NEWSLETTER
Work Group Netherlands-Srebrenica
October 2002 No 17
Dear people
-"It is not safe".
-"And what if I get sick? Do I have to go to a Serbian doctor then? What kind of injection is he going to give me? "
-"And our children? Are we supposed to send them to a Serbian school, where they will learn that Mladic and Karadzic are heroes?"
These are just a few examples of problems faced by Bosniaks, who are considering return to Srebrenica. These are also the areas of work we are involved in. In this newsletter we will inform you about them in more detail.
SAFETY
We as the "Work Group Netherlands-Srebrenica" cannot safeguard safety in Srebrenica. The Netherlands did attempt to do this once before under the flag of the United Nations. We all know the tragic results of 1995. The core of our project "Foreign Civilian Presence" is just what it says: through our presence in Srebrenica we hope to contribute to a lessening of tension. With less tension, it becomes a safer place in which returnees will feel more secure.
Sabko is living in an apartment. He says: "It definitely helped me in the beginning, when I got to know you. When I was threatened I rang Bob, the coordinator. He got in touch with the police. The police reacted in a positive way and handled the situation well. Your volunteers visited me at home and they said hello to our Serbian neighbours. Now these neighbours say hello to me as well."
HEALTH
We have written in the past about our plans to find solutions in the medical sector. Dom Zdravlja, the former hospital, which now functions as an outpatients clinic, is in a dreadful condition. Bosniaks do not use it. They are not yet confident they want to be treated by a Serbian doctor. We have been negotiating with the director of the clinic. The result is that two doctors from Tuzla are now holding surgery in the clinic every fortnight. They work in collaboration with the Serbian staff of the clinic. Serbian patients without insurance or money are also welcomed. In the non-surgery week our medical volunteers visit people at home to check up on medication or just generally. This ensures continuity of care. The doctors held surgery for the first time on 7 September. Seventeen Bosniaks came. This was an unexpectedly high number (there are now one hundred Bosniak returnees).
For our medical project we need 8,900 Euro, as well as echography equipment and a glucose meter. And we are desperately looking for volunteers who have a medical or nursing background. You can contact us for an application form.
SCHOOL
Twelve returnee Bosniak children have been attending the now Serbian primary and secondary schools since 1 September 2002. Our contacts with the head of the school and the head of sports are reasonably good. Jan de Geus, a volunteer, coached table tennis groups and soccer teams, and had brand new gear at his disposal, donated by an active group in Vlaardingen (NL).
Students usually get or buy their books from a sister, cousin or neighbour who no longer uses them. But if you are a returnee you are not yet part of this kind of network. And who could possible spend some seventy-five KM (convertible marks) on schoolbooks, from an income that is no higher than one to three hundred KM? Some people approached us for book money. People approach us for all sorts of goods. Of course this is what happens when people are poor. But we refuse to be cast into the role of the rich Westerner who distributes money at random. We do not hand out individual gifts, not even small ones. But we did decide to respond to the book money question, albeit not just for one individual family. We asked the "Forum of citizens of Srebrenica" for a list of all the families who needed support. At the same time the local representative of the OSCE approached the international organisations in Srebrenica with an appeal for financial support so that they could supply books. We immediately responded to that in a positive way. We were able to do this because we have a special "piggy-bank" for small, unplanned expenses. We forwarded the appeal for financial support to other organizations. The Dutch "Fred Foundation" responded favourably. They paid for the schoolbooks of twenty-two Bosniak children in Srebrenica, Suceska and Potocari, and of twelve Serbian children who were equally unable to afford books.
This is just one example of how we try to respond to signals from the returnee community without causing resentment or ill feeling elsewhere.
We are concerned about the situation around the Bosniak children who are now attending the Serbian school. The school boards of the primary and secondary schools kept postponing a decision to appoint a Bosniak teacher. The OSCE did not pressure them enough we felt. But mid September the first Bosniak teacher was finally appointed. It seems fitting for the role we are trying to play in Srebrenica that we are keen to influence this process by extending our contacts with the school. One of our volunteers will offer creative activities at the school, and some volunteers will offer occasional English conversation classes as a complement to the English curriculum.
