facilitate and participate in the successful and sustainable return of Drvar Serbs to their homes as well as the successful and sustainable development of peaceful communities, through the develpment and use of local discussion groups. This would work in several ways: first, it is important to create a space in which those pople who have returned can meet with each other to identify their own needs, concerns and goals. Secondly, we would facilitate this process by first meeting with the identified leaders in each of the illages of the municipality. Through the village leaders we would help create discussion groups in which they can organize and educate themselves of their goals and options. This would enable them to approace the international community in an efficient and effective manner to begin a much-needed dialogue. We hope to run these meetings once a week, with a montly gathering of representatives from each of the villages to coordinate further efforts. The establishment of these discussion groups would also facilitate the monitoring of the status of the returnees in order to identify and attend to problems before they become emergencies.
*Refugees, by definition, are people forced to cross an international boundary (such as Croati or Serbia). Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are those forced out of their homes, but not out of Bosnia. Displaced Persons (DPs) refers to both.
Men, do you remember what you did on March 8th? Did you stand in line for flowers and chocolates early in the morning to bring them to your wife or girlfriend? Did you prepare a gorgeous meal for her and generally treat her as royalty? Ah, you do that every day...I see. Well, March 8th is still a special day -- the International Women's Day -- a holiday widely celebrated in Bosnia. The flower shops are open all night from the day before. Restaurants and cafes fill quickly and stay that way until closing time. Hoards of men roam through shops and markets looking for those special gifts. If you do not remember these enjoyable deeds, better late than never. And do not forget to mark your calendar for the next year.
Team D is focusing their efforts on a group of people who are referred to as 'floaters' (Muslim and Croat families and individuals forced out of their homes during the war but who refused to leave Banja Luka). Since their expulsion they have just 'floated', sometimes staying with friends, squatting in ware houses, or living on the streets. Most have lived like this for three years or more.
Team D, made up of two locals (Snezana and Srdan) and one international (Tammie) has been visiting the floaters at Javni Klub ('Peoples Club') twice a week; a soup kitchen/drop-in day center organized by a Muslim organization in Banja Luka. These floaters are highly demoralized and often don't make requests for help from any international agencies nor are they able to articulate their needs well.
Team D began their work first by listening to each individual story of the club members -- something most have had no opportunity to do before! It's the hope of Team D that the people will talk through their feelings and worries and soon move to a place of taking action towards getting their lives back in order and claiming what is rightfully theirs.
Team D is working together with Pax Christi, a non-profit German organization and both have agreed to work on obtaining more information about the court systems and attorneys which offer free legal services to clients such as those at the Javni Klub. Team D will accompany their clients to government offices or organizations as a form of support, giving them a sense of confidence and assisting them in organizing the official paperwork they need.
Another goal of Team D is to organize small group discussions between Javni Klub and representatives from the local authorities, police and court system to answer many questions regarding the process of how to regain possession of one's own home and what legal rights they have. It's the hope of CRC and Pax Christi to create a place where these types of questions can be asked and answered firsthand. Team D's work at the Javni Klub is in its beginning stages and as the project develops, more stories will be shared with you.
-Tammie Koeshall
Cooking your own food is a very involved process in Banja Luka. We share a dorm-sized refrigerator for 5 people and therefore are obligated to shop for food every day. Without Swanson's frozen dinners or microwavable meals, we are forced into cooking from scratch. Tammie got to experience the joys of raw chicken dissection the other day. She quickly decided to swear off meat again. It is possible to find shortcuts in cooking. One of our best friends in the kitchen is dry soup mix. While always high in MSG, it is possible to create virtually anything out of a dry soup mix, from spaghetti sauce to stew to gravy to just plain old soup. But when all else fails, we have found ourselves deciding to just order in a pizza.
Each day, throughout the open markets, down the Street of Nobles or by a side-street kiosk, one can always count on the locals with coat collars pulled up, shoulders hunched, and eyes darting around behind dark sunglasses to chant one word like a mantra -- 'deviza, deviza, deviza'. The 'deviza' people, as we call them, are illegal money changers who match the bank's exchange rates without any fee. Just ask 'koliko danss?' to find out the day's rate. The current rate is 1.5 German marks to the dollar and 6 dinars (local currency) to the mark. There are currently up to four different currencies being used throughout Bosnia: the German mark is used everywhere, the Yugoslav dinar in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian dinar in the Federation and in some Croat majority towns, the Croatian kuna is the currency of choice. This makes for interesting moments when making purchases at fuel stations or small food shops while traveling around BiH. But, this spring, the whole is BiH is supposed to change to a single currency called the 'konvertibilna marka' (convertible mark), which will be issued out by the central bank in Sarajevo.
On Wednesday, 11 March, Tammie, Boris and Sarah went to watch one of our colleagues, Jasmina, perform with a women's choir in the Culture Center of Banja Luka. Jasmina is the NF resident celebrity, known throughout Banja Luka for her wonderful voice. The hall was filled to capacity and the whole town turned out to watch their daughters perform a variety of talent, ranging from traditional folk songs to contemporary pop music and dance. The women's choir was joined at the end of the show by a local girls' choir, The Little Sparrows, who filled the hall with their wonderful, happy voices. These are the experiences that remind us of why we are here, and make everything else worthwhile. When it is possible to have this kind of joy and beauty expressed by a city that has suffered as much as the people have here, one knows that they are in the midst of something special.