Meliha

Bosniac from Bugojno, central Bosnia. Born in 1980 in Bugojno, but grew up in Sarajevo. She lives in Marseille.

How did you feel in school?

At school I was in a class only with boys. 5 boys and me, so 6 of us. It was a bit like a special course. I was 12, so it was a primary school. It was fine and very different. I discovered many things and I did not think about the war. My father also did not send us much news, so it was a bit like we cut the past and started a new life somewhere else. Then, when I changed classes and school I started to feel that strangers were maybe not very welcomed. As before I was only with boys, clothes were not important. And when I got to the class with girls in it, I realized that I was not dressed like the others. We had less money. Those brands were everywhere, very important in Switzerland. That was a bit difficult for me. But there were also some positive things. I found my second best friend, Patricia – she is Swiss, but her grandmother is Peruvian and her mother is an immigrant from Spain. We found a common language. During lessons at school, there were children coming from different communes. I remember one boy who was from Croatia. I saw that our teacher felt a bit uneasy and I did not know why. I did not talk much with that boy because I simply did not realize that he was Croatian. And I saw that our teacher made sure that we would never meet. And one day she said that his name was Mario, he came from Croatia and she said to me: “You know, I know that you are the enemies”. And I responded: “Wait, I don’t have enemies, for me it’s Mario”. And I saw that she felt so relieved. In high-school I met another boy, also Mario, who was from Sarajevo. I saw that he was really cautious. Every Bosnian, knowing that the image of Bosnia is not very favourable, did not want to be much associated with the others. And even more wanted to prove that we were not the miserable.