At precisely 11 a.m., the Travnik Trans bus arrives at the bus station in Kruščica, a village above Vitez, driven by a woman, forty-three-year-old Edina Trako. It is only one of the total of five trips that Edina makes every day except Sunday on the route Kruščica – Travnik – Kruščica.
Edina starts its first trip at 6:20 a.m. when the Vitez and Travnik road takes many people to work, but also children to school, and the last one at 7:15 p.m. from Travnik when it brings high school students home from the second shift. There is no fatigue on the face, only a smile, a cheerful spirit and the desire to transport passengers responsibly and punctually to and from their destination.
Edina passed the C and D category, left her previous job and sat behind the wheel of a bus a few months ago, which, she says, fulfilled her dream and proved that a woman can do anything when she wants something.
“This is my wish from before. Even when I was a girl. I finished high school, I got married. I had three children. But I never lost hope that one day I would pass all the categories and realize the wish I had before in childhood and thought about it,” Edina Trako begins her story for Anadolu.
– Women’s will is important –
Although Kruščica is known for the courage of women throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina because their activities prevented the construction of mini-hydroelectric plants and the destruction of the environment, Edina admits that her decision to get behind the wheel of a bus was like a bolt from the blue for the residents of the neighborhood where she lives.
“To be honest, it is. They were surprised. They told me – what’s the point, you have a job, it’s not really for a woman. It’s not for those who don’t have that strong desire and will and courage. This is first of all responsibility. And that’s a big one. The second is an obligation. Especially for a woman. Because it’s not just driving. You have to pay a lot of attention to the traffic, to the passengers. Because I, like me, am very responsible for everyone and one passenger, 57 of them,” Edina points out.
She states that he has full support in the company where he works, but that there have been strange reactions from other fellow drivers, men.
“As for my colleagues in the company, TravnikTrans, they really accepted me. I thank them for that. But it was surprising in passing traffic. Many are surprised, they turn around. They even know how to talk on the phone, so they slightly look down in surprise when they see me they see me behind the wheel. It was quite strange to the people. But I would rather say it was even interesting that they see me. However, most of them all agreed. They support me. However, I have to emphasize that I didn’t really have that support from anyone at the beginning. Everyone said – why, some even laughed, advised me that the top is not for me, that it is not for one woman. But all that is behind me,” said Edina.
She believes that she has largely broken prejudices about women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“A woman can do everything. And have marriage and children. I do the same at home. We feed the cattle, sow, dry hay… I do everything like other women. Plus I work in a company. How do I succeed and get there? With good organization it is possible. Six days I’m behind the wheel and I get everything done again. Organization is half the job,” says Edina.
She believes that women should not be held back in their attempts to change their lives and that this is not a good attitude that she encounters at the beginning.
“It’s bad. I say again, that I would like to give advice to everyone. I also didn’t have support from anyone from the beginning. But I was persistent, determined. And I would tell all women, what they have a desire, that they really feel that they can do it achieve, of course they don’t endanger the family so that they don’t feel it, that’s what they dare to do. It was also number one for me not to endanger the family. That was my goal in life to have a family and for my family to be together. But , women should be persistent, to achieve what they want for themselves. I couldn’t do it right away either. I also worked in a company, then ran and worked privately, and whoever called me, I worked to earn for myself and to achieve what I wanted. Because, after all, it costs money. It costs time and money and nerves and everything. Because, just how many times do you have to appear before the commission, where people are professional and normally they will not let anyone sign the paper if you are not capable and if you did not satisfy what they they are looking for, those criteria. I managed to pass,” said Edina.
She points out that she has been walking towards her final goal, sitting behind the wheel of a bus, for 24 years, and that she never gave up on it for a single moment. However, the process of taking the driving test was an undertaking in itself.
“From the moment it starts, it takes a few months. There must be a gap in passing between categories, C and D. There is also taking tests,” said Edina.
– Call and Chance –
After passing the D category, Edina did not wait for a new job.
“They invited me from TravnikTrans. They heard about me and gave me a chance. They made it possible for me to try to make my wish come true. They heard that it was my wish and I really thank them. It’s an agency to praise. I’m glad and I’m honored to be in that agency. I hope I’ll be there until I retire,” Edina said with a laugh.
Edina has a special relationship with her most important people, the passengers.
“There were never any problems with the passengers. I feel that smile and that joy. There was an amazement, but in a positive sense,” says Edina.
There were, she says, interesting and funny situations.
