Slijedi privatna facebook objava jednog od naših volontera.
Here are some personal social media posts from one of our volunteers.
31.08.2018
English below.
Natrag kući, u UK, ja živim i radim kao podrška pretežno tinejdžerima koji nisu imali najbolji početak života. Tokom zadnjih nekoliko godina, broj maololjetnika bez pratnje odraslih (djeca izbjeglice, bez roditelja) koji traže azil i trebaju našu pomoć, dramatično se povećao. Nedavno, imali smo maloljetnika koji je doveden da živi s nama, i ne govori engleski. Nakon mnogo neuspjelih pokušaja da bolje komuniciramo, kako bismo mu što bolje pomogli i odgovorili njegovim potrebama, pitao sam neke ljude koje sam upoznao u Bosni da mi pomognu. Grupa mladića izbjeglica koje smo prvi put sreli na podjeli hrane u Sarajevu, i kasnije u Velikoj Kladuši, koje sam pitao da li znaju nekog ko govori Sorani kurdski i da li mi mogu pomoći, i pored svojih vlastitih briga i nevolja, i pored toga što to nije njihov maternji jezik, bez ikakvog oklijevanja su mi pomogli i rekli da znaju osobe koje govore taj jezik. Toliko ljubavi za srčane ljude koji, bez obzira na vlastiti stres, ipak misle i na druge i žele im pomoći.
Back home in the UK, I’m a residential support worker, living and working primarily with teenagers who haven’t had the best starts to life. Over the past couple of years the number of unaccompanied minors (refugee children without parents) who are seeking asylum using our service has dramatically increased. Very recently, we’ve had another unaccompanied minor brought to live with us, who speaks no English whatsoever. After many failed attempts to find adequate translations and in a very desperate attempt to communicate more efficiently in order to try and adequately meet the needs of this young person, I asked some people I first met in Bosnia for help! A group of young refugee lads who we first met at the food distro in Sarajevo, and later on in Velika Kladusa. I asked them if they knew anyone who spoke Sorani Kurdish and if they could help me. Despite having their own worries and troubles, and this not being their language, without any hesitation they told me they would help me as they knew people who spoke that language. So much love for kind hearted humans who despite having their own stresses, they still think about helping others
19.05.2018
English below.
Pozdrav svima,
evo zadnjih informacija (koliko je to moguće, jer se situacija ovdje mijenja nekad iz sata u sat, pogotovo iz dana u dan! Upravo zato se nisam javljao, jer sam htio biti tačan, ali, eto, i to je dio ovakvih situacija, samo mali dio volonterskog pogleda…)
Dakle, stigao sam u Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina prije 10 dana sa malom, ali sjajnom grupom ljudi (samo nas četvoro iz Mostova preko granica – BAB) i ovih posljednjih 10 dana je bio vrtlog događaja, situacija i osjećaja
Stigli smo ne znajući šta da očekujemo, ali ipak očekujući više strukture i sistema podrške nego što toga zapravo ovdje ima.
Otkrili smo da izbjgelice skoro nemaju ili uopšte nemaju podršku, nije prisutna ni jedna veća/značajnija NVO i na terenu je svega nekoliko međunarodnih volontera. Iscrpljeni su, brzo sagorijevaju, tako da smo shvatili u ovako kratkom vremenu koliko smo tu da trebamo pomoći volonterima koji su ovdje duže od nas, i dati im priliku da se odmore, ako to budu željeli, jer i dalje svakim danom pristiže sve više ljudi (često tokom noći).
Takođe su tu Bosanci i Hercegovci, koji su prosto briljantni, vrlo velikodušni i dobrog srca, i čine šta mogu da pomognu, i pored toga što žive u siromaštvu, sa vrlo korumpiranim i čudnim političkim sistemom i strukturom.
Bosanci su primali ljude, posebno porodice. Čuo sam za jednu porodicu koja je primila preko 80 izbjeglica preko zime, da ne spavaju na ulici ili u prakovima na -20. Nezamislivo!
