In the summer of 2002, Builders for Peace sent a team of 15 American college students to Gracanica, near Tuzla, to work on the construction of a new facility for children with special needs, under the aegis of a group called "Osmijeh" ("Smile"). The team dug ditches and poured cement under a very hot sun. We got to know the local inhabitants, and they got to know us. When you stay a month in a small Bosnian town you develop "authenticity"--you no longer are tourists.
In the summer of 2003, Builders for Peace sent a team of eight students to Mostar to work on the restoration of the sixteenth-century Karadjoz-beg Mosque, in partnership with architect Amir Pasic of the Aga Khan Foundation and under the supervision of Martha Ondras, an architect from MIT. This American group worked hard under very hot conditions, cleaned and repaired the old minaret, as well as clearing the grounds and graveyard and repointing the walls. By their hard work, our American volunteers gained a measure of authenticity which was to help us the following year, when Builders for Peace joined with local Mostar student volunteers to finish work on the mosque. The fact that American volunteers would fly 6000 miles to restore their ancient mosque impressed Mostarians.
In the summer of 2005, Builders for Peace embarked on a completely new initiative in Mostar: a seminar on "Reconciliation and Reconstruction" that combined 5 American volunteers, led by Judith Kubran of City University of New York, and 6 local Mostarians.
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Project description coming soon.