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The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice
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BOSFAM's Founder
Beba Hadzic, the founder and director of BOSFAM, has always been driven by a strong desire for justice and equality. Before the war, Beba enjoyed a comfortable life, as a teacher and principal of Srebrenica Primary School. Her husband was an engineer in the mines. Beba owned an apartment in the city, a car –all the modern comforts of a contented life.
An inspiration to Srebrenica survivors: Beba Hadzic, founder of BOSFAM.
Beba and her family were expelled the town after the war began, and headed for the safety of Tuzla. Here, refugees were crammed into collective centers, often with nothing to do but sit and wait.
Beba herself was too impatient and motivated to just sit idly by. She approached the relief agency Oxfam and begin a pilot weaving project that evolved into BOSFAM. Following the massacre in Srebenica, Beba emerged as a vocal advocate for the women and missing persons of the tragedy.
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"I consider that every woman - Serb, Muslim, Croat – who survived this war and now works to rebuild Bosnia, is strong. Every woman who brings up a child, who supports an unemployed husband, who has responsibility for a family of five people – that’s strength. That’s bigger than BOSFAM." -Beba Hadzic |
In a 1997 meeting with US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Beba presented an appeal for US troops to remain in the area until it had stabilized. The Senator quipped that Beba should “invite your enemies over for a cup of coffee in your kitchen.” Beba replied “With all due respect, Senator, I'm from Srebrenica, I was a math teacher and the primary school principal. My husband was an engineer in the mines. We had a car, a TV, a VCR...a home in town and a place in the mountains. Now, only because of my last name, I am a refugee. And, Senator, I don't have a kitchen."
This is the kind of spirit that wins the respect of other displaced Srebrenicans. Many BOSFAM members look to her for guidance and leadership as Beba Hadzic continues to fight for social justice and the return of her friends and neighbors to Srebrenica.
- Read an interview with Beba Hadzic by AP Director Iain Guest on his blog page under the blog titled "Strong Woman."
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