Mostar Women's Citizen Initiative

I've been in Sarajevo for the past four days. I've not had the best luck with reliable internet connections so today is the first time I am posting this blog that I wrote four days ago.

Last week I was in Mostar. Mostar is in the south of BiH in the province of Herzegovina. And so you are not confused, it is in the the Federation part of BiH and not in the Republic of Srpska part of BiH. About that.... I had some confusion when I first arrived in Mostar and tried to buy additional credit for my mobile phone on a sim card I bought in Brčko. I unsuccessfully tried to put credit on the phone and it kept saying that there was no credit, in spite of several "natives" trying to help me sort it out. Finally, I was told that adding credit on my phone wouldn't work because it was a Serbian phone number (I thinking they meant the country Serbia). I kept assuring people that I had in fact bought the sim card in Bosnia and in Brčko and that I had a Bosnian telephone number (with the country code 387). But as it turns out, the area code I have was in fact from the Republic of Srpska and that it why I was unable to add credit to it in the Federation. If you are confused and don't really understand the situation, then you are no worse off than I am. It turns out that with the creation of the two entities in Bosnia, there are completely different infrastructures from postal systems, phone networks, etc. With the two different entities in BiH, it really makes it seem like there are two different countries within BiH. Even though it is one country, I get the sense that in the Federation, the Republic of Srpska is perceived as this wild frontier and territory you just don't trek into unless you really have to.

On a different note, I was able to connect with the Mostar Women's Citizen Initiative (MWCI). They are an NGO that formed after the war and women from all the communities in Mostar are involved. Working together, they are committed to finding solutions to problems that are effecting all women as well as youth in Mostar. Women in the community have come together and expressed what issues are of greatest concern to them. One issue was maternity leave for young mothers where there is almost no support from the government. There has also sadly been a surge of drugs and crime related to drug trafficking in Mostar as well as all over BiH (apparently one of the unpleasant aspects imported from the West.....). Apparently children are being targeted as young as primary school now by drug dealers. MWCI is finding innovative ways to educate both children and their parents and to combat this problem. In September they will be having a community wide roundtable so that more people will be come aware of their group and how they can become more involved. Thanks to a connection made with the help of the National Democratic Institute in Washington DC, MWCI has starting collaborating with an NGO in Banja Luka which is in the Republic of Srpska. This is no small feat and as I explained in the paragraph, there is still a large mental wall in BiH between the two entities, so the collaboration between these two organizations is indeed a big deal. Finally I should add that these inspiring women are involved in many different causes and wear several hats to help create a better Bosnia. They come from many different professions and are also committed to other causes such as environmental organizations. I was very pleased to give a small donation on all of your behalf (since we were so successful in fund raising and had some additional funds). They were very grateful and send their heartfelt thanks to all of you! :)

You can also learn more about the Mostar Women's Citizen Initiative through this article from the National Democratic Institute:
Bosnian Women Healing Wounded City

Also, if you are interested, check out information about "Building Bridges", a mini documentary about them:
Building Bridges Trailer



With Ifeta and Zarema from the Mostar Women's Citizen Iniative


At a 16th century Muslim tekija (monastary) in Blagaj near Mostar


Mostar's famous Stari Grad (Old bridge) built in the 1400s by the Ottomans and destroyed in 1992 (or 1993?). The bridge was carefully rebuilt as close as possible to original plans and some of the original pieces are in the reconstruction.