Bužim – a small city with 20,000 inhabitants in Bosnia and Herzegovina – is populated with a large number of twins of over 200 pairs.
Zumreta Hodžić, civil registrar at the registry office of the Municipality of Bužim, said that “that phenomenon is present for years, and I got used to it by coming on this job. There is a large number of cases that the families have 10, even 15 children, and many twins among them.”
Actually, there is no classes in primary and secondary schools which do not have at least one pair of twins.
And a story about this Bužim phenomenon started from the local journalists and publicists Nedžib Vučelja.
When Nedžib’s wife, Emira Vučelj, gave birth to twins in the midst of the war in Bosnia, it was impossible to purchase quality baby strollers; their hometown, Bužim, was blockaded by enemy troops.
Nedžib attempted to borrow strollers from their neighbors, but they unfortunately borrowed their strollers to another family. When he contacted the receiving family, they told him that these strollers were forwarded, and that they do not have them anymore.
“Then I realized how many twins were here,” said Vučelj, a former teacher and journalist, who has launched an initiative to declare Bužim “The Twin City”.
Investigating the phenomenon, he discovered that during the war, from 1992 to 1995, at least 21 pairs of twins were born. Local officials supported Vučelj’s initiative, hoping to attract visitors to this picturesque town in north-western Bosnia, located between green hills and clear streams, and where most people live on the harvest of raspberries and chestnuts.
“We could organize annual meetings of Bužim twins, which would be the first of its kind in the country,” said Bunić, the mayor of Bužim.
“It is difficult to explain,” said Amet Dizdarević, who also has twins. “People seem to be healthy here, the nature is healthy, clean. And that’s it.”
Given the events of the war in B&H, many parents have left the city along with their children, potentially resulting in so much lost data. However, the habitants of this city still deeply believe that there is a long tradition of the birth of twins.
Twins Elma and Selma Burzić pose for a portrait in a primary school in Buzim attempting to trace the twins from Bužim who left the city during the war, Vučelj started a Facebook page – “Bužim – grad blizanaca” (Bosnian for “City of Twins”). Based on initial responses, he believes that he is on the trail of about 200 pairs of twins.
The habitants of the city are struggling to explain the phenomenon of twins in Bužim. Kemal Dizdarević, father of 17-month twins, says that there is a “tradition” of giving birth to twins in his family and the family of his wife.
“I hope they will grow up to be good athletes. They can grow up to be anything, just not politicians”, said Dizdarević.
As all parents of twins are following the birth of twins in other regions, their wish is to reach record of Wilmot town in the district of Chicago, USA. In this city, 23 pairs of twins are attending the same class in a primary school.
In Buzim, there was one case that the father has 40 children, but in more marriages.
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba)
