The woman who sows the future in Bosnia
Halida Jahi ?, is a trained nurse. During the Bosnian war she lived as a refugee in Germany for four years. Since 2005 she has been Coordinator of the Bosnian women's network "Veliko Srce", which is run by the German Women's Foundation filia is supported.
© Heike GüntherSometimes the solutions to a problem are so close. It just has to pick them up and implement them. Halida Jahi? is such a solution finder. The Bosnian is the coordinator of the largest women's network in her country and has a fine sense of sustainability. Not only in the economic, but also in the social sense. "The seeds that are scattered today will eventually be harvested," Halida firmly believes.
One of the many problems to be solved in Bosnia and Herzegovina is unemployment. Halida observes that many unemployed women have rebuilt their war-torn gardens over the years and planted fruit and vegetables there. Without pesticides, gentle on earth and wildlife - so basically absolutely "organic". And here comes the idea: Why not make these women the spearhead of organic farming in Bosnia and Herzegovina? So they would not only earn a living for themselves, but would also advance their country economically.
The first organic fair even comes to the minister
Actually, Halida is a trained nurse and has no idea about organic farming. But that does not stop her. She works on the matter, bringing in experts from European certification bodies who check the production methods of Bosnian women. The aim is to sell the goods not only locally but also to other countries according to European standards.
In 2011, in order to promote their products and network with each other, Halida and her comrades organize the first fair for organic producers in their country. It is a great success with 10,000 visitors. Even the Bosnian Minister of Agriculture comes and tells the women that the Ministry will pay the expensive certificates in the future. Today, according to Halida, 1700 women in Bosnia and Herzegovina can live from organic agriculture.
All this Halida tells casually, as if that was nothing special. Bosnians are modest, she says, but also stubborn. This stubbornness has often helped her in life. 19 years ago she had to flee to Germany before the war, where she lived in a refugee center for four years before returning to her destroyed home in 1998. Again, she was only in a camp under. Its home region Modri? A is located in the Serbian Republic, the Serbian state in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnian returnees had to reckon with violence even after the war.
Women's solidarity overcomes hostility
"The Serbians protected us - I still get goose bumps when I think about it."
Halida remembers a key scene that would change her entire life: "The biggest desire of the women from Modri? A was to return home, if only to see their house again and say goodbye." Her men had already tried to drive home, but they were beaten by Serbs. The women from the refugee camp were thinking about what they could do. "Many of us knew Serbian women, and we could not imagine that they could harm us."
Halida Jahi? contacted a friend from Modri? a, and together they drummed up Serb women to help the Bosnian refugees. "When the day came, we took a bus across the border," she says. "Again there were Serbian men on the roadside ready to attack the people in the buses."
But then something happened that they had not expected: The Serbian women stood in front of the newcomers and made sure that they were not hurt. "I still get goose bumps when I think about it," says Halida. "The women were so strong, they simply said to the men in the face, 'You want to do something to these people, then just about our dead bodies!'" Astounded by so much resistance, in part by their own wives, the Serbian men left the Bosnians in peace, and that was the beginning of the reconciliation work and the cohesion of women from Modri? A.
Where the state fails, the women jump in
Halida is the engine of this movement. "War is to learn from it," she says. And she is learning fast. In 1998, she founded her first women's group in Tarevci, which takes care of construction work and brings together the warring groups. The group worried homeless widows apartments, organized psychological support for traumatized children, arranged work, distributed donations in kind to mothers.
Actually, all things that the state should take care of. But the government does not get much help from the government. "Not even diapers provided us the city," says Halida. Your experience: "If people do not unite, nothing happens."
In 2005 Halida brings together the different women's groups of the country in the network "Veliko Srce", in German "Big Heart". The then 320 women have become 4,000 women, women of all denominations and nationalities, who together improve the conditions in their country.
Domestic violence flourishes after the war
"Veliko Srce" does more than just give first aid. This is shown by another problem, domestic violence, which has been on the increase since the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Many traumatized men were unemployed after the war, and often react with violence to conflicts with the wives, who demand more initiative from them," explains Halida.
"Veliko Srce" builds a network of consultants and founds women's shelters, the first ever in their country. And the network is also politically active: The women are implementing a change in the law, according to which a violent man must leave the apartment within twelve hours and, depending on the degree of danger, go to trial until the trial. A small revolution in the country, where it was always the women who had to flee the house in violence.
Many families do not like to see this, they prefer to keep the conflicts under control. Halida receives death threats, is pressured by men, and her son is beaten. She sighs. "It's hard, even today, but I'm not going to let that cowardly person get rid of my goal."
Working in unheated offices
Halida has become a political voice. When she speaks at city council sessions, it's in the paper the next day. It is also thanks to her that there are now gender delegates in the government.
But it is difficult. Although politicians like to decorate with her, for example, when a state visit is pending and presentable projects are in demand. But as soon as the headlights are off again, the interest disappears. Especially when it comes to money. Only sporadically gets "Veliko Srce" financial support for his projects. Halida still works in an unheated office and lives mainly from the support of the German women's foundation filia, which expires in September 2013.
"Politicians have to adapt, I'm not such a person."
"Most of the politicians in our country," says Halida, "after the end of communism, just put on another coat and went on as they always have." Shielded from the people in their new parties, with a strong hand from above.
That was also a reason why non-governmental organizations that did not exist in communism had such a bad standing. "They feel threatened by us because we are in the midst of society and constantly bringing problems to the table that they would rather not hear."
Would not it be easier to go into politics and change things directly? "No," says Halida, smiling. "I'll never become a politician, you have to adapt to that, and I'm not such a person." She prefers to interfere indirectly. But it was important to her to make clear to the rulers: "That we do our work not for ourselves, but for the whole society, for a better quality of life and a better future."
Does Halida support Jahi?
The future of "Veliko Srce" is under threat as there is no financial aid. If you are Halida Jahi? and want to support their network, you can do so via filia. the women's foundation do: filia donation account, keyword "Veliko Srce", GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG Bochum, account number: 300200100, BLZ: 430 609 67