OSMACE and BERSANI
We have been regular visitors to the hamlet of Osmace. We have delivered tools there and volunteers are helping to rebuild houses.
Following is an impression by Hans Huikershoven, a member of the Work Group Netherlands-Srebrenica, who went to Osmace to repair a leaking roof, just before returning to the Netherlands.
When I arrive with a big sheet of plastic, some nails and other tools, Hussein’s eyes twinkle. He is 64, and lives in a concrete space of three by three metres. The floorboards are loose planks. When it rains, the water gets inside. He prepares some coffee on the old stove leaning against the wall outside. Adil, the son of one of his brothers who was killed, is visiting. Together with him we are making a plan. We will make a porch using beams and planks and cover it with plastic. We look for suitable material amidst the ruins of other houses but cannot find anything. The wood is no longer straight after lying around for eight years or it has started to rot. Every time Hussein glimpses something useful he calls me "Hasan", and together we carefully extract something from beneath the rubble, risking upsetting the remnants of concrete beams. There could also be explosives still lying around. Adil and I work all day hammering and carting things around. In the meantime Hussein cuts grass for his cow, makes coffee, bakes bread, prepares a meal on the old stove, cleans the house, and fetches water from the spring some 500 meters below… We "fix" the oven of the old stove with a metal sheet. By the end of the day the porch is half-finished. We can no longer continue as all the material has been used up, and it is getting cold. Adil moves the car close to the house and connects a lamp to the battery. Light! Hussein has collected a bucket of pears near the neglected fruit trees, which used to be laden with fruit in the olden days.
From one of the hills where Osmace is situated, an old man points to the Serbian village of Bersani. "Look, they were shooting at us from there. Without Serbia, we would have won".
People in Bersani also asked us for tools. They knew we had distributed some in Osmace. We thoroughly discussed their request with them, but in the end responded in the negative, for they had other support on which to draw.
The story of Osmace and Bersani is a story of confrontation and reconciliation, characteristic for the relationship between the two villages right through the previous century. There were friendly times and there were times of irrationality. One of our volunteers, Edwin Bakker has researched the story of the hamlets. That too is a way of making contact. We continue to have contact with both villages.
MUSEUM
In pre-war times the local museum was housed in the cultural centre "Dom Kulture". The museum was robbed of most of its treasures during and after the war. Items stolen from the museum were offered for sale to former DUTCHBAT soldiers. Whatever is left has been gathered in a big heap. There are sarcophagi and leftovers of Roman water ducts together with general rubble. A local artist has initiated a project of cleaning up and renovating the museum. Those treasures that are still in good condition will be exhibited again. There will be a studio for local children to work in and their art will also be exhibited. Volunteers are working hard on this project and your financial support is also going towards it.
MISCELLEANOUS…
- The park is ready: pavement, stairs and terraces have been repaired; there are new benches (locally made!) and rubbish bins; concrete walls have been painted in fresh colours. The park is already in full use. In October volunteers will install a playground. All we need now are flowers for the borders and tubs and containers. We are looking for more bulbs and roses. Any suggestions?
