Going into the communities

Boy have I been foolish. Because I come from the communities I cover, I thought people in these communities would care about what I care about; what is actually happening in those countries. The people that are indulged in the communities in Chicago have much bigger issues to worry about than what is going on at “home.”

For example, I happened to be invited to a board meeting at Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral. They weren’t talking about the new possibilities of Serbia joining the European Union. They weren’t even talking about the ongoing struggles in Kosovo. The board members were concerned about losing the St. Sava Academy.

For years, many Serbian immigrants have sent their children to St. Sava Academy for school instead of a traditional American grammar school. However, enrollment has drastically dropped, leaving the school fighting for survival. Mira Djordjevic, the school board president, and board members attribute the decline in enrollment to the recession and increased tuition, among other things.

The issue now becomes parents removing their children from the school because there aren’t enough kids enrolling. The parents don’t want their children to go to a school that has little to offer their children, especially friends.

For my article, I will focus on the schools effort to raise enrollment and keep their current members. If the school closes, numerous jobs will be cut and funding to the church will decrease. I plan on talking to families who have chosen to remove their children from the academy and families that have chosen to stay with the school. Getting both sides of the story will provide insight on what the community’s thoughts are of the particular church and school.

For the Bosnian community, I want to do a profile story on Mirza Mahic. I read a NYTimes story about Mirza Mahic and immediately fell in love with it. Like me, Mahic came to the United States after the war. Like me, his family had nothing here in the States. But instead of hating Serbians and Croatians for what happened in the war, Mahic, a Chicago resident decided to form a leadership initiative to help Bosnian refugees.

I have tried to get in contact with Mahic through social media so I can find out what his leadership initiative is currently. What struck me most about Mahic and his group is that they didn’t only want to limit their efforts to Bosnians, but Serbian and Croatians from Bosnia that were effected by the war. Even as members of the group decided to leave because the group put efforts to help all immigrants, Mahic stuck to his beliefs. Along with talking to Mahic and group members, I want to speak with individuals that his group has helped. Hopefully I will be able to speak with him sometime this week so I can finally meet him and see what kind of story I can do.

Where these immigrants are based.

*** According to the 2012 U.S. Census, there are 121,938 Bosnian-born immigrant in the States. Out of those immigrants, 12,826 live in Illinois, the most populated state of Bosnian-born immigrants in the country. Cook County is home to 9,691 of those immigrants.

***According to the same census, there are 35,765 Serbian-born immigrants in the States. Out of those immigrants, 7,569 live in Illinois, also the most populated state of Serbian-born immigrants in the country. Cook County is home to 5,083 of those immigrants. 

Both of the county numbers surpass many whole state populations of the immigrant groups. 

Playing with Passion

Walking on the cusp of Albany Park and Ravenswood Manor, the Narloch Piano Studio might not be the most noticeable business. But if you listen closely, you may recognize an Alexander Scriabin composition fighting against the sound of the Brown Line CTA train.

Inside, Christopher Narloch at his new grand piano and lets his fingers caress the ivory keys. The 28-year-old Wisconsin native practices as he waits for any one of his roughly 50 students to show up for their private lesson.

“Each and every kid that comes in is just really cool to work with,” said Narloch. “Every time they come in, I really see their progress.”

Narloch only sees the student once a week, but said they typically practice outside of the studio so they stay on top of their craft.

Playing the piano was a part of Narloch’s life from an early age. The son of a pianist and piano professor, Narloch picked up the craft at the age of 6; coincidently, some of Narloch’s clients are the same age he was when he first began playing.

At his quarter-century life mark—shortly after earning his Master's in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Bowling Green State University—Narloch decided to make his passion a career choice that he wouldn’t hate.

“It’s really my dream job,” said Narloch. “Everyday I come in and am so grateful for what I have and what I do.”

After college, Narloch taught private lessons throughout the city, at numerous churches and twice a week at Sherwood Community Music School. Narloch had thoughts about opening up his own business while he was in school, but he never crunched the numbers to see if it was feasible.

It was only after his friend and colleague decided to leave town and close up their piano shop that Narloch pushed himself to make this his career.

“I kind of envisioned this. I already had an idea of how I wanted to start it and how I wanted it to look,” Narloch said. “Working in Chicago for a year before I did this helped me understand the rates really well and what my gross income might be and what I could risk up front.”

The rate is $124-per-student, per-month, with one common goal; working towards four yearly recitals. Two of the recitals are hosted at the studio, one is across the street in the Ravenswood Manor Park and another at North Park Covenant Church.

The kids not only learn how to play, Narloch teaches them about classical and modern composers.

