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ZENICA, Central Bosnia -- Two years ago, Adisa Hrustic fled the town of Vitez with her six-month-old twin baby girls and a four-year-old son after her home was burned to the ground by the Croat army.
During the battle between Bosnian Muslims and Croats for Vitez, her father had been killed. The whereabouts of her husband, a soldier, were unknown for three months. Today, Hrustic is reunited with her husband. The family shares one room with three other families at the Crknice Collective Center here -- one of many centers renovated for temporary refugee housing by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). They are grateful for the space, although life has been anything but easy. "For sure, the children will have some traumas," she said. "My husband and I are trying to make them as small as possible."
The Hrustic family is one of thousands who have fled to Zenica after being forced from their homes by fighting between Bosnian Croats, Serbs and Muslims.
A federation between Croat and Muslim factions has ended the actual warfare, but the resulting destruction has left refugees with no homes to return to. The pressure of a continued war with Bosnian Serbs has contributed to their sense of devastation.
The Hrustics are luckier than most because both adults have jobs with humanitarian organizations. Like countless other families, they look forward to moving to government apartments, hoping to restore some semblance of normal life. But the waiting lists are long and Mrs. Hrustic isn't happy about the prospect of another winter in this school-turned-refugee center.
"All things considered," she said, "the three families sharing this one room get along pretty well. Our destinies are the same so we have found something in common.
"I don't know what will end the war...," she added. "For now, my husband and I are doing all we can to help our children."
July, 1995