A Walk with an Imam

On Wednesday, I departed Zagreb for Bosnia. We stopped for lunch and a lecture in Banja Luka, which is the capital of the Republika Srpska (RS, the Serb-populated entity of BiH). After that, we got back on the bus and headed on to Sanski Most, where we spent the night.

Non-Serbs were expelled from Sanski Most during the war. Not many have returned, although much of the diaspora comes back to visit their town in the summertime. There wasn't too much there, except for a few cafes (as usual).

We were met by Vahedin, who runs the Center for Peace Building in Sanski Most. He is also an imam (Muslim religious leader). He is a great guy. His work includes creating a dialogue between the different ethnic groups in Sanski Most and in BiH. Every summer, they run peace camps, where people can come together to meet and process their feelings about the past. The Center also does year round club activities for youth, including foreign language classes, sports teams and other activities. They also provide psychological support and other counseling to people.

Vahedin took us to the mosque in the town and then we went up to the Center, which is in an old house (that he purchased for US$125... the annual budget of the center is US$10,000). Along the way, he talked a lot about his past and about Islam. He lived as a refugee in Slovenia for 4 years during the war. He also talked about hate and how it doesn't affect the people you hate, because they don't know you hate them - its a burden that only affects you.

The next morning, Vahedin ran a workshop with us on identity that he usually does at the peace camps. It was really interesting - it was hard for me to finish the exercise and I can only imagine what it would be like for someone who is really conflicted about their identities.

After a lunch of Bosnian stew, we got back on the bus for 5 hours and ended up in Sarajevo (finally! The city I came to see!). We had a long ride through the mountains and saw some pretty depressed (economically and otherwise) little villages. There were a lot of houses that were abandoned and had "Prodajem se" ("I'm selling") and a cell phone number spray-painted on the outside. But, the mountains were really pretty and there is still snow in most places (it was snowing here in Sarajevo today!).