| In our previous newsletter we were asking for sponsors in the Dutch hotel and restaurant industry and for financial support for Abdulah’s restaurant. Abdulah and his wife are key people in the Bosniak returnee community and they maintain good relationships with Serbian people. We now have the necessary funds. Volunteers have been working very hard at the renovation of the restaurant. It is finished now and looks just wonderful! |
| About 134 computers were delivered the other day to the address of the Work Group Netherlands-Srebrenica. Enough for a huge hall. We appreciate the good intentions of our donor, although we actually only need 16 good computers to automate Srebrenica’s town hall. We picked out the 16 best computers. Volunteers are fitting them out, and in October they will be taken to the town hall to be installed. We want to particularly thank Daan, the son of volunteer Bas Schippers, who faithfully joines his father whenever help is required with computers in Srebrenica. |
| We can be short about the Music Bus here, for we enclose a leaflet solely dedicated to the Music Bus. The organizations "Wilde Ganzen" (Wild Geese) and ICCO (a development organization) multiply every of your donations. Great! We are hoping for an amount of 10,000 Euro in donations. We very much look forward to your contributions and in particular to contributions from churches, choirs and musicians who are willing to perform in different places in the country to raise funds. Are there any volunteers out there who want to organize such concerts in their individual hometowns? |
It is not only the physical environment which needs rebuilding after a war. A lot needs to be done to restore mental and psychological wellbeing. Music is a great help in this. The music bus will allow us to work with music, not only in Srebrenica, but also in the villages surrounding it, and in the refugee camps in Tuzla.
11 JULY COMMEMORATION
On 11 July the fall of Srebrenica was commemorated for the 7th time, in Potocari, as well as in The Hague. Ineke Meintjens, who was in Potocari, writes the following report:
Yet again I am standing here, in the stubble field, in sweltering weather, near the white block of marble, next to which the first headstone has been placed today. I am standing next to Aida, a survivor, under an umbrella protecting us from the scorching sun. And again I am looking at hundreds of backs of women bent in prayer, and once more I am touched, when I reflect on all the personal stories of which I have heard so many now.
Only this morning Aida had been telling me about her father who fled through the woods. They had been anxiously awaiting his return in Tuzla, where Aida and her mother and sister were staying in a refugee camp, in chaotic circumstances, together with hundreds of crying women and children. Each time she saw a dishevelled man arrive from the woods, she thought it was her father. And each time she felt the disappointment when it was not him. When he did finally arrive after five days, she dared not to be happy, for she knew how horrible that was for all those whose father he was not.
The next day Dragana, assistant to the Work Group, and Serbian, tells me how she had seen Munira the previous day, who was on her way to the commemoration. Munira is a Bosniak woman who returned to Srebrenica in Februarys [2002]. It was the first time Munira attended the service, after all these years. Dragana gave her a ride in the car, and later on took her home again. That’s when Munira told her about seven years ago. Dragana started to cry when she told me the story, for all the pain her people have caused this dear woman. She cannot grasp it.
Earlier in the week I had been touched by small hopeful signs. While I am chatting to someone on the street, Marianne, a volunteer, is walking past, a bunch of happy kids in tow, all singing merrily in this traumatized and wrecked little town. And Jan, red from the sun, is playing soccer in the heat on the school playground, full of enthusiasm, together with a bunch of boys in brand new soccer shirts.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
| On 9 November the Work Group Netherlands-Srebrenica received the Marga Klompe Prize. We look upon this prize as an acknowledgment of the efforts of a large group of people who, as volunteer in Srebrenica, or as an invisible helping hand in the Netherlands, contributed to the work of the workgroup. |
| The [Dutch] book "Srebrenica, het verhaal van de overlevenden", ISBN 90 5515 224 2, is available at the Work Group and in the bookshop. |
| There have been two lectures in Amersfoort, organized by the Work Group: |
On 30 October Edwin Bakker, lecturer in development studies at the University of Nijmegen, spoke about his impressions as a volunteer in Srebrenica and about the NIOD report. [Netherlands Institute for War Documentation]. He spoke about people and places he came across in both the report and in real life.
On 20 November Erna Rijsdijk, a member of the executive committee of the Work Group, spoke on the topic of her doctorate: developments in the public opinion on Srebrenica, both in politics and media.
- Your donations towards the music bus must be deposited to POSTBANK account number 40000 of Wilde Ganzen, in Hilversum, and mention : Music Bus, Srebrenica.
Other donations can be deposited into the account of the Work Group Netherlands-Srebrenica. (see below for details).