In Bosnia, Home Is Where the Heart Is

By Laura Sheahen

In 1992, Yugoslavia broke apart amid violence and bloodshed. In the small territory that is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, tens of thousands of people fled their homes as ethnic groups clashed. When houses were bombed, some were completely destroyed; other houses needed extensive repairs before they were livable.

Many people who fled were put in "Collective Centers," older buildings where they shared cramped spaces with many others. The centers were supposed to be temporary, but a decade and a half after the war, thousands of people are still living in them.

Since the war ended, Catholic Relief Services has been rebuilding houses so that displaced people can go back home. CRS engineers design repairs to foundations, walls, pipes and more, sometimes building houses almost completely from scratch. In cases where elderly residents cannot return to their houses and farms, CRS is building special housing to meet their needs. CRS also helps families reintegrate into their communities and support themselves by providing them with farming tools, school supplies, vocational training and more.

See how CRS is helping Bosnia's displaced make a fresh start.

Photos by Laura Sheahen/CRS unless otherwise noted.

Laura Sheahen is CRS' regional information officer for Europe and the Middle East. She is based in Cairo.