Goodness-- I can't believe how time has flown. Not including today, I have 17 days left in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here are some of the things I have been tasked to work on between now and then:
-Editing, editing and more editing. Actually, I'm doing a bit less of that now, since we hired a new intern last week and he will be here for 6 months-- therefore is automatically higher on the food chain, or so it appears.
-Writing (finally). I'll be interviewing at least two people and write up a success story from one of Internews' recent projects for publication on their website and the website of their sponsor, USAID.
-Drafting. This week is when the quarterly report goes out, so I'll be assisting with the drafting of some of those sections.
I'm sure there will be other tasks thrown in, but those are the ones I know about.
Outside of my internship I've been kept really busy. Last week I spent nearly the entire week in Srebrenica, commemorating the genocide that happened there on July 11, 1995. For those of you who don't know much about this genocide, there really is no accurate way to sum up what happened in Bosnia on that day and I highly recommend reading the relevant chapter in "A Problem from Hell" by Samantha Power to get some more context. The situation is highly politicized and controversial here, and there have been many obstacles in establishing the truth of the events that took place. What is known is this: despite being declared a "safe area" under protection of the United Nations, over 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were systematically murdered and hidden in mass graves throughout the region, and over 25,000 women were forcibly deported. It was the mass rape of women during this genocide that changed international law to include rape as a tool of torture and a recognized weapon of war.
Every year, on the anniversary of these events, those caskets of bodies that have been recovered and identified through DNA are brought to the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial and Cemetery to Genocide Victims. There, they are laid out in rows in the old battery factory where these men had been corralled before being slaughtered, and assigned numbers. The families of the victims locate their loved one based on these numbers, and, one by one, carry the casket out to the cemetery to be buried. When I was there, there were over 400 caskets being buried. This is one of the lowest numbers so far.
There is no unseeing this. I have studied genocide for 4 years, but never has the impact of what I am studying hit so hard, so home, as when I witnessed these ceremonies.
This weekend, there will be a trip to Plitvica National Park, which will be far more lighthearted. I'm really looking forward to it-- seriously, google image search will tell you all the reasons why.
Cheers!
Kathryn
Sounds heady and heavy. Imagine that as an annual part of your national culture! Imagine 400 caskets being on the low end of the count?! You are witnessing events few Westerners ever get to see, Kit. It'll be amazing to hear about them.
ReplyDeleteThe 400 caskets made my jaw drop. It really places perspective on life here in the States. I can't believe that is the lowest number they've had. I'm afraid to ask the highest number. Given the historical context, it amazes me how this tragedy and its impact is ignored by American media.
ReplyDeleteI am so envious that you were able to be part of something like that. Maybe it sounds wrong to say it that way, but I love studying history, and like you said, it is one thing learning about genocide in a classroom or even on your own, but witnessing something like that gives it a whole new perspective. Did you get to write an article about it? I'd be really curious to know how it turned out if you did, because I think I'd have a hard time with it, trying to do it justice so Westerners could understand something that really is, in many ways, beyond their grasp.
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