Little thread about conflict. Back in the 90s I worked on a series of ‘peace camps’ for kids from the various bits of former Yugoslavia - whilst the conflict was still going on. The camps were in Austria, run by Norwegian and Austrian NGOs. (Thread)
The kids were in their teens. There were Croats, Serbs, Kosovans, Bosnians and Vojvodinans involved. My role was to help them produce a kind of newsletter - early days of desktop publishing, I was a bit of a geek.
I was also there to be a general facilitator, to help with meetings between their various groups. These were kids from a nation literally tearing itself apart with war. Many had relatives who had died. Many were expecting to have to fight if things continued.
I had preconceptions - I followed the story of the war from a distance - about each of the different groups. The UK media told us the Serbs were aggressors, the Croats fierce nationalists, the Bosnians victims - and didn’t even mention Kosovo, let alone Vojvodina.
Those preconceptions melted away with great speed. Everyone had their own position, their own story - and everyone had suffered (and was suffering) in their own way. Pretty much everyone was being manipulated too, by the media, their ‘leaders’, even their parents.
Very little could be agreed upon - even now I’m not sure whether it was really useful at all - but it changed things for me. Wars are awful. Really awful. People fight them for reasons they think are good. None of the stories we’re told should be taken at face value.
And, most importantly, if you haven’t been in a conflict it’s really hard to understand or appreciate the perspective of those who have. I found the deepest respect for a lot of those kids - and when I returned to England I was angry with people who continued to tell stories...
...perpetuating the myths. And glorifying war. I’m not sure what I am really saying here except that we need to listen more to the people who suffer, and less to those who use war for their own ends. Particularly politicians.
I’ve heard the same from almost every conflict... /end
