Once on the opposing sides, today together – former minor fighters of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Army of the Republika Srpska and the Croatian Defense Council talked to young people about harmful impact of the participation in war on them.
Through the project “Children of war to the children of peace”, during 30 workshops in high schools throughout BiH they have been talking about why, so many years after the war, they believe that their participation in military formations was wrong and how it reflected on their growing up and present life.
“The aim of this is to prevent the new generations from making the mistakes we made, to accept each other, to respect each other and not to kill each other. I think that it is a good thing for the children to see us, who were on the opposing sides during the war, together in front of them, speaking about all the horrors we have been through, to see that the horrors are equal. This is one of our last workshops and we did not expect such great results,” said Kemal Šalaka from the Association of Minor Volunteers of the Defense-Liberation War 92-95 of the Sarajevo Canton.
Together with Kemal at the workshop in the Secondary Dental School in Sarajevo were Selvir Tabak and Rusmir Piralić from this association, the former minor member of the Army of Republika Srpska Mitar Popović, and Vladimir Perić and Robert Šuban, who joined the Croatian Defense Council as teenagers during the war.
“I wish that no child ever experiences what we have experienced. There are no impossible questions and answers, these young people can ask whatever they want, without hesitation. We have lost our youth, we have missed the chance to educate ourselves, majority of us have health issues, which is why it is hard for us to find a job although we are still not old,” said Vladimir Perić from the Association of Minor Volunteers of the Croatian Defense Council.
The project “Children of war to the children of peace” is being implemented by the Association of Minor Volunteers of the Defense-Liberation War 92-95 of the Sarajevo Canton in cooperation with the foundation “Wings of Hope” and is one of the activities supported within the project “Dialogue for Future”, which is a joint initiative of the Presidency of BiH and the United Nations in BiH.
(Source: novovrijeme.ba)
