Survivors of Genocide - Mirzeta Colic (Trailer)

Summary

The transcript shares a deeply personal narrative about resilience and the impact of family values. The speaker reflects on their father's dedication to education and hard work, contrasting it with the trauma of losing their childhood home to occupation. The story touches on the importance of perseverance, despite hardship, and the ongoing emotional struggle of returning to a place filled with painful memories. Through meditation and self-reflection, the speaker navigates the haunting experiences, revealing a journey of self-discovery and healing.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker's father worked as a chief of finances for schools while also building a house for the family, teaching them the importance of hard work.
• 😀 Education was highly valued in the speaker's family, with the father emphasizing that daughters should pursue education rather than marriage.
• 😀 The speaker's father believed in their abilities and instilled confidence, telling them they could survive anywhere in the world.
• 😀 A fond memory of the speaker’s childhood is their mother’s big garden filled with colorful roses.
• 😀 The speaker recalls their childhood home as a place of love, care, and constant meals, where their parents gave everything for their education and future.
• 😀 The family’s home, once a symbol of love, was taken over by Serbs, leading to feelings of anger and a desire for revenge.
• 😀 The speaker avoided visiting the home when they returned to Bosnia in 2009, feeling like a stranger in a house once built by their parents.
• 😀 The speaker now identifies as an American, rather than as someone from their former home country of Bosnia.
• 😀 Talking about the traumatic past is difficult, as it brings back painful memories and images from the past.
• 😀 The speaker has turned to meditation as a way to deal with the emotional and psychological trauma from their experiences.

Q & A

What role did the speaker's father play in their life and the community?

The speaker's father worked as a chief of finances for schools and simultaneously built a house for the family. He emphasized the importance of education and encouraged the speaker, especially as the firstborn daughter, to pursue opportunities that would lead to success, even in foreign countries.

How did the speaker's father view education for his daughters, in contrast to societal expectations?

In their country, many parents expected daughters to marry rather than pursue education. However, the speaker's father taught them that they could achieve anything by setting their minds to it and emphasized the value of education.

What words from the speaker's father stuck with her throughout her life?

The speaker recalls her father's words: 'You’re the only daughter of mine I can send to any country in the world and know you will survive.' These words had a lasting impact and gave her strength during difficult times.

What childhood memory does the speaker cherish most?

The speaker fondly remembers her mother’s large garden, filled with roses of various colors. This memory is one of the positive aspects of her childhood.

What was the emotional significance of the house the speaker grew up in?

The house the speaker grew up in was filled with love, care, and daily meals. It was a place where the parents provided everything for the children, including the opportunity for education and a better life. It symbolizes warmth and security.

How did the speaker's perception of her childhood home change after the conflict?

After the conflict, the speaker's childhood home was occupied by Serbs, and she could no longer view it as a place of safety and love. The house became a symbol of darkness, torture, and fear, where she feared for her life daily.

What impact did the Serbs' occupation of the speaker's house have on her?

The occupation of the house by Serbs led the speaker to avoid visiting the house after returning in 2009. She could not bring herself to see strangers living in a place her parents had built, as it no longer felt like home to her.

Why did the speaker choose not to visit her childhood home after returning to Bosnia in 2009?

The speaker chose not to visit her childhood home because it was occupied by Serbs. She felt like a stranger in the house, and it no longer represented her origin or identity. She identified as an American visiting Bosnia, which made it difficult to connect to the past.

What emotions did the speaker experience when discussing the trauma related to the conflict?

The speaker found it difficult to talk about the trauma, as revisiting those memories brought back vivid, painful images of what she had experienced. The trauma was challenging to face, but she acknowledged the need to deal with it.

How does the speaker cope with the traumatic memories of her past?

The speaker has been practicing meditation to help cope with the traumatic memories and to find ways to process and deal with her emotions related to the past.