Sabrina Begović-Ćorić

During the siege of Sarajevo, children faced daily severe traumas, fears and emotional states that were too much of a challenge even for adults. Staying in basements, schooling in apartments, going to fetch water with canisters - all this had become everyday reality for the small citizens of Sarajevo. In abnormal circumstances, adults tried to provide all kinds of support to children and young people, so that the consequences of war events could be reduced to a minimum.

Sabrina Begović-Ćorić in two different times, as a child and as an adult woman and mother, tries to portray her growing up in the war, the games that were played and how children spent their free time. Thirty years after the siege of the city, she gives her perspective on parenting in war.

Then...

"My Daddy made some cards for us to learn the letters and numbers more easily."

Now...

"It wasn't until I became a parent that I realized what it must have meant for my parents to raise children in war. Not only to preserve our lives, but also to preserve the semblance of normality, to preserve children's playfulness, gaiety, and imagination."