1,425 days make the siege of Sarajevo the longest in modern history. During the siege, more than 450,000 bombs landed on the city and 300,000 persons were trapped in a full siege with no basic provisions. Almost 11,000 persons were killed, of whom 1,601 were children. 50,000 persons were injured, of whom 15,000 were children.
Fifteen years after the end of the war, with more than a hundred books and other works about the war, there has been no book dealing with childhood. When tallying the effects of the war, the calculation includes those who were killed, injured or displaced, and then which buildings were destroyed or damaged. No one counts in children’s ages.
Childhood in the War is a project aiming at collecting experiences of the children of Sarajevo on what it was like to be growing up under siege. The project is based on an interactive web page, where those who spent some or all of their childhood in the war, answer the question ‘What does childhood in the war mean to you?’ The answers are limited to 120 characters (one sentence) and the author is planning to collect 1,600 different answers.
Those 1,600 answers, together with his own, act as a dedication to the 1,601 children killed in Sarajevo during the siege. This local experience, collected in this symbolic way, sends a global message fro the children of Sarajevo: ‘No child wants a war’.
The project will result in a book/publication – a treasure chest of memories of the children of Sarajevo. Their short answers, marked by personal experiences, will create a mosaic – a very special story about the years of war.
The book will be translated into English, German, Italian and other languages, allowing these stories to travel the world. This is the way for those who survived the siege of Sarajevo to send a clear message that nothing similar should happen to other children.
This is an independent project that brings the message of peace.
If you are intrested in this project, and want to find out more you can visit project webiste: warchildhood.com, or you can contact us: info@udruzenjeurban.ba