Vidimo i srećemo cijeli niz ljudi: Afganistance, Iračane, Itance, Pakistance, Kurde, Palestince, Libijce, ri Lankance, Sirijce. Porodice, trudne žene, mnogo djece, beba, muškaraca svih starosnih grupa. Neki do njih, sad “odrasli” muškarci, su raseljeni i putuju otkako sus bili maloljetni, provodeći par godina na Lesvosu i ovdje su došli preko Albanije, Crne Gore i Kosova ili Srbije
Mnogi od ljudi koje srećemo, žena i djece su vraćeni iz Hrvatske (neki po više puta), često uz upotrbu sile. Čujem za dosta nasilja do strane hrvatske policije, u jednom slučaju prebijanje trudne žene tako jako da je izgubila bebu (mrtvorođenu), a volonteri koji su direktno radili sa ovom porodicom kažu da su onda cijelu porodicu, uključujući djecu, ostavili u minskom polju.
Drugi ljudi s kojima sam pričao: samohrane majke sa malom djecom su mi rekle da su hodale sa djecom po 4 dana bez hrane, nekad duž pruge, da bi stigle u Bosnu. Govore mi o svom putu i kako su zahvalne da je policija Bosne korektna, i da ima ljudi dobrog srca, koji volontiraju da im pomognu da se osjećaju kao ljudi, a ne da ih tretiraju kao životinje! Da srce pukne! Još više zato što razmišljam: šta mi stvarno možemo uraditi da pomognemo? Nemamo šatore za njih, deke (u to vrijeme, na početku). Ja imam osmijeh i zagrljaj, i mogu se igrati sa djecom na sat ili dva, da im barem dam mogućnost da predahnu, bez brige da li će im dijete biti oteto ili povrijeđeno.
U potpunosti sam zapanjen jačinom žena koje srećem. Ne znam čak ni djeliče njihovih priča, ali im u očima vidim snagu. Žene mojih godina ili mlađe, sa po više djece, godina kao i djeca mojih prijatelja, i samo mislim: wow, ne znam kako bismo mi i da li bismo uošte se snašli u takvoj situaciji. Ova djeca su tako snažna, nekako uspijevaju uprkos svemu zadržati zaigranost i naivnost i biti djeca, što je divno vidjeti! a za majke, vidjeti svoju djecu sretnu čini njih sretnim, što je barem nešto!
Sami muškarci, kao i uvijek, su na dnu liste i, kao što sam rekao, iako su mnogi od nih sad odrasli, na putu su otkako su i sami bili djeca. I zadnji su u dobijanju podrške, kakve god: pokrivačaili bilo čega.
Čujem brojke da je oko 1000 izbjeglica samo u Sarajevu, ali ne mogu ni potvrditi ni pobiti. Ali, nije ni daleko, možda čak i mala procjena, ako još porodica i ljudi nastavi pristizati.
Dok smo mi bili ovdje, umrežili smo se sa volonterima, lokalnim i međunarodnim, i naš sjajni koordinator zapravo pokušava medijaciju i pružiti podršku strukturama da ih navede da rade zajedno, jer se pokazalo da je to teško i da su se poslovni odnosi narušili i prekinuli. Ipak, ima napretka.
Ja pretežno radim sa djecom u izbjegičkom smještaju za porodice. Vodim računa da svakodnevno održavamo stabilnost i strukturu, a radim i na umrežavanju sa drugim grupama da se ove aktivnosti održe i duga nakon što mi odemo. Naveče i noću, pomažemo sa podjelom hrane na drugoj lokaciji u gradu za 250-300 i više (nešto porodica, ali najviše samih muškaraca i nešto lokalnih Roma).
Zadnjih nekoliko noći, grupa divnih mladića iz Pakistana, otprilike istih godina kao i oni s kojima radim kući, uče me urdu. Divni su učitelji i ne smiju se mnogo mom naglasku.
Idemo i u lokalni park gdje je u šatorima smješteno preko 200 ljudi, da se igramo s djecom.
