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Hello Everyone!
We have all returned safely to Washington DC and the Bay Area. Ajla, Terra and Drustva are about to dive into their Master's Theses (send them good thoughts!) and Jason and Tibora are just beginning to sort through all the wonderful photographs and videos that were created.

We have started uploading some of the images, please check them out here .
Thank you to everyone we met on this wonderful journey!
and Thank you all for your support and well wishes!
Best,
Tibora, Terra, Ajla, Jason and Drustva

Center for Peacebuilding International

Vahidin has been a complete inspiration to collaborate with and learn from. We are very grateful for his generosity and insight. In order to support his efforts in Bosnia and abroad we want to share this wonderful organization with you all. If your are interested in supporting the Center for Peacebuilding, please visit their website, http://www.unvocim.net/

Layers of Recovery

Sanski Most, Bosnia.

 The morning began with a new location, new energy and new life.
The Balkans Peace Photography Project met the Center for Peacebuilding’s director,
 Vahidin Omanovic, along with his wife Timka and 10-month old son Ali, named after the son of the prophet Mohammed.
Vahidin invited us to accompany him to a conflict resolution workshop that he was implementing for women who are
survivors of the war. Every two weeks, approximately 16 women gather from the Sanski Most/Prijedor
region to discuss different aspects of conflict resolution through the Center for Peacebuilding. They all had lost loved
ones and/or homes in the war and many were victims of rape and abuse. They come together to help one another heal. Vahidin and
the group were extremely generous, and allowed us to participate in their workshop discussions on communication, leadership,
tolerance and understanding. It was an illuminating experience where women were able to open up in a safe forum and discuss how
they are feeling and bring back their knowledge to their respective communities.
We are grateful to have been a part of this process.
 
After learning the traditional food customs of local Bosnians, we began our implementation of the photo work shop. Seven students
arrived and were eager to learn from us about photography and
about our culture and history, as ambassadors of the Americas.
Students ages ranged from 16 to 22 and most had basic photography
concepts but all were eager to know symbolism, meaning, intention
and technique behind media as art.
  The participants have an excellent grasp of English, and have participated in past
workshops with the Center for Peacebuilding where discussions on
trauma, human rights, forgiveness, history and healing have taken
place. When students interviewed one another it became apparent
that half were living without fathers who had been lost during the
war. Students described themselves as "warm," "sociable," "creative," and "full of love."
Students left the workshop reluctantly,  and optimistic for the next day, dreading their homework from school, and excited about
each having digital cameras to document their lives and viewpoints.

    We held a debriefing session with Vahidin and invited his feedback were he was fully
supportive and encouraging of our grounded theory techniques of finding themes that
had arisen each day for the focus of the following lesson. The question of culture
arose throughout today and we selected it for Day Two’s focus.

    Many Bosnians feel that they either do not have a strong modern
day culture, or that their traditional ways (such as eating
certain foods with hands, and dining on the floor around a "sofra") are looked
down upon, and discussion of tradition, ritual, music and history will be emphasized in the next lesson.

   Vahidin also explained his perspective as a survivor of the war,
and of one of our participants who was a concentration camp
survivor. One of the participants remembers being lined up against
the river where Muslims were being shot one by one so the bodies
could be "dealt with" by the current. He was young, and
remembers not being afraid of death, but by being afraid of losing his
mother and being left behind alone. This same student has lived in
multiple locations throughout his upbringing and has worked with
Vahidin for many years where their mutual respect is apparent for
all to see.

  Vahidin shared some political background on the three presidents
of Bosnia and their perspective on Kosovo. Apparently one
recognizes Kosovo as sovereign, one does not, and one declines to
share acknowledgement either way. He personally is happy for
Kosovars for their freedom, as they could not previously speak
their native language (Albanian) in public or they would be
arrested. They held underground schools to teach their children
their traditional ways and are fighting to have their identity
recognized. The school system in Bosnia is EU Bologna based and is
extremely disciplined and stressful. There is a high rate of
suicide among Bosnian teens and Vahidin said it was harder for him
to finish high school than to do his master’s in Vermont because
there is so much pressure to perform "correctly" and to
regurgitate information. The students we are working with appear
delighted to be in an environment where the ground rules include
fun, safety, communication and respect for all.

  We additionally discussed weapons in the Balkans and how the
numbers of tanks and guns are monitored by the Office of High
Representative. From my understanding, each force is permitted to
hold the same number of arsenal. The Bosnian Army receives its
weapons from the United States, and the Serbian Army from Russia.
We discussed the current situation in Bosnia. Vahidin sadly
stated, "I don’t know how it (Bosnia) can be developing any
way, but another war… The biggest fear I have is if we have another war
really soon." He elaborated by explaining that 13 years after the
Dayton Accords nothing has changed and that when he entered the
Ajla’s hometown of Prijedor, in the R.S., with his wife (who wears
a head scarf) they were attacked just two years ago. Sanski Most
is monitored by Chilean military peacekeepers, and Vahidin
expressed past fears of the British NATO troops that were present
in the 1990s who killed around 50 people with reckless/drunken
driving and who would walk around armed with their fingers on the
trigger of their guns.
 