“A couple of times, gentlemen, men get serious and tell a woman if she has a seat belt, this or that. But it’s all a joke. Afterwards, when they leave, they congratulate and say we’ve never had a better, more comfortable and leisurely ride,” Edina points out.
When asked if we will soon see her behind the wheel on some other lines across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Edina has a clear answer.
“TravnikTrans is a big agency and I believe that I will progress even more with them. I think that is their goal as well,” he says.
Edina says that women must not be weak, sit and whine and wait for something to happen by itself. The news about the mistreatment, abuse and murders of women throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina that we have been witnessing in recent months is chilling.
“You just have to fight. Realize and prove yourself. Build yourself. As for that bullying, I don’t support it in any form. I also have a husband, I have a beautiful marriage that has lasted 24 years and will last until death. But, you just need to fight and simply work. don’t depend on anyone. Regardless of how much support you have from your family and your husband, you should not depend on anyone but have your own dinar, be determined and brave”, is Edina’s message to women in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She points out that her example was an incentive for other women to take the driving test, especially category C, for trucks, and probably later for buses as well.
“I think so. Several women have already declared that they will take the test and that I am their support and role model, that they have the desire for it. They say that we didn’t decide anything before. Now drivers are being asked a lot, whether trucks or buses. And there are very capable women, brave women. I just don’t know what’s stopping them, so they can’t make up their minds and say – I’m going now and I’ll take the exam. At least they should try. I’m the same when they told me Edina, so don’t do it, who’s going to take you no one will hire you at the age of 43, you are a nana, your children are big, they are getting older. However, there are always the right people to recognize the quality in someone. The same will happen with others. I would ask them to at least try. Me it would be a great personal pleasure to have a couple of female colleagues with me in my company, in my agency. Let’s simply freshen up the roads,” says Edina.
Edina clearly points to the question of where the courage of Kruščica’s women, who is recognized far and wide, comes from.
“That’s how we are by nature. That’s how all women are. They fight. They work, have companies and go to school, and there really are a lot of fighting women. Almost all of Kruščica is like that. I’m talking about both younger and older people. They really fight. These are fighting women “, points out Edina.
– Travelers about Edina –
Namka Hurem from Kruščica also uses the bus to Vitez or Travnik almost every day.
“This is the starting point. The fact that Edina is behind the wheel is a surprise for a lot of people. I can see how people are watching. But, knowing Edina and her persistence, she sacrifices herself, as much as she has her own goal and direction, and thank God she succeeds, it did not surprise me.” , says Namka.
Nothing less, but she doesn’t feel more insecure that Edina is behind the wheel, instead of a man.
“I traveled a lot around the world. I saw who does everything and what. Everything is normal there, I can say that here it is here, these jobs are still at the beginning, like a surprise. I think that women are more capable than men in some jobs. And what if a woman is capable of sitting at home,” points out Namka.
The distinguishing feature of the women of Kruščica, he says, is that they defended the water of that settlement, which means life. That is what Namka says, the pinnacle of success, the crown of everything.
“I guess some other woman will follow a similar path, like Edina. There are other successful women. But they are somehow not allowed to start. Maybe something is holding them back. But maybe there will still be. I believe that they will. If I were younger, I would go myself.” , Namka said.
Seventy-year-old Bahajija Muslimović, a former policeman, from Kruščica has only words of praise for Edina and her driving.
“I had an operation on my eyes and I haven’t been able to drive for several years. We’ve had this line constantly since before the war. I knew before Edina started driving that she was passing it. Many people were surprised. I wasn’t, to be honest. I even I was perhaps one of the first to give her some support. I told her not to give up when she had already made up her mind. I don’t know how to drive a bus. I have a B category, which is an amateur category for this, and she is a professional. I, as a man, who he is 70 years old and worked in the police, so I have experience with drivers and vehicles and various controls, not at all, not a single second that I feel something that Edina drives worse than our former driver, as we called him Strikan, who retired. there is no difference. Maybe it’s an even more sensitive drive than men when it comes to Edina,” Behajija pointed out.
Before, he says, he didn’t have any feeling, women are women, but since the war, and since women have taken over many jobs, the attitude towards them has changed.
“They have now come to the fore. These girls are already married now, they graduated from college, while before, in my time, it was much less, only a few. Now there are a lot of those who are getting an education. Probably that’s what the father in those women who is being created. They have a different view of life, which is not only in the countryside. Therefore, it did not surprise me at all for Edina that she succeeded. There will probably be other examples as well,” Behajija said, Anadolu Agency reports.
Edina Trako (Photo: Nihad Ibrahimkadić – Anadolu)