Ipak, juče je park gdje smo se išli igrati s djecom i provjeravati šta se dešava sa izbjeglicama, ispražnjen. Već se par dana govorilo o tome, jer Erdogan dolazi da održi politički skup sutra. Dakle, juče, prvog petka u mjesecu Ramazanu, park je očišćen. Sve porodice i sami muškarci su okupljeni oko 4:30 i uvedeni u autobuse da ih prevezu u kamp u Hercegovini. Nama je rečeno da će se to desiti oko 8 sati, i mi smo zakasnili, jer su oni već otišli. Ubrzo zatim, dobili smo vijesti da autobusima nije dozvoljeno da nastave prema Mostaru, jer je policija tog kantona blokirala cestu i šalje ih natrag (gdje natrag, niko nije znao). Nakon nekoliko napetih sati bez vijesti, bez novosti, bez informacija, nekih 6 sati, dobili smo vijesti da su svi ljudi iz autobusa prihvaćeni u Hercegovini i smješteni u kamp blizu Mostara. I, navodno, neki kažu (ne meni, drugima), da je ovo najljepši kamp na koji su naišli duž njihove rute. A bosanska policija je i dalje pristojna i dobra. Woow!
Otprilike 250-280 ljudi je odvedeno do kampa u 4 autobuse i, ako je prva procjena tačna, još oko 700 ljudi luta ulicama Sarajeva, samo što sad ne smiju da podižu šatore za spavanje. zapravo im to nije nikad ni bilo dozvoljeno, ali ipak jesu. Sad, sa dolaskom Erdogana, vlada je zauzela stav da nema više šatora! Noći ovdje su hladne, nekad kišne, nije Sarajevo osunčano svaki dan. Zaista se srce slama. Prošle noći, na mjestu podjele, bilo je tako tiho (ipak, tu je bilo 150 i više ljudi) i ja sam se pitao šta se dešava. Dok nas nekoliko momaka nije vidjelo, došli do nas i rekli “hej, ipak ste tu, molim sačekajte, idem po prijatelje, svi se sakrivaju”. Vidjećemo kako je kasnije. Takođe sinoć, mladić mi je plakao na ramenu. Kad sma ga pitao zašto plače, rekao je da je to zato što je sretan da je upoznao nekoga sa tako dobrim srcem, zbog koga se osjeća kao ljudsko biće, jer tokom njegovog puta, nisu svi dobronamjerni i ne odnose se svi prema njima ljubazno, razgovaraju kao sa ljudima, ili smao ponude osmijeh i pozdrav. Tretiraju ih kao životinje. Bilo mi je teško da ne briznem u plač- Oni su mlađi od nekih tinejdžera sa kojima radim! I kad mi ljudi ovo kažu, (što se dešava često), moj jedini odgovor je “da, svi smo ljudska bića, svi smo ljudi”.
Hey everyone,
Just to keep you all updated (as much as I can, as info changes here sometimes hourly never mind daily! hence the lack of updates thus far, as I want the info I give out to be accurate, but hey ho, this is part and parcel of these situations, anyhow, just a little overview from a volunteers perspective…)
So, I arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 days ago with a very small but amazing group of people (just the four of us in total from Bridges Across Across) and over these past 10 days there have been a whole whirl wind of events, situations and emotions.
We arrived not knowing what really to expect but nevertheless expecting more structure and support systems than are actually in place here.
We discovered that the refugees here have very little to no support, there is no presence of any of the big/major NGO’s and there are only very few international volunteers on the ground. They are exhausted, and getting burnt out, so we realised and decided quickly that for the short time we are here, we need to help the volunteers who are here for longer than we are, give them chances to rest if they’ll take it as more and more people arrive daily (often through the night).
There are also the local Bosnian people, who are just brilliant, very generous and kind hearted people doing whatever they can to help, despite living in poverty themselves with a very corrupt and strange political system/structures.
Bosnians have been taking people in, especially families. I hear of one family who took in 80 refugees over the winter to keep them out of having to sleep on the streets or in the park in the -20 temps. It’s actually mental!
We’re seeing and meeting a whole range of refugees; Afghani, Iraqi, Iranian, Pakistani, Kurdish, Palestian, Libyian, Sri Lankan and Syrian. Families, pregnant women, lots of children, babies and single men of all ages. Some of the now ‘adult’ men have been displaced and travelling since they were minors themselves, having spent a few years on Lesvos and have made their way over to here via Albania, Montenegro and/or Kosovo and Serbia.
Many of the people we met, women and children included have been pushed back from Croatia (some multiple times) often with force. I hear lots of the violence inflicted by the Croatian police, in one instance even beating a heavily pregnant woman so badly that she lost her baby and had to give birth to the still-born child, volunteers I have spoken to who directly worked with this family also said that the whole family (including children) was then dropped into and left in a mine field.
