A temporary shelter and a permanent home
Driven from their villages by shelling and ethnic cleansing more than 12.000 people were forced to find shelter in Jablanica. Movie theatres, museums and even public toilets were crowded with cold and hungry people. The DRC Collective Centers and the public kitchens connected to them would provide healthcare, shelter and three meals a day for thousands of people in the first years of existence. Later it would become the launch pad for local integration and return of internal refugees.
Ramiz Roksa
Ramiz Roksa, leaves the tools for a short break and a hand-rolled cigarette. His considerable size and hardened face might appear intimidating if it wasn't for the smile that broadens as he approaches.
- I was a refugee myself when I came to this area with my family. We came with nothing but fear, regrets and sorrow. The DRC provided refugees with shelter, food and medicine - those where the most urgent needs back then. Later we received training in different crafts, help to start our own greenhouses, and even fishing-gear and beehives were provided to enable us to become self-reliant.
Well integrated and living in a house in Jablanica with my family, I have now become a manager of the Collective Center. I am a volunteer and I don’t make any money from this position, but I feel obliged to help the weaker and elderly people who will never be able to leave and who will find their last home here They are somehow part of my own history and they are among the many who are still troubled by a war in which they played no part.
Muharem and Dika Omerspahic
We are welcomed into the modest but cosy kitchen where the elderly couple, Muharem and Dika, invites us for sweet juice and unpretentious hospitality. The original furniture and kitchen is still holding up but a recent picture of the Bosnian football team that once rose to fame beating Denmark 3- 0 smiles proudly from the front of the stove.
- These houses were the homes of up to four refugee families – there were 35 of us living together and sharing our lives. We didn’t have any problems – we all shared the same destiny and suffered the same losses.
Our village was lost in heavy shelling, but we were lucky enough to escape through the forest where we were found by friendly forces ten days later and brought to Jablanica. We will always miss our village, but there is no possible return for an old couple like us – the village is isolated in the winter and there is no access to medicine or doctors.
With the assistance of DRC we found a home here and we have no reason to complain. Our lives are easy compared to other elderly internal refugees throughout Bosnia who might have limited access to housing and benefits.
I used to be a strong and self-reliant man with a farm, a tractor and loads of animals, but now I only remain strong in my spirit. As I tell my wife – you can put your faith in Allah because when we leave this life we will once again be healthy and strong. In the mean time we will stay content with the lives we have.
