Dear Friends,

A final reflection. My time in Belgrade is coming to a close quite soon (June 27). I think about this and feel a bit of a twang inside. Like when a pianist is playing a melody and suddenly hits the wrong key. Honestly, I’m just thankful for the chance I’ve had to live in Serbia for a brief time, to learn about the country and important issues (which apply to many countries), to work at the OSCE Mission, and, most of all, to make new and lovely friendships. Farewells are never very pleasant, but better to have such experiences and such friends to say farewell to. It is also kind of annoying to leave now that I’ve gotten to the point where I feel in the swing of things with the work. Nonetheless, I think it is time to regresar, as there is much I have to process and prepare for, and I always feel a bit in cultural limbo while abroad. But of course, I have the same feeling when I’m home. So, I don’t know what that means.

Moving on…sort of

As for what is next, I am going to be starting the PhD program in political science (comparative politics/international relations emphasis) at the University of Minnesota in the fall. I’m rather excited for this, as UofM has an excellent political science doctoral program and I just love my field and am looking forward to more study and research. In many ways, this experience at the OSCE Mission in the area of equal opportunities (minority and education issues/policy, religious dialogue, gender issues, Roma national minority issues, and database to keep track of hate crimes/discrimination cases) has been very valuable, as it has exposed me to an area of study that I didn’t understand so well before. Furthermore, it coincides with or is often linked to int’l migration issues, my particular research interest. Research ideas are bursting out everywhere, like cherries on a tree waiting to be picked. So, we'll see if I can survive the next 6 or so years of grad school.

Oh for the love of Serbia

In terms of the day to day, I’ll miss going to the outdoor market every weekend to buy fresh fruit and vegetables from the local farmers. It is a good test of my mastery of Serbian numbers when they quote the price – the slurring always gets me though. I’ll miss dropping into the little corner stores for just the basics that I need from day to day. No big sterile supermarkets, no wasting hours wandering among so many things, things, things. I’ll miss the car-less lifestyle and the rickety trolleybuses, as well as the strange feeling, almost a peace at times, of not understanding what is being said around me. Of course, I’ll miss the fun of learning new Serbian words here and there. (The driver the other day taught me the word “glup”, which is pronounced “gloop” and means “stupid” – what a great word to role around the tongue). Sigh, and I’ll miss the visits to the popcorn man in the center – the way my friend and I cap off our long walks home from work. And, although I’ve hardly had the energy for it, I’ll miss the outings into the Serbian nightlife – if nothing else to gawk at and be entertained by the (interesting) fashions being sported by the hip locals. And traditional Serbian food – delicious; I should have had more. But shopska – a simple salad never tasted so good. Okay, yes, I know these are silly things. But silly things make up life too.














Last amateur assessment of conditions in Serbia

Reflecting on Serbia and overall conditions, I suppose progress can be observed on many fronts. A couple more individuals accused of war crimes have been arrested and taken to the Hague to begin trials. A new democratic-ish government has been formed. Membership talks with the EU are being resumed. And perceptions of greater stability will spark greater foreign investment and development. There are more such examples of progress. But, indeed, significant work remains – the marginalization of and discrimination against minority communities, need for further police reform, necessity for development of a political leadership that is more accountable to the people and less stymied by bitter political bickering, the greater protection and promotion of an independent media, increased understanding and tolerance among and for religious communities, the better integration of refugee and IDP populations, and the list goes on.

The poor conditions that the Roma population lives in are particularly challenging and overwhelming. Poverty, lack of access to education, experience of discrimination and social marginalization, lack of access to health care and employment, and a lack of basic standards of housing and sanitation form a complex web that entangles this minority in cyclical conditions of poverty and exclusion. While minorities in Serbia in general face a number of challenges, the Roma are on the fringes of the fringe of society. Their living conditions and their socio-economic position is horrifying in many respects. The majority live in what are illegal settlements in which homes seem pasted together with scraps of garbage and take the form of shanty towns. According to a 2005 United Nations Development Program study, 63 per cent of the Roma live under the poverty line compared to 13 percent of the majority population. Furthermore, with regard to education, census figures show that only 29 per cent complete primary school, 7.8 per cent completed secondary school, and 0.3 per cent finished tertiary education. Education is essential for breaking the cycle of poverty, but poverty breeds less access to education, which breeds social and economic inequality and marginalization, which breeds poverty etc. The cycle goes on. Only about 1% of the Roma population achieves university level education. For this reason, the government has adopted a strategy on health, housing, employment, and education among the Roma population and municipalities have adopted local action plans, which the OSCE supports. Steps are being taken, efforts are being made – are they enough?

As for the much-talked-about status of Kosovo – still no new breakthroughs and no security council decision has been made yet. A new propsoal has been submitted by the U.S. and EU, I belieev, to delay the implementation of the Athisaari proposal. Russia and Serbia are still a no go. We will see what happens.

