Bosnia 1995 – On the 18th of August, it rained copiously the entire day and there was mud everywhere. With such inclement weather, one would expect the warring factions to slow down their activity; but it was exactly the opposite. One of the occurrences that marked the day was a sniper fire over one of the very few buses that were still running in Sarajevo. The bus was executing a very specific path, in a part of the City that was protected from the Serbian snipers’ view, transporting mainly (but not only) children to/from their school.
For me however, the experience that marked that day was a question asked by our neighbor youngest soon, which was boldly playing in the street and used to seek refuge in the UNMO house yard when things went wrong. Aware that I was a foreigner, the child asked his older brother to translate his curiosity:
– “How is the war like in your country?”
The child didn’t know any other environment beyond the ongoing conflict; therefore, for him, all other places should also have their own conflicts … especially if the people coming from those other places were dressing camouflage uniforms and wearing helmets.
There was only one game that kid could play on his street, which was “hide and seek”. He had to move fast, find the perfect hideout and not stay too long in the same place. He had never played football with his friends, on any other child’s play requiring a sniper’s fire carefree attitude.
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