Everything started in Bosnia… being there for 3 weeks, at the IPP organized in Ljubija – Prjiedor in 2009 together with a fantastic group of CISVers, was the starting point of a deep reflection about war and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. No one of the IPPers were there only by chance. Maybe not one of us could know in advance or even expect what we were to find there, but each one of us went back home immeasurably richer than before and with a strange, sad and sweet nostalgia of that country and of its people.

Confronting myself with Bosnian people, their experiences of the war 1991-1995, the painful reality of a concentration camp told by those who had experienced it, the mass graves, their lives as refugees, and the violent character of the society which still permeates their lives left me with a deep feeling of sorrow and the desire to know more about this conflict burst out in the middle of Europe. And so, as soon as I came back, I read all the reports and witnesses of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and many more books on this topic, because I wanted to know and understand. It was my tribute to Bosnia, in some way.

Some time elapsed and all of a sudden I had to confront myself with this theme again, linked to the CISV theme for this year “Peaceful resolution of conflicts”, because we decided to plan a “Mosaic-like” activity in my Chapter, Bologna, dedicated to CISV adults and parents. The Chapter’s Council decided more than one year ago to dedicate some of our monthly meetings not only to the discussion of practical things, organisation of activities and quarrels about fees, but to focus on values….at least to take some rest from the everyday “banal” organisational aspects and go back to the spring of our commitment in CISV! We already had a couple of meetings on values and now we are going to dedicate 2 days to the theme of peaceful resolution of conflicts. This will be the agenda of the 2 days:

Day 1: "Blue and yellow", “Social ladder ” activities, presentation of the booklet “Confronting conflicts” by Einav Dinur, debate…only with parents, to make them “taste” the flavor of a real CISV activity, almost exclusively reserved to their children up until now!

Day 2: Viewing of the movie “In my country”, presentation of the experience of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, presentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), debate.

Let me give you just an idea of the work of the International Criminal Tribunal to let you understand. Here is an extract from a Guilty plea of a prosecuted person:

“There was no choice. You could be either a soldier or a traitor…Death became our reality. Unfortunately, it became everyday reality. Who before could have believed that the horrors of war would have become everyday reality? Who could have believed that they could become a part of our lives? Surrounded with horrors, we got used to them and went on living like that. Among these horrors, things happened that were done by people who knew each other, people who, until yesterday, had lived almost as family members together. In Bosnia, a neighbour means more than a relative. In Bosnia, having coffee with your neighbour is a ritual, and this is what we trampled on and forgot. We lost ourselves in hatred and brutality.

I am here before Your Honours because I wish to express my remorse. I have thought for a long time, and I’m always followed by the same thought – guilt….The guilt for this I feel remorse and for which I apologize to the victims and their shadows, I will be happy if this contributed to reconciliation in Bosnia, if neighbours can shake hands, if our children can again play games together, and if they have the right to a chance”

We know that our involvement is very little in comparison with others, but, if it works, this will be a part of our project of co-working with secondary schools in Bologna area, thanks to a cooperation with the Municipality of Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna.

So, let’s cross our fingers and hope it will work!

In any case, let me dedicate this activity to Boba, Jovana, Jelena, Mladica, Goran, Gogie, Ratko, Milan and the children of Ljubija, to Nina, Zoran and Sonela, and to Mladen Petrovic, who experienced the Omarska concentration camp and could never be the same person.