Now, more than 200 women in Busovaca have participated in the Sponsorship and ReneWLS Programs, and things are changing. The women have more initiative, are stronger, more open, more active, and have ideas for projects in the community. They have recognized opportunities and worked together, not as a group of Muslim women or Catholic women, simply as women. Some women have started their own income-generating activities, such as making and selling handicrafts, and joined the organization’s microcredit lending program. One woman who recently completed the Sponsorship and ReneWLS Program told us that she had just earned 25 KM (approximately $17 USD) selling her handicrafts, the first income she had ever received. Another woman, who had worked before the war but who had been unemployed for several years, learned embroidery through the ReneWLS Program. Now she is selling some of her embroidery work, thereby increasing her family’s income, and is planning to take a loan to expand her business. To see women taking charge of their lives in this way also provides other women in the community with examples of what they are capable of accomplishing.

One woman approached Razija, our Program Manager and thanked us for “uniting women from the town, city and village, bringing together women of various religious backgrounds and nationalities, urban and rural women, women of differing educational backgrounds, and women from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the U.S.” She said, “These things have brought changes into my life, and given me hope that we will have a better future in Bosnia.” It has been very rewarding for us to see the women becoming more active, more involved in women’s issues together.

After introducing our program to Busovaca, we had the impression that the women there had been waiting for something, or someone, to bring them together – they needed someone to unite them and to remind them that they had once been great neighbors. We reminded them that they were all women and they needed to help each other, and that by thinking this way their lives could be changed. As a result, they began to approach us and tell us that it was very painful for them to be separated, that they had needed an organization such as ours to arrive. After some time, we even had some women of one religion bring women of a different religion to the program.

 We also recently completed a project in Busovaca that trained women to be leaders in their communities and to promote women’s rights and issues. The project, which included women from all three ethnicities, encouraged women to take a more active part in society and play a greater leadership role in their communities. As a result, they are able to use their new skills to identify the problems that exist in their communities and take the initiative to solve such problems through the democratic process, which is crucial in rebuilding civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of the main goals were for women to be more active in the local community, to have more women in politics and public life, and for them to have better chances in either finding employment or beginning their own income-generating activities.

This leadership training project also involved the formation of a Coordinating Board, consisting of 15 women, some of whom are our participants but also including other women from the community, to represent women's rights and interests in the municipal government. The Coordinating Board in Busovaca includes women from the three major religions. Although we were a little concerned about the women working well together, this concern proved unnecessary -- the women are working very effectively and have united to promote women’s issues and rights, to help themselves and others.

One Coordinating Board member, Sanja Glavurda, does legal work to help poor women in Busovaca. Sanja told us about how difficult it is for a woman to show her strengths and abilities in the traditional environment of Busovaca. And for many women with only a primary school education, life is even more difficult. Many of these women stay in violent marriages solely to receive food and shelter.

One young Board member, Nermena, who was only a teenager during the war, told us that the real value of the leadership training project was that all three nationalities showed interest in women’s issues together, not just the issues of their ethnic group. They have realized that their problems are the same. She also said that before joining the program she was closed and shy, and that because of the organization she has become more assertive and ready to fight for women’s issues. She also began working as a volunteer to teach illiterate women how to read and write, and says that without participating in the program, she would never have thought of doing such a thing.

Sanja also told us that the town’s women were so enthusiastic about the project because something like it had been desperately needed there, and once it began everyone knew how important it was for all of them to come together. She said that it was her great wish for such a project to take place in all communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding that if it could work in Busovaca, it could work anywhere.

The spirit of unity did not come to an end when the leadership project was complete. Now, women of all ethnicities are working together on projects to assist others in need. For example, the women are currently organizing a fundraiser for a child needing an operation. Zeljka Bosnjak, a member of the Coordinating Board, told us that one year ago this would not have happened in Busovaca, that only the Catholic women or Muslim women would have organized such an activity, but not all of them together. She also said that now the women are also meeting socially, and that this has happened only since Women for Women International began working there. In her words, “Ethnicity has been thrown away.”

 The town’s women are also working together on another project – this one to improve the economic situation of women. They are organizing a bazaar to exhibit their handicrafts and other products, through which they expect to sell their products as well as promote their skills. Also to promote local handicrafts, the Coordinating Board is planning to have a shop opened for the women’s crafts, which would not only give them a place to sell their products and create greater visibility for their handicrafts, but also provide employment for some women in the community.

 One of the most important results of our work in Busovaca has been the change in the attitude of the local government towards women’s issues -- officials are showing more respect towards women’s issues and taking them more seriously. Municipal leaders have promised to provide space for the women to hold meetings, to provide financial support, and to recognize the Coordinating Board once it has been registered legally. They have also committed to providing assistance in finding a greater market for women’s handicrafts.

Because our programs have been so successful in Busovaca, there is now a long list of women awaiting sponsorship. Family, friends and neighbors of participants have come to us after seeing the benefits of the organization’s programs and projects not only on individual women but in the community as a whole. They have seen women working together, beginning their own income-generating activities with their newly acquired skills, and the local community showing greater respect towards them.

Busovaca is a success story for our organization; however, there remains a great need to offer our programs and projects such as leadership training in other parts of the country. While much of the world is focused on other parts of the globe, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a very poor country where women, unless they are educated, continue to play traditional roles. It is only with the assistance of our sponsors that we are able to grow and expand into new regions of the country and reach more women. We continue to be deeply grateful for every sponsor who provides a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina with opportunities and hope for the future.

Thank you for all that you do.

Sincerely,
Seida Saric