Bosnia 2011
Journey to Bosnia 20-27 may 2011
In may 2011 a group of 7 of us travelled to Bosnia to join a yearly peace-conference of ‘from heart to peace’, which some of the group had been supporting and attending to for 18 years since the start of the war and afterwards we travelled through other parts of Bosnia, where we had guidance to go.
On this journey we met several people who had survived the camps, where there had been systematic torture, rape, mutilation and killing in the most horrendous ways imaginable. I learnt about the incredible human creativity in its most distorted form. Most survivors have lost most or all of their families and still to this day suffer discrimination and hurdles at every corner, having to face the reality of people who murdered and tortured them and their families live freely and even in positions of power and authority.
In our presence we listened, held space, provided new perspectives, ears, recognition and acknowledgement of their incredible journeys, allow spontaneous joy and celebration as well as bring sound to honour and transform some of the very painful patterns and trauma held in people’s psyche, bodies and in the land itself.
Some of the most rewarding moments of the trip were when two of the camp survivors whose nervous system was so distraught that they could only manage to live with daily valium pills said on the 3rd day that something about the music I played had created such peace inside them that they hadn’t needed their pills for the last two days.
Another such moment occurred in one of the camps we visited and after hearing all many of the stories and deeply painful memories I played the cello, allowing all the pain and suffering held in the people and the place to express and then find its next rightful transformed space where the pattern can shift and from where healing can occur and strength can be found.
To see the transformation and gratitude on people’s faces and feel the shift in energy was deeply moving.
Many such moments occurred during this week and if you’d like to read more, see my diary blog: