Atka Reid y Hana Schofield unfold a human story in Goodbye Sarajevo.
Goodbye Sarajevo is the account of two sisters, Atka Reid and Hana Schofield, about their family's survival in the Bosnian conflict of the nineties and how they managed to reshape their lives in New Zealand.
Both were interviewed about their work at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival in 2011 and dug deep into why it was important for them to write this book. Incentivized by telling a human story that would keep the rest of the world from forgetting about the conflict and their people.
They took a turn when they resigned from their jobs and interviewed their family members using the Christchurch City Library as their office. Bosnian citizens are up to this day restricted from travelling across some parts of the world because of intricate visa requisites.
In this novel, the sisters strive to find their identities as Bosnian refugees while having to adapt to new scenarios constantly. One of them, Atka, got to know about the horror firsthand when she turned from a participant to an observer as a journalist translator.
Space stands as a crucial element in this narrative as the readers get to understand better what was going on between Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Croatia, and the cultural differences that were coexisting in the ex-Yugoslavia run by Tito.
The borders between the new founded countries were characterized by safe conducts, routes to the black-market or ways to escape and reunite with relatives. The external world is represented by several figures that want to help but cannot stop the armed conflict from escalating. Most of them end up being observers of a tragical event in the history of humankind.
“Judging by the number of reporters in the Holiday Inn, it was clear that Sarajevo was the centre of media attention, yet every Sarajevan I talked to felt alone and abandoned”.
The title already establishes the final step in leaving a home taken aback by poverty and war. In a sense of disbelief, Atka Reid and Hana Schofield do their best to survive and strive for their families. Refugees at a young age, they try to understand the politics around them while trying to reconnect with their family.
It is with a sense of hope that they rely on the kindness of strangers and the courage of foreign journalists. To play their part in the war scenario, they must keep control of everyday tasks, as insignificant as they may sound. In a country with religious differences, prayer still gave the people a certain sense of control and stability.
“Surely things are different now, I thought to myself. A war in Europe can´t possibly last that long. Not in the age of The Simpsons and satellite TV”.
Through the noises of shells, the food and energy shortages, and the view of a shattered city, these two sisters become the pillars of a tale that will captivate the readers with personal details on the Bosnian conflict.
Two strong women who have learned what it means to stand out of a crowd of strangers, to have to modify their native tongue to fit in and who have faced the desperation not knowing when it would all end. The final message they would like their readers to remember is not to forget what has happened in their land and always hold on to a sense of future to survive.
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