Over the winter break I traveled through the Bosnian cities of Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla and Zenica interviewing youngsters, NGO workers, government officials and genocide survivors about Bosnia and the Bosnian identity today. Depending on the region of the country, the religious and ethnic background of the individual and their experience during war, the answer to this question varied drastically. I realized that the complex ethnic and religious divides erected by the war are still quite prevalent, even though peace was declared more than a decade ago. Such divides are further intensified by problems of unemployment, poverty and corruption. Having returned from Bosnia I have started working with Prof. Armina Omerika on an independent project drawing on my experience in the country. I have also initiated the "Refugee Relief Program" that pledges to financially support suffering refugees all over the world. Its first initiative is for a refugee family from Kosovo that is now living in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. For more information on this initiative please contact Somdeep Sen ssen03@stlawu.edu or Shaun Whitehead swhitehead@stlawu.edu.

The photos above and just below are of the destruction caused by the war in the 90s. These were taken in the eastern part of Mostar. Rebuilding has been slow in this part of the city that is mostly inhabited by the Muslims. Since the politicians in this region are mostly Croats, they have allocated most of the funds to rebuild the western part of the city, inhabited mostly by Croats.

Above is a view of the capital city, Sarajevo

This picture is of Stari Most or the Old Bridge in Mostar. It crosses the river Neretva and connects the eastern and the western parts of the city. It was first built by the Ottomans in the 16th century but was destroyed by the Croats on November 9th, 1993 at 10:15am. After a rebuilding project, the bridge was re-opened on July 23, 2004.