When asked what his favorite music was, he smiled and gently replied, “Classical.”

In other news

Fulfilling the American dream: city's first Bosnian refugees celebrate 20 years in Lincoln

September 15, 2013 11:45 pm  •  By ERIN ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star

Samka (left) and Emsud Deumic alter clothing at their shop, Emsud's Clothiers, near the intersection of 28th Street and Pine Lake Road. The Deumics and their two children, Salko and Alma, fled their native Bosnia during the war and migrated to Lincoln in 1993.

(4) More Photos

Emsud Deumic asks to speak. All eyes turn to the family patriarch.

“God bless America,” the soft-spoken Bosnian American states.

They are words from his heart. The most succinct and accurate way to capture the overwhelming mix of gratitude, pride and joy of the past 20 years -- living the American dream after fleeing war-torn Bosnia, political imprisonment and torture, and a nine-month nightmare housed in a Croatian transit camp, sharing a single room of living space with 40 other displaced Bosnians.

***

On Sept. 15, 1993, at 9 p.m., a travel-weary Emsud, his wife, Samka, and their children,  son Salko, then 14, and daughter Alma, then 7, landed at Lincoln's airport, climbed a staircase to the concourse and were greeted by strangers carrying signs proclaiming: Welcome home.

Home?

Just a few hours earlier, the Bosnian refugees thought they were going to Lincoln, Nev.

Their tickets said Lincoln, NE. -- NE? Wasn’t that the abbreviation for Nevada?

When helpful New York passengers corrected them, the family was left wondering: Nebraska. What is Nebraska? Where is Nebraska?

The Deumics arrived carrying two small suitcases -- filled with Salko’s and Alma’s outgrown clothes.

“I did not even have one penny,” Emsud said.

What he had was determination -- and an army of unimaginable support from the refugee family’s sponsor, First-Plymouth Congregational Church.

The Deumics were the first Bosnian refugee family to arrive in Lincoln.

More would arrive in the months and years to follow. Today, about 500 Bosnian immigrants call Nebraska home.

In Bosnia, Emsud was a tailor -- like his father and grandfather, his brothers and sisters. Emsud and Samka owned two clothing shops. They were about to open a third shop, when war broke out.

The Yugoslavian government sent Emsud to a concentration camp. He was beaten. His bones broken. Samka and the children fled their home.

The family eventually reunited in a Croatian transit camp. The family was given a choice of countries to which they could migrate. Samka’s relatives went to France. Emsud’s family selected Sweden.

But Emsud wanted the United States.

“He said, 'America is the best country,'” Samka recalled. “And that is true.”

* * *

Their first two weeks in Lincoln, the Deumics lived with a First-Plymouth family.

Then the church found them an apartment -- furnishing it with everything the family would need. Church members even stocked the refrigerator.

Two decades later, the family still gets emotional remembering.

“My God, it was like yesterday. How time goes fast,” Emsud said.

Emsud and Samka worked odd jobs -- raking leaves, cleaning people’s houses. Emsud became a tailor at Ben Simon’s Clothing Store. They took English classes at Southeast Community College. Alma and Salko, both English as a Second Language students in school, often spoke English at home to help their parents learn.

Using a donation and meager savings, Emsud and Salko bought their first sewing machine -- a machine they still use in the store.

Samka smiles -- she was not happy when Emsud came home with the sewing machine. She wanted to buy dishes.

Dishes could wait, Emsud said.

“Always, first the shop,” Samka recalled. “He was always right.”

They set up the sewing machine in the basement, opening a small alterations business on the side.

In 1998, they opened Emsud’s Expert Alterations in Williamsburg Village. In 2000 they began Emsud’s Clothiers at 29th Street and Pine Lake Road. Four years later they relocated into the strip mall adjacent to Red Robin, across the street from SouthPointe Pavilions.

By fall 2014, the Deumics hope to move into their own building -- which they will break ground on this fall at 56th Street and Pine Lake Road, beside Security Bank and just behind Walgreens.

“To Emsud, nothing is hard. He is never tired,” Samka said of her husband of 37 years.

* * *

For Emsud the secret to success -- any success -- is simple: “Be the best. Be honest. Treat customers like family.”

Always modest, Emsud admits his family has done OK.

They became American citizens in 1998. Salko and Alma graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They both married. Salko and his wife, Mandy, have two children Kenan, 5, and Mina, 3 months. Alma married Armin Sehic in June 2012.

All three families live within eight minutes of each other and the store. Alma and her parents work full time at the store. Salko, who works full time for a Lincoln technology company, spends nights and weekends helping out.

* * *

The Deumics say there is little doubt, that Lincoln, Neb