For 10 years my annual trips to the Balkans have been part of the rhythm of my life. Every fall—and often in the spring, too—I would look forward to visiting Heart & Hand grantees, many of whom have become close friends. But by early summer this year, I knew that my pesky back problems would prohibit my traveling anywhere, let alone taking a long flight overseas. In October I succumbed to the pain and agreed to have major back surgery. The surgeon is pleased with the results and, after a couple of months of physical therapy, I should be returning to my regular routine. Thanks so much to everyone who sent me love and good wishes; your cards and messages sustained me through the worst of days.
Fortunately, many activists from the Balkans were in the States in 2008; I was able to meet with them and fulfill Heart and Hand's funding commitments for 2008. After years and years of hard work in the trenches, it's great to see these activists taking a role in international leadership.
In February, I did a presentation on socially responsible investing at a conference in New Orleans. While there, I met up with three activists: Rada Boric, director of the Centre for Women's Studies in Zagreb, Croatia; Danijela Dugandzic, co-director of CURE in Sarajevo, Bosnia; and Sandra Ljubinkovic, co-director of the Anti Trafficking Center in Belgrade, Serbia. They were guests at Eve Ensler's 10th anniversary celebration of Vagina Monologues. We spent one rainy night laughing together, walking the cobblestone streets of New Orleans, and catching up with one another.
As part of the its 20th anniversary celebration, the Global Fund for Women brought five of its international grantees to New York City in June, including Heart and Hand grantee, Taida Horozivic, founder and co-director of CURE in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Taida later visited San Francisco where she gave a stirring presentation about CURE's work at the Global Fund’s offices. One Heart & Hand funder was so moved by Taida's presentation that she doubled her grant to Heart & Hand. And, afterwards, another donor sent me a note saying, "Had CURE created just one of the list of
programs Taida described, I would have been impressed. How her team of three has accomplished so much in such a short time is a tribute to their skills and determination. Are Balkan women more intelligent than Americans, or only the ones you fund?"
The following week Lepa Mladjenovic and Tijana Popivoda, lesbian Serbian activists, were invited to be the keynote speakers at the San Francisco Dyke March. They met with donors of Heart & Hand and the Global Fund for Women at a private home to talk about their work. It was an evening of firsts for them: sitting with donors, asking questions back and forth, and learning a bit more about the strange art of US fundraising.
Then, in September, Jelena Djordjevic, co- director of the Anti Trafficking Center in Belgrade, Serbia, stopped in San Francisco on her way to a board meeting in Boulder, Colorado for The Urgent Action Fund. She gave a workshop for staff members of The Global Fund for Women on how activists can nurture themselves. As a lifelong networker, it was refreshing for me to watch this young woman walk through a day in San Francisco, making connections more rapidly than one could imagine.
There’s hope ahead of us. Now, more than ever, these groups need our support.
