A ship is nearing harbour...
By initiating the Swedish organization Ship to Bosnia, Leif Jansson started what is soon to be a ten year old journey. Against all odds and the doubt from ”people with knowledge and experience”, Leif, together with, among others the Swedish singer Ulf Lundell, managed to send M/S Haväng, a ship carrying 108 containers and a fire truck to the war-stricken Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1995.
Already one year earlier, Leif had made friends with the people in the small mining village of Lipnica, outside Tuzla, from tradition a place of peaceful co-existence between the ethnic groups, where solidarity had been kept alive in spite of the madness of the war.
The idea to continue cooperation was born after M/S Haväng had arrived, and to build a ”Solidarity House” in the tradition of the Swedish ”People´s House Movement”. In 2002, the House was finished, and over the years, a lot of activities has been initiated for the people of Lipnica, targeted also to women, youth and children. The work has been continously going on, long after most other international organizations left the area. Through Ship to Bosnia, also the senior citizens have been supported, by a trip to Budapest in Hungary, and some days of recreation with nice, hot baths.
For this work, Leif Jansson, on the 2nd of October 2003, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Tuzla, was awarded ”Honorary Citizen of Tuzla”, together with American peace-broker Richard Holbrooke. On the day after, a celebration took place in the Solidarity House in Lipnica, with songs and music and a lot of joy and tears.
Still, for Leif and Ship to Bosnia, the process of handing over the management of the House to the local citizens remains to be completed. The idea is that the House will continue to be a multietnical meeting place for seminars, conferences, for joy and education, solidarity and cooperation between people. Besides, there is also a need for some further equipment in the House, and some reinforcement work must be made around the House.
So, for Ship to Bosnia, there is still some work left.
A project that started during a cruel and devastating war, giving people faith of a better future in co-existence deserves a worthy and honorable final. Faithful to the aim of giving the House and the people active in it, the possibility to continue to live in coexistence and spread the idea of solidarity also to others.
(Article: Anders Henriksson, ”Glas”, Nov -03, edited by the Organization of Bosnia and Hercegovina in Sweden)
Ship to Bosnia builds for peace
The Balkans – four wars during the 1990's. More than 2.5 million refugees. Tens of thousands killed and wounded. Cities laid waste. Villages on fire. A heyday for extremist nationalists. Bosnia continues to be unstable, and there is still a fear of new wars. All those who believe in a multicultural Europe, where ethnic and cultural differences enrich rather than divide, must take responsibility for breaking the silence and the indifference.
Ship to Bosnia, a Swedish non-governmental, non-profit organization, independent of any religious or political ties, formed in 1994, has chosen to lend its support to the mining village of Lipnica, just outside of Tuzla, where Croats, Muslims and a minority of Serbs live peacefully side by side.
Peace must begin in the everyday relations between ordinary people, and solidarity and cooperation on a grass-root level has ever since the beginning been the key words in the project.
The goal for Ship to Bosnia and our cooperation partner Open Society Lipnica (Bosnian NGO: Otvoreno Drustvo Lipnica (ODL) – formed by men and women of all age groups, from teenagers to senior citizens) is to work towards reconciliation, human rights and democracy.
The main project has ever since 1996 been the building of the Solidarity House, a centre of peace, democracy and development for the entire region, a meeting place for people across the borders, and a source of joy, activity and knowledge.
Ship to Bosnia - a boat loaded with solidarity
In November 1995, M/S Haväng put out from the harbour of Gothenburg, Sweden, with a cargo of several containers filled with, among other things, food, medicine,
clothes, toys and seeds for sowing. This was the result of many people's participation, hopes and desire in Sweden, as well as Finland, to support the war-stricken
people of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Swedish singer Ulf Lundell participated in making the journey possible by giving aid concerts, and in harbours throughout Europe
more necessities were put on board. The ship called at Aberdeen, Antwerp, Barcelona and Molfetta in Italy on its way to destination, Split in Croatia. M/S Haväng
had a cargo of 108 containers upon arrival, and just before Christmas, the truck convoys were on their way to their final destinations in Bosnia, among others
the village of Lipnica.
Solidarity House - a powerful resource for the future
The heart of the Solidarity House, designed by famous Swedish architect Ralph Erskine, is a small assembly hall for conferences, lectures, theatre, music, weddings and festivities. The 600 square meter, two-storey building also includes a café, rooms for meetings, IT and studies, office and the function of a library. Three smaller houses have also been built close-by, with music room for youth, activities for small children and a storage room. The construction of the Solidarity House, made by the local firm Zimex, started in June 2002 and the opening ceremony was held on the 28th of September the same year.
The project has been financed by fund raising and money collecting activities in Sweden. Ship to Bosnia is a small organization where all members work voluntarily without fees, which has meant hard and eager work on a very small budget. Among the donators are ABB, The Release Fund of the Swedish Television and Broadcasting Corporation and the singer Ulf Lundell.
Ship to Bosnia has always met strong support for the project idea, not only from ordinary people, but also from Swedish Government, all political parties from left wing to right wing in the Swedish Parliament, Members of the European Parliament etc, as from local authorities in Tuzla, the former Mayor, Mr Selim Beslagic, and the present Mayor, Mr Jasmin Imamovic.
After a two year-period after the opening ceremony Ship to Bosnia handed over the full responsibility and management of the house to Tuzla municipality in cooperation with local organizations.
The project of Solidarity House has the qualifications for being a model for positive development, not only locally and in the region, but also for all of Bosnia and Hercegovina – strongly based on the principles of reconciliation and peaceful co-existence, and with local citizens, already active and organized and willing to initiate and create projects for a democratic and economically selfsustainable development.
Activities in the village
Over the years StB has initiated a large number of activities in Lipnica, directed towards women, youth, children and senior citizens, organized in cooperation between Ship to Bosnia and Open Society Lipnica (ODL).
ODL has a programme of reconciliation, democracy and human rights, supported by Swedish Sida as a four-year-project. As a result of the efforts to start a dialogue and support reconciliation, a network is being created on a grass-root level, consisting of civil, non-nationalist organizations of citizens from Bosnia and Hercegovina (Republika Srpska and Federation), as well as of contacts in Croatia and Serbia. Seminars and conferences are held on various topics, like for example civil society and democracy, environmental issues, trade unions, the future of trade and industry in the Lipnica and Tuzla regions, health issues and situation for women, youth and senior citizens.
Financed by Swedish Release Fund, young people study languages, music, dance and computers, and there are special activities for children. A great number of youth exchange projects have created close contacts with youth in Sweden. The youth of Lipnica are creating a network of contacts, and have already shown their skills in organizing their own concerts and festivals.
A women's cooperative cultivation project (originally initiated by StB) was since 2000 handled by a section of the Swedish Trade Union Movement LO, and financed by the support of Olof Palme International Center, but has now been transferred into local management.
StB has found cooperation partners from all parts of Swedish society – politicians from all sides, people´s movements, youth, women and pensioners organizations, schools, cultural organizations, sport clubs, artists, actors, trade unions, companies and specialists of different areas. This has led to many exchange projects, seminars, travels for both Bosnians and Swedes, and a warm and strong connection between Sweden and Lipnica. All contacts, formal as well as informal, are very important for future activities.
