Dialogue or trauma?

When I got the invitation to participate in this program, I had no idea what I was getting into. Now at the end of the seventh day I can sum it all up with the following thought: I am speechless!

During these seven days we have been exposed to a large amount of different information regarding the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992-1995, as well as the Second World War in the former Yugoslavia. The program was complicated to say the least, but in the end it was interesting and we had the opportunity to hear stories from a group of people who all had one thing in common: what brought them together was the impact of war in some shape or form.

The impact is shown through trauma, which unfortunately manifests itself in various forms. The most common effect is "post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. This disorder can manifest itself in a couple of different everyday situations. The most common example of PTSD in the world is the loud explosions coming from fireworks or firecrackers. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, it is most often a trigger to have any contact with people who are of different ethnicities or who have different religious beliefs.

The only way to move forward is to communicate with other people about the war, the people who were on the "other" side. When one begins to communicate and see the other side of the story, only then can one begin to understand and understand what really happened.

~ Uroš Kostović