The rhetoric of division into one, two and three was particularly pronounced in the pre-election period. Dividing citizens into national camps is a winning card that politicians have been playing for years.
According to the principle of “divide and rule”, not knowing that citizens, at least not all, cannot be divided. The residents of Srebrenica showed it again. This time from Bartova Street. Neighbors who live in harmony, what they teach their children.
Baratova is the settlement in Srebrenica that has the most children in the city. Children are reluctant to separate when they have to go on trips to the Drina or Lake Perucac. This was a problem for the parents when organizing their trips, so they decided to buy them a swimming pool together.
“Now that they are on vacation, they will not be separated. And you can’t pick up all the children when we go swimming in the Drina. For example, I pick up my two and I can get two or three more from the neighbor, but when they get to where they want to bathe, you can see that something bothers them. They say: ‘If only Helena were here for us. No Helena.’ They are simply not the children they used to be. They will play again, then they will mention Veljko, then Izet, then Ilzana”, says Amra Keso-Omerovic.
“We realized that it is not worth it for us. We are asking who will drive us while we find transportation… We sat down and saw that the only solution was to get a swimming pool for the settlement. We asked the other parents, we are all in agreement here and there are the most children here… When we go to Lake Perucac, when we go to Paradise beach. That’s all far away. There are also small children, we must not let them go”, adds Vesna Surlan.
“We went to the mayor and asked him for a plot of land to build a swimming pool. Without saying a word, he supported the idea: ‘It’s a great idea, I want to help you, the Municipality will participate in it,’ he said. And that’s how we bought a swimming pool,” says Amra.
After the purchase of the swimming pool, a problem arose regarding water, because in those days there was a water restriction in Srebrenica due to the low level of the Jadar river, which supplies the water supply of the municipality, but that was not a problem either.
“We put together a pool, we don’t have water. Nor did we have anywhere to sleep. And then we again brought water from Bratunac in tankers. Everyone is together and everyone hangs out. You can go to the end of the world. Just call the neighbors and your child will not be hungry or thirsty and even, if there is no room in their apartment, someone will come to your apartment and spend the night with your children. We’re used to it, this is Baratova. It’s us. We are in agreement and everyone is very happy that it is like this. “Especially now for the pool,” Amra points out.
“The pool is great for us, the company is great for us! There are about twenty of us. We hang out, we go to sections every day at school, we return from school, we go to the playground, we return from the playground,” says Veljko Surlan.
Children and parents from Baratova in Srebrenica show by example what healthy neighborly relations look like and how many things can be achieved through harmony. And where there’s a will, there’s a way, Federalna writes.