   This is why we are here, to cultivate peace and communication in
any way we can. While conducting our project we had an exercise
where we asked the students to share memories that have had a    
great impact on their lives and each student stated the word "war"
but only one elaborated on the horrible atrocities that occurred
to him and his mother during the war and their stay in the
concentration camp. For most of these students the Center for
Peacebuilding is the only safe space where they can share their
views and we feel that our workshop helped foster another safe
space for them and that it became a venue for transformation and
education. Due to the strict educational system the students
seemed very still, proper and nervous at first and as we set up
the ground rules the first rule that we suggested was to "have
fun." Initially they looked at us skeptically not being used to
the idea of "fun" in an educational setting however soon
they wereable to express themselves artistically and their faces lit up and
laughter filled the space with energy as they became more and more
comfortable with us and each other.
       -Terra

A message from ASTA

Dear friends,

I hope, you have a beautiful weather and you are enjoing the time there. I'm sure that you have so much to do and the other students have so much to tell you about their life. It was really the most beautiful experience that we ever had and I'm deeply grateful to you and to Peace Corps in Albania.

Yesterday evening I wrote an Email to our Donors in Austria and to all of our Friends abroad and directly I became an Email from one of them, who wrote to us, that he want to donate us (to give us) a Photoprocessor. It's a surprise for us!

That means you have te come again.... :-)

I wish you all the best,

Alfrida

P.s. I hope, you will understand that what I wrote, because my knowleadge in English are not so gut... :-( ... but I'll learn it better... :-)

If you can read german and wish to learn more about ASTA, please visit their site: http://www.shs-albanien.at/

Images by Young Albanian Photographers

Our Participants in Albania were all given the opportunity to use cameras and document their lives for 24 hours. Family and Friends, Home and Environment are some of the themes we gave them to use a guide.They took pictures of everything, and created some beautiful and inspiring images. We are looking forward to sharing them with youth around the world.

Bosnia

we are currently in Sarejevo, Bosnia.

Tonight we will arrive in Sanski Most where we will conduct our second workshop with the Center for Peacebuilding.

Stay Tuned!

-Tibora

Now We Know How Oprah Feels

We have completed our first run of the Balkans Peace Photo Project, and to sum it all up, it was nothing short of amazing. The girls and I had one mission; to foster peace and environmental stewardship using the tools that we love the most: photography and film. I really like the term empowerment. If one is empowered, they are less fearful, and if they are less fearful, they open the door to peace. After we wrapped up our workshop, you got the sense that every student felt empowered to capture and tell their own story. It felt pretty good.

We couldn't have asked for a better start to the workshop. The students started off exploring concepts of their own identities. After a short introduction to vantage points from Tibs, the students partnered up and took portraits and interviewed eachother. Instantly they were grabbing shots from all over the place and really stepping outside of the box to explore angles and lighting. It was fascinating to watch. It was also interesting to watch how unreserved the younger ones were with the cameras in comparison to some of the older students. It was proof that we are born with this natural creative instinct that at some point we are taught to restrict.

The second day we expanded on the the concepts we learned on day 1 and had them apply them to larger issues of environment, culture, and history. We first did a word association exercise with the students to get them thinking about these concepts. Then they split into three groups and created a Public Service Announcement covering these three areas. We took them to the Mesi Bridge, a local historical site that the children were so proud to share with us. The pictures were amazing and the kids were naturals in front of and behind the camera.

The third day we wrapped up our workshop at another historical site, The Castle. The kids were super excited to be sharing their stories with us, and the dat ended with this incredible double rainbow that was staright out of a Hollywood film. The entire day was filled with this incredible warmth, and the students sent us off by some traditional Albanian food and dancing. The girls and I looked at eachother and said, "Now we know how Oprah must feel!"
-Jason

Day 3

After concluding our workshop, a double rainbow appeared in the sky!

ASTA and Balkans Peace Photo Project group photo
Jason speaking at our closing ceremony
Taking photos!
Jason filming an Interview

Day 2

Taking photographs and filming on the Mesi Bridge.
In the Rain!
Beautiful clear ice melt!
The Mesi Bridge in Shkodra, Albania

Day 1!

Sharing interviews of eachother
Agreeing to our group's ground rules
Student Portrait
Another Student Portrait
The youth taking portraits of eachother.

Shkodra, Albania

We have completed the first of our Balkans Peace Photo Projects! We are currently on day 7 of our journey and it is the first time we have been able to take time out and visit an internet cafe.

After departing San Francisco and Washington DC, our team headed straight to Tirana, Albania. We loaded ourselves into a taxi and enjoyed the drive to Shkodra. Terra, had been connected to a wonderful Peace Corps volunteer via Antonia Young and the Balkans Peace Park. We originally were going to head up into the mountains to a village called Thethi, however about a week prior to our departure Terra recieved an email informing her that we'd have to hike 4-5 hours in the snow (not too big of a deal) with a local guide to visit the village....oh, and there might be a possiblity of wolf attacks!

So needless to say, we nixed visiting Thethi in winter and ended up connecting with ASTA a local NGO in Shkodra. It was meant to be! ASTA is an organization that works with underserved youth. They have about 22 students who range in age from 10 years to 24 years of age. The women running the organization are an absolute inspiration!Orieta, Alfrida Alekaj, Megan,Terra Tolley, Tibora Bea Girczyc-Blum, Jason Eason, Angela Luka, Drustva Delgadillo