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Life Onboard | LAST UPDATE September 19, 2006 | |
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Luna Kalas, now 25 years old, was one such emigrant who went to live in Zagreb, Croatia with her father’s brother from ’92 until ’94, after which she moved to Dubrovnik to live with her cousin from ’94 until ’95. She joined Peace Boat’s 54th voyage as a member of the International Student group, onboard from Cochin until Barcelona to talk about her experience during and after the war in the Balkan region. Global University (GU) students, who are onboard as a part of an intensive peace studies programme offered by Peace Boat, also had the opportunity to visit Sarajevo on a five day overland tour. Now, a decade after war, Bosnians are healing from the scars of a conflict that separated peoples into groups distinguished by their ethnicity or religion, even though they had shared a language and culture, and had lived harmoniously for centuries. As the country develops and transitions from a socialist system to a capitalist one, members of the society are dealing with a great number of difficult issues. I talked with Luna about her perception of contemporary Sarajevo… “It is common to hit a wall in conversation,” Luna told me. “My peers say, ‘we’re not at a conference, stop talking about such serious subjects.” Even amongst the progressive groups, irony and sarcasm are not followed by any action. Personally, I think it’s very hard to see a solution for Bosnia, and to work in that direction because of this apathy. The progressive movement cannot depend only on the youth. It's a bigger problem, even, than Bosnia.” |
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What is apathy? Lacking motivation, goals, having no clear vision for the future. Basically it's passivity, people are half-dead. When you are apathetic, you actually don’t feel so bad. It’s not a negative emotion or state but when the group is feeling like that it's a problem for society. Especially when it happens constantly, and for a long period. Where does apathy come from? Sociologists usually say that after war there are feelings of anger and a need to change things. As for Bosnia, the war was extraordinarily violent for these modern times. When it ended, people were relieved and loosened up. They felt lucky to be alive, to have food, to have water, to not have to fear bombs and gunfire every day. But for me it's a wonder that this passivity continues. War has been over for ten years. Maybe we are impatient. Is it the same situation in Croatia? All of the former Yugoslavia? People from Croatia will tell you that it is, but they still have a bit more progress than Bosnia because they are a homogeneous society and can agree about things. In Bosnia we are still psychologically split into groups. Basically for all Balkan States, there is apathy but the state functions without the people. How has Bosnia been transitioning? There is a new generation that is growing up with different values. The society is now competitive. You need to try hard to get a job, to get into university. During socialism people were entitled to go as far as they wanted. Bosnia is also changing from East to West. Ten years ago people were studying Russian as a second language, now it’s English. Experts in the academic field cannot participate in world events because they don’t speak English. This is really slowing our development. What are the values of the youth in Bosnia? We are seeing a shift from normal values to something that is evident in countries experiencing a transition. It is basically the opposite of what it used to be. Everyone wants to have money and there’s a huge cultural crash. Theaters are empty and there are no concerts. Basically, it’s becoming a primitive society. The international community keeps telling us that this is normal and eventually things will become more vibrant and democratic. So it’s developing in the eyes of the international community, but in common life people cannot manage with all this transitional mess. Is apathy somehow connected to this transition? People were modest before. They were happy with things that today’s youth is not interested in. Staying with one company for your whole life used to be the standard. Now there is a race for survival. As a young person you feel pressured by everyone in your society to find a job immediately after you graduate. So you find a job that you don’t like at all. Graduates of one area work in another. People don’t think anymore. They’re too busy fighting for survival, for new standards. Is there reflection about the war? We are totally divided. For example, people who stayed in Sarajevo during the siege are entitled to an experience that nobody knows. Returnees lived a hard life as refugees but they have new skills; they received quality education and have wider perspectives. The youth who stayed in Sarajevo know how to take guns apart and put them back together. So everybody is reflecting on what they lived through but it's all separate and there is little dialogue between different experiences. You mentioned in your lecture that you think it is important to unify youth in order to build a progressive movement. What do you think are some things that can unify the youth in Bosnia? First of all you can bring them together by reminding them that we are all unsatisfied, no matter which ethnicity or part of the country we come from. Everyone is poor. Second, Bosnia needs to create a new identity. Our identity used to be diversity but that diversity became our enemy. A group of really intelligent people should sit down and find something that resembles all of us in the country. I’m still trying to come up with something good. I don’t have a clear image now but as soon as I’ve got one I’ll let you know. What are your personal goals for the next 5 years? I want to continue with my education somewhere other than Sarajevo. Maybe in comparative literature or creative writing, or I will expand to cultural studies (which would be useful in Bosnia), political science, international relations or peace studies. A few friends of mine and I organized an informal group that is planning to start a monthly magazine as a first step to try to balance the media reality in Bosnia. Besides an alternative Croatian magazine there is nothing. We want to promote young artists and activists. I want to put all of my energy into something like this. What did you learn from this experience? I have a wider perspective now and I’ve realized the world is really small. I don’t feel scared or threatened. I realized that I was prejudiced about certain cultures and I was able to get rid of those assumptions. I realized how difficult it is to explain conflict to others. I learned I can change things. Maybe it’s a different reality outside, but the support of individuals and the energy I felt on this ship is going to stay with me. Here on a daily basis there were ten people that said, “Of course you can do it!” After a month of hearing this, you really become stronger. How do you feel about getting off the ship? I really feel panic because the life I left in Sarajevo is so different from the life that I now have and this change scares me. When I return, will I go back to that apathetic state? I’m hoping this feeling I have on the ship will stay with me. I want it to stay and I want to be able to remind myself of what’s possible in this world. I feel very sad because there is not much opportunity in life to spend a month somewhere and gain real friends when in other places it would take years and years. It’s sad to separate but on the other hand it’s nice to have friends all over the world. That’s making the planet your home. |
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