Places and lessons blurring - a reflection on hope

I have had no big adventurous trips to report since the trek to Zagreb. And as the time ticks down, I’m realizing how much more there is to see and understand. But it seems now that each new experience brings up a memory of Central America or Lithuania. Memories building upon memories. The markets, the smells, the hills, the people. Last week, I went on a work assessment visit to Bosilegrad, a small town of 9,000 near the border with Bulgaria. It took me back to one time in Central America when we were driving for hours along a bumpy road where the only life seemed to be that of a sparse scraggly tree here and there. But, surprisingly, that road eventually climbed into the cloud forest of El Salvador where little communities were established and struggling to survive. In the same way, the poor road to Bosilegrad and the luscious green vegetation bursting from the mountains around it reminded me very much of the cloud forest in El Salvador.

Bosilegrad itself seemed a warm and friendly town, but it is one in which 80% of the population is unemployed. Can you imagine what that means? For Bosilegrad, it means poverty, and families are therefore migrating by the dozens each year with the majority of young people going to Bulgaria for university…and there is virtually no investment or developments to draw them back. Seeing this small town and the beauty of the surrounding environment, I felt sad at its decline…but it seems inevitable. The forces of economics and geography, perhaps politics too, are against the town’s survival. Towns are built up and towns dwindle down. Generations give birth, build memories, and bury their dead in towns…but the basic questions of how to survive and earn a living uproots man at certain times and in certain places. Poverty is not an abstract concept to these people. It is a reality of life that they struggle under. Similarly, the common struggle against the web of poverty, against marginalization, and for hope is a common denominator in the lives of most of the world’s population. The desire to build a secure and decent life for oneself and one’s children is very difficult or seemingly impossible for many.

Honestly, the more I see and learn, the smaller I feel and less I perceive the value of one invidividual life to significantly contribute to this world. The darkness is so overwhelming. It seems the sun is constantly setting. But pessimism is dangerous, for it too often spawns laziness, inaction, hopelessness – it dis-empowers. Thus, I shall sign on to optimism – because it is the only option. And frankly, I have no right to hopelessness, particularly when there are those who, living on the edge day to day and struggling to get by, still manage to persist with a measure of hope and vision for peace. They are beautiful to me. I cannot help but think of the numerous people I’ve met and read or heard about who encompass this description. There are many stories of progress and hopes realized by numerous active people here in Serbia or Central America and elsewhere who are accomplishing much in the way of bettering their lives and those around them. They are working in the areas of health, education, politics, and in their local communities, in NGOs, through their churches etc. and often go unnoticed. They have taught me a great deal and changed how I view the world in many ways. I can only say that I am thankful. Thankful that I have been able to learn from them, and I hope that I can somehow live without robbing the earth and robbing them, my neighbors. Ignorance too seems a type of robbing of dignity, a lack of respect for the hardships of others. Ignorance is easy, but it is not so blissful.

But these people, these activists, tell me another story that isn’t always so easy to read from the world around us - they illustrate what it means to live with hope. While being in different countries, I’ve struggled at times to see hope. My vision has too often been narrow and limited. But gradually, slowly, I’ve learned to expand my vision and search for hope in the example of individuals and small communities. Communities are full resources and knowledge that can change their course. The large picture may not be so encouraging, but one must change the perspective. I think of it like this: To the untrained eye, a desert mound can seem as it appears – a barren hill of sand. But to the eye of an archeologist, there may be an entire civilization buried beneath that hill. So it is with hope, I think. Hope lies buried beneath the tragedies of the past, present, and future. Hope may seem buried beneath the sand, overwhelmed by time, life’s decay, and reality. But the essence of its structure, the whisper of its voice never crumbles, never fades. Sometimes it seems that hope is strongest, almost becomes a living form in itself, when life is bleakest. And this vestige of hope in our world persists in the hearts of those who will not be silent, who will not give up for the vision deep inside their hearts for a whole life. In small ways, in unseen times and places, such hope and life triumph. But it only triumphs through the purposeful action of people who truly decide to love their neighbors as themselves in deeds. Hope always gives birth to action. Thus, we had much better live as archeologists when it comes to discovering a vision of hope for our world. I, for one, need to spend less time dawdling and staring immobile at the mountains of sand and be more intent on excavation. This question of hope – it doesn’t matter where we live and whether in rags or riches – it seems to be something too many are searching for and too few are living with.

Conclusion

This concludes my last update from Serbia. Below is a prayer by Oscar Romero that does me good to read again every now and then. (Romero was assassinated in 1980 for speaking out against the government repression and violation of human rights in El Salvador.) Blessings - Laura

Prayer of Archbishop Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the
Magnificent enterprise that is God’s word.

Nothing that we do is complete, which is another way of saying
That the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces the effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
Liberation realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and to do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
Between the master builder and the worker.

We are the workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen