Yesterday I visited the Tunnel Museum. During the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, the city of Sarajevo was under siege and completely surrounded by Serbian forces. The tunnel was constructed by the besieged citizens of Sarajevo in order to link the cut off city with the supposedly neutral area at the Sarajevo airport set up by the United Nations. Before the tunnel was built, people were taking their chances, hiring 'rabbits' to guide and basically run them across the airport grounds to the free Bosnian territory, while snipers would open fire on them.
Beginning in January 1993, the Sarajevo Tunnel was dug by Bosnian volunteers working in 8-hour shifts under extremely challenging conditions. It was completed 5 months later, which allowed food and humanitarian aid to come into the city, and people to get out. Not to mention bypassing the international arms embargo and bringing military weapons into the city. The driver that took me to the museum was around my age, and stayed in Sarajevo during the siege. It was so fascinating to hear his observations – basically his story of survival. Pointing out Sniper Alley, how there are mostly young trees in Sarajevo, because the majority were cut for firewood during the siege, etc.
Its hard to imagine what people endured during those years under siege. Locked into a city with no electricity, food, or heat. Serbian forces bombarding the city from the surrounding hills. And how such a small channel, a painstakingly dug tunnel, linked Sarajevo to the outside world and literally saved the city.
The only reason the tunnel was successful was because NATO enforced a no fly zone. Mortar shells and bullets pockmarked the surrounding area, but artillery alone was not enough to destroy the tunnel. There was a documentary at the museum, with compiled news footage of the siege. Mortar shells whizzing through the air, people scattering on the street, avoiding sniper bullets, soldiers and citizens laboring and risking their lives to bring much needed resources into the city via the tunnel.
It is hard to believe it was only 15 years ago that this happened. You hear stories of combat and survival from World War 2 and such, but it is surreal to be in a city that so recently endured such an intense conflict. And to see the devastating effects. As I walk through the city streets, I see remnants of that struggle, the pockmarked buildings and streets. But what is even harder to see is the lingering effect it had on peoples’ hearts. How do you begin repairs on a person’s soul?
I begin to think about all the other conflicts occurring in the world at this moment – Darfur, Burma, Somalia. I see them on the news, if that, and think it is a shame what is happening, but the full gravity of the situation doesn't sink in. I am not there to experience the vastness of the devastation. What will happen with Iraq? The country’s infrastructure was already destroyed during the Gulf War, and the destruction has become much more intense, including the destitution of the people. Innocents that are caught in the middle of a bloody war. It is impossible to fathom what it will take to rebuild that society, and how many years it will take. It breaks my heart to think of all the atrocities committed, tearing people and communities apart. With all my book knowledge and ‘NGO toolbox for development’ experience, I have no idea how to begin to rebuild and create sustainable, positive change in these places.
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