Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 2, 1995 TAG: 9510030012
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA ZIVKOVICH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He was welcomed to Roanoke by some friendly faces who share similar stories: Vedrana Vasilj, Zehra Dzanic, Mirha Durakovic, Lejla Zorlak and Ajla Rasidagic, all Bosnian students with permission from their country and the United States to study in America for three years.
They left their country, their families and their friends for the chance to continue their studies in America away from the dangers and disruptions of civil war. A civil war is a war between people of the same nation. In the Balkan areas that were formerly part of Yugoslavia, people have been fighting for four years over land and political control. The fighting is aggravated and intensified by centuries-old differences in politics and religion.
Vedrana, Zehra, Mirha, Ajla and Haris are all students at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County. Lejla, Ajla's cousin, came with her host family from Richmond to visit Ajla for the weekend.
Although he had never met the girls, Haris brought some good news for Zehra. Zehra's best friend from home had been in his traveling group and was going to be staying with a family in Kentucky.
Zehra and her friend had often dreamed of the places they would travel to together. When Zehra found out she was coming to America, she wished her friend could come, too. "It was so hard to tell her I was going to leave," she said, beaming with excitement. "I am so happy."
"We think all our dreams can come true here," said Mirha.
In Bosnia, school often was canceled because of fighting and bombings. Even when school was in session, the students and their families sometimes decided that the walk to school was too dangerous.
"It's on you," said Vedrana. "Do you want to risk your life or not?"
In Bosnia, "when I come home, I must learn before dark," said Haris, adding that many times his family was without electricity for lights to read by at night. They burned candles and made makeshift lights using car batteries.
In Roanoke their biggest problems are language and time. They all speak very good English but find it difficult to translate as fast as their teachers talk.
After trying to make sense of the words and searching through Bosnian-English dictionaries, "then we learn," said Vedrana. "When I get a test, I know everything." she added. "You make a mistake because you don't know one word."
"We spend our energy on study," said Mirha. In addition to the regular school schedule, the students must take English as a second language classes until they can pass a test. The extra classes plus the time it takes to make sure they are understanding everything at school doesn't leave much time for fun. Zehra, who recently passed the ESL test, plays flute in the Cave Spring band.
They all agree that spending time together is important and love the chance to speak in their native tongue. It helps them sometimes when they miss their families and homes. "All day you have to speak English," said Mirha with a frown.
They write, fax and e-mail their families and friends, preferring the latter two because it takes two weeks to a month to get mail to Bosnia. They miss home, but say they are happy to have the opportunity to leave for a while.
It's not the same place where they grew up anymore. "You can't recognize Sarajevo. It's so empty." said Lejla.
"We don't have any parks for walking," said Haris, explaining that the land that had been designated for parks now is used to plant vegetables for food, and the trees were cut for firewood.
They all remember hard times without much food and supplies.
"We had one year in Tuzla, we ate just beans and rice," said Haris. And canned meat, which they say they never care to eat again. "It's awful." said Ajla. "My dog doesn't like it."
Vedrana remembers when her town got some relief packages from other countries. All the children ages 3 through 9 got an egg from the package. "It was like they got the moon," she said.
For now they will live in peace in the United States with watchful eyes turned to the their homeland.
"My father is a soldier and I'm very scared for him," said Mirha, who clips articles and photos about the war from the papers to put in a scrapbook.
They pay close attention to the news reports and wait for information from home. But when it comes to facts about the war, "I only believe my mother," said Zehra.
by CNB