May 28th

Today we spent all of our time in the city center of Sarajevo. In the morning we went to the monastery and listened to a lecture on the reconciliation issues that exist between Islam and Christian groups. This was followed with another lecture given by the political science faculty at the university in Sarajevo. This lecture addressed the wide diversity of cultural and religious groups and an existing discrimination of certain groups. Sarajevo consists of approximately 80% Muslim. The remaining percentage falls into Catholic or Orthodox groups.
In the past these different religions were used as tools in the war, which has roused strong passions and divisions among people that continue to affect the population´s psychological and social health. Psychological and social health are areas that are evaluated a little differently than other aspects of health. Bosnia´s slower pace of economic development compared to Croatia reflects poorer ˝health˝ in these areas. There is not a strong sense of unity and so it is difficult for Bosnia to move forward psychologically and socially. And the regional devastation from past wars is a constant reminder and ˝handicap˝.

~Lauren