During the peace camp in Medena in the summer of 2021, a collection of stories was compiled about people who stood up to nationalism, enmity and hatred both during the wars in the former Yugoslavia and also nowadays, and helped the so-called „others“ across ethnic borders. The stories, telling about neighbours, family members or teachers of the participants, were written down by them afterwards.
In the second part of our series, Mirzela tells a story:
My name is Mirzela, I come from Tuzla. I will tell you the story of my father and uncle. My father was two years old and my uncle one year old when their father left the family. During the war, my grandmother did not have enough money to feed her children. She asked many people for help, who of course helped as much as they could, but the war was a hard time for everyone. My grandmother was looking for a way to make money and alredy feared that her chilren would starve to death. But then, she met two wonderful people, a serbian-orthodox couple from the neighbourhood. The two of them helped my grandmother by taking them into their house and providing food for my father and uncle. Soon after, my grandmother managed to find a job and that married couple took care of my father and uncle while my grandmother worked. I am so grateful to these people and love them like my family.