Other people I’ve spoken to; Single mothers with young children have told me how they walked for upto 4 days without any food, sometimes along train tracks to make it into Bosnia. They tell me of their journey and how grateful they are that the Bosnian police are ok here and that there are kind-hearted people volunteering who make them feel human and don’t treat them like animals! It’s heartbreaking. Even more so, because i’m thinking, what can we really do to help? We don’t have any tents for them, or blankets (at that time, right at the beginning). I have a smile and a hug, and can play with their kids for an hour or so to at least give them a little break without them worrying too much that their kid isn’t going to be taken or get hurt.
I’m in total awe of the strength of the women I’m meeting, I don’t even know part of many of their stories but I can see it in their eyes their strength. Women my age or younger, with (multiple) kids the same age as my friends’ kids, and I just think woah, I don’t know how we would or even if we could cope in their situation. These kids are so resilient though, they still manage to somehow maintain their playful-ness and innocence and still be kids, which is great to see! And for the mothers, seeing their kids happy makes them happy, which is something at least!
The single guys, as always, are at the bottom of the list, and like I said above, lots of them may now be adults, but they’ve been traveling since they were minors themselves. They are the last to get any kind of support be it a blanket or whatever.
I’m hearing figures of around 1000 Refugees in Sarajevo alone, I cannot confirm or deny whether this is true. But it can’t be far off, if even a little short as more people and families arrive all the time.
Whilst we’ve been here, we’ve networked with volunteers; locals and internationals, and our amazing co-ordinator is actually trying to implement mediation and support structures to get them all working together, as this has proven to be difficult and working relationships had broken down. We’re getting there though!
I’ve mainly been working with kids in a refugee house for families. Attending everyday to keep the stability and structure the same, and also networking with and coordinating other groups to keep these activities going for long after we leave. Of a night time we help out with a food distribution in a separate location in the city where numbers have been 250/300+ (some families, but mainly single men and also some local Roma families).
Over a few nights this past week at the night time food distribution, a lovely group of young lads from Pakistan, around the same age as some of the older teenagers I work with back home have been teaching me Urdu. They’ve been great teachers and not laughing too much at my accent.
We were also going to a local park where there was over 200+ people camped out to play with the kids there.
However, yesterday, the park where we’ve been going to play with the kids and check out what’s been happening with the refugees has been cleared. It’s been on the cards for a few days since Erdogen is coming here to do a political rally tomorrow. Well, yesterday, the first Friday during Ramadan the park was cleared. All the families there and single men where rounded up at 4:30am and coerced on to buses to take them to a camp in Herzegovina. We were told this would happen at 8am, and we got there too late (we arrived at 8am) as they were already gone. Soon after, we got news that the buses traveling with people where not allowed in Mostar, as the police in that Canton had blockaded the road and were sending them back (to where, I, nor anyone else knew). After a very tense few hours, of no news, or no information, well, more than 6 or so hours. We finally heard that all the people on buses had been accepted into Herzegovina and put into a camp near Mostar! And apparently, some say (not to me, but to others with connections) that this camp is the nicest camp that they’ve seen along their route! And the Bosnian police are still being complete and utter babes! Wooop!
Approx 250/270 people were taken to the camp on 4 buses, and if this figure of 1000+ is correct, there are still 700+ people wandering around the city, only now they are really not allowed to have any tents up to sleep in. They never were anyway, but they still did. Only now with Erdogen coming, the governmet are really like – no tents! The nights here are cold, and sometimes rainy – it’s not always so sunny in Sarajevo. It truly is heartbreaking.
Last night at the distro, it was so quiet, (still like 150+ people) and I was wondering what was going on. Until a couple of the guys saw us, came over and was like “oh hey, so you are here, please wait for us, I need to go back and get my friends, they are all hiding!” Yeah, so we’ll see what it’s like later. Also last night, I had a young teenage lad actually cry on my shoulder and when I asked him what was up, why was he crying, he actually said to me, it was because he was so happy to meet someone with such a kind heart who makes them feel human, as along their way there are not always people who treat them so kindly, speak to them like actual people, or take the time just to say hello and smile. They just get treated like animals. It was so hard not to burst out crying. They’re younger than some of the kids I work with ffs! And when people say this to me (which lots have now) my only response is “well, yeah, we all are human, we’re all just people!”
