A survivor of the Siege of Sarajevo will be sharing his story at five schools as part of a series of educational lectures organised by the UK Charity Remembering Srebrenica.
Rešad Trbonja will speak to pupils aged between 13 and 16 at Witton Park Academy, St Thomas’ Centre Pupil Referral Unit, Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School, Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School and Marsden Heights Community College.
Rešad lived through the siege of his home city Sarajevo, which was the longest siege of a city in the history of modern warfare during which 11,500 people were killed and a further 100,000 were injured.
Drawing on personal experiences and observations, Mr Trbonja will explain how divisive propaganda can be used to turn neighbour against neighbour even in an integrated and cosmopolitan city.
Reflecting on what it was like to live in a besieged city for more than nearly four years, Rešad said, “Imagine that somebody takes away from you all of the things that you take for granted in your life-such as electricity, running water, gas supplies in your house and on top of that they start bombarding you on a daily basis and trying to killing civilians by any means possible. It was 47 Months of hell.”
Rešad is keen to share his message with as many people as possible in the UK and in particular with young people.
"Mr Trbonja is expected to instruct his audiences in Yorkshire and Lancashire to reach out to their neighbours and understand them:
“Instead of living next to each other, try living with each other. Go to your neighbours, the people that you see on the street and talk to them because not knowing about each other leaves a space for prejudice.”
Remembering Srebrenica’s series of events- will take place between “18th-23rd November and Rešad will be speaking at schools and public meetings in Blackburn, Kirklees and Sheffield.
Remembering Srebrenica’s Education Manager said “I am hugely grateful to Rešad for coming to the UK to share his testimony with school pupils and the local communities across Lancashire and Yorkshire.
"Remembering Srebrenica has been arranging lecture tours for survivors of genocide and ethnic cleasing for more than three years and over 3000 young people have heard first hand testimony about the consequences of unchallenged hatred.”
Since being established in 2013, Remembering Srebrenica’s education resources about the Srebrenica genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina have reached more than 90,000 school-aged children.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here