This is Heart & Hand’s 20th year of funding in the Balkans. In July my partner, Kerry Lobel, and I spent 2 weeks in Bosnia. With local activists as our guides, we toured historic sites, took a rafting trip with young queer activists, and enjoyed fabulous meals prepared by local activists. Of course, the majority of our time was spent in the offices and in the field visiting projects initiated by our Bosnian activists/ partners.
It was wonderful to have time to relax with friends, but the obstacles our Bosnian grantees confront were never far from our minds. The political and economic situation remains dire.
Corruption and nepotism are deeply ingrained in the government, and the unemployment rate continues to be among the highest in the world. Young people fed up with the lack of jobs have been leaving the country for more than a decade. The exodus makes life harder for those who stay behind, especially LGBTQ activists who have to work harder to make advances in their community. Despite these daunting circumstances, we are always so impressed by our grantees’ ingenuity, perseverance, and accomplishments with limited resources.
While most Bosnians struggle, rich investors from the Gulf States are building gated communities, shopping centers and mosques where foreigners and locals are not especially welcome except as domestic help. The newscomers’ ostentatious flaunting of wealth understandably incenses locals. More threatening is the introduction of an austere form of Islam into traditionally mostly secular Islam. (Bosnia is 51% Muslim.). Locals worry about how conservative Arab culture will change their own inclusive culture.
Unmet needs spur organizing
We’ve learned over and over that activists often start projects on their own when they see unmet needs. One of Heart & Hand’s guiding principles is recognizing the wisdom of local activists to determine what funding is needed within the limits of our budget. We would like to add new grants to some of the projects we describe inside without neglecting our long-time partners. Again, as we have for twenty years, we ask you to respond with gifts as large as you can to support these hardworking activists.
Click here to read the 2017 Heart and Hand Newsletter
