Building for Peace in the Aftermath of the War

“I can speak both Serbian and Albanian, but whichever one I use sets me on one side against the other. There is no place for me here — I do not belong.” As she finished speaking these words, Mersiha, a young Slavic Muslim from Prishtina, looked at me intently and demanded to know what the Balkan Peace Team was doing to address the tenuous situation in which she and individuals from other minority communities throughout Kosovola are existing.

Kosovola may have faded from the headlines, but Mersiha´s experience is a reminder that the conifict here is both unresolved and filled with complexity. While the original conflict may have been between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, to-day´s post-war tensions exist between the majority Albanian population and the minority populations of Serbs, Turks, Roma, and Slavic Muslims. Responding responsibly to the complicated reality that characterises Kosovo/a today, is a challenge that the Balkan Peace Team is taking very seriously. It includes responding to questions like Mersiha´s and ones from the many others whose lives have been altered beyond recognition by the events of 1999.

The process of recovering from the wars in Kosovo/a is underway, with local and international non- governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as inter-governmental organisations, working to reconstruct the region. The process of social reconstruction — part of which is the building of inter-ethnic community confidence —is one that the Balkan Peace Team believes must occur in conjunction with physical reconstruction. One method through which community confidence can begin to be established is through small-scale cross-community interaction — especially among young people. Therefore, one of the projects that the team is developing is the establishment of a youth centre in the remote community of Dragash — a town comprised of two ethnic communities: Albanians and Slavic Muslims known as Goranci.

By founding a centre where.youth from both communities can have access to locally identified services that are needed, such as computer training and English language lessons, BPT hopes that the young people can begin, at their own pace, to interact and that relationships of trust can begin to be developed. With a vision of fostering a culture of peace and tolerance between the two communities of Dragash, the youth centre will be a safe space in which all young people can build skills, explore creative self-expression and most important, create support networks among themselves. The activities of the centre will be designed by listening to their views and incorporating their ideas. This will foster a sense of community ownership while encouraging the youth from both groups to co-operate with one another.

Another means by which the Balkan Peace Team is hoping to promote a culture of peace is through the development of an “oral history” project focused on the collection and dissemination of stories of survival. Last summer, when BPT returned to Prishtina, and reconnected with local activists and organisations, people spoke to the team of their experiences of life during the war — their experiences as refugees in Macedonia and Albania and their experiences of life while under siege.

In the process of recounting these traumatic experiences, several people highlighted the assistance that they received from local Serbs. For one it was a story of an elderly Serb woman who protected his flat from being looted and destroyed by the Serb paramilitaries who had forced him to flee. For another it was a story of being given bread and water by a soldier in the Yugoslav army while at the Macedonian border. With the encouragement and guidance from a few local Albanian activists, the Balkan Peace Team has begun to document such stories in order to create an historical record of the multiple realities of the war as experienced by different people.

The goal of such a project is to counter what some local activists fear is becoming the homogenisation of the war experience. The pain and trauma experienced by communities as a consequence of the recent violence is leading to the creation of narrowly defined versions of the events of the past year. In the Kosovo/a Albanian community, this version allows for the telling of only one story — that all Serbs, due to their ethnic identity, are “enemies” and therefore perpetrators of crimes against the Albanian people.

The BPT-Kosovo/a team believes that peace in Kosovo/a can only be built on a foundation of truth — and truth has as many layers as there are individual experiences. In an effort to provide a more accurate historical account of the many realities of the war, as well as to foster an honest evaluation of this tragic period, BPT seeks to collect such stories of survival.

Facilitating peace-building is a process requiring a long-term commitment and a respect for the time that traumatised people need for healing. This is especially apparent in the war-torn society of Kosovo/a, where the memories of repression are still vivid, the wounds of recent atrocities still festering, and inter-ethnic violence still rampant. Through their two new projects, the BPT team in Kosovo/a hopes to continue to listen to and work with all communities in the region. In this way, they seek to contribute meaningfully and responsibly to the construction of peace and tolerance — so that no one will be made to feel that their home is no longer a place where they belong.

Robert Sautter

Volunteer and Personnel News

The BPT Kosovo/a Team in Prishtina, Kosovo/a has grown from 3 to 5 persons. Alan Jones (Wales) and Robert Sautter (USA) were joined in January by three new team members; Liz Abraham (USA), Barbara Allen (USA), and Kajsa Svensson (Sweden). They participated in a one week BPT training in Amersfoort, Nether-lands and a two day orientation at the JO in Minden in preparation for the work in the field.

Erik Torch finished 10 months of service with the BPT Kosov/a team at the end of Decem-ber 1999. He had previously worked for one year on the Otvorene Oci team in Split. Many thanks to Erik for his good work in Kosovo/a.

At the February Assessment, 4 participants were accepted into the pool of new volunteers. This brings the list of volunteers awaiting place-ment to 6. Two of those, Cristina Bianchi (Italy) and Merlijn van Waas (Netherlands) will be join-ing the Kosovo/a team later this year.

The “BPT Newsletter” is published by the Balkan Peace Team, and is distributed free to all groups and individuals interested in our work. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to reproduce this material as long as you credit BPT and include the address and phone of the the International Office in Minden.

If you wish to use or require clarification of any of the information included, please contact the Balkan Peace Team at the address below. Please forward this report to anyone you think may be interested.