Alison Sluiter (Bosnian Women – BOSFAM): Alison graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 2008 with a BS in Foreign Service. While at university she studied abroad in Warsaw and Berlin where she interned at the Blaetter fuer deutsche und internationale Politik, a German-language political journal. Alison returned to Berlin during her senior year with a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to conduct research for her thesis on the educational attainment levels of Turkish-German female students in Germany. During 2008 Alison worked at The Advocacy Project in Washington, where she helped to build the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt project and coordinate outreach. She also accompanied Beba Hadzic on a visit to Bosnian diaspora groups in St. Louis, Chicago, New York, and Washington. After her fellowship in Bosnia, Alison wrote: “All the women of BOSFAM have been so welcoming and accepting - I feel like I have 10 new mothers."
Check out this short YouTube video AP Fellow Kelsey Bristow and I created following our attendance of the commemoration ceremony at Srebrenica-Potocari on July 11, 2009. I hope it will give everyone following my blog a better sense of what my experience on Saturday was like. Many thanks to Kelsey for her hard work on this!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iihWM-RRdc
Posted By Alison Sluiter
Posted Jul 14th, 2009
8 Comments
Dave B
July 14, 2009
Alison – The video really struck an emotional cord. Looking at the somber, grief-stricken faces brings new perspective to the situation in Srebrenica.
Louise
July 14, 2009
Watching the simple, black clad, numbered coffins being carried by the men it hits me, again, it’s only us humans who behave in this unhuman way towards another.
Elmina
July 15, 2009
It is heartbreaking that we do not learn from history! Alison and Kelsey, thank you for your hard work and dedication to Srebrenica, Bosnia, it is truly appreciated.
Alison Sluiter
July 16, 2009
Thank you to all who have had a chance to view and comment on the video. Kelsey and I did a short interview with Beba Hadzic, BOSFAM’s Director, on the importance of Srebrenica and what it means to her. I will be sure to post this to my blog as well as YouTube once it is complete.
Shweta
July 17, 2009
Hi Alison, you both portrayed the circumstances very well. It really brings back memories of the commemoration and the tension in the air at the time. I remember hearing the young girl sing, her voice echoing, and everyone was absolutely quiet. Glad the numbers being identified are rising though, it allows for more people to have closure as you said, but definitely difficult to understand and grasp what it means for the families so many years later. I hope everyone at Bosfam is well. Please pass my love.
Owen
July 24, 2009
It must have brought the reality of what happened on the march home to you with a blow to hear the young man talk about watching the death of his father and brother like that. Good you had kind company to provide some cushion of humanity to the experience.
Sue Stretton
September 9, 2009
I travel to Bosnia with the Healing Hands Network Charity where we work on a voluntary basis giving professional healing holistic therapies to these survivors of war and camps, to help ease the post traumatic stress they suffer. Thank you for this moving video. It shows why i go each year. These people are amazing and dignified and should never be forgotten.
Alison Sluiter
September 29, 2009
Thanks for sharing, Sue. I would be very interested to hear more about your work. Perhaps you can visit us in Tuzla next time you are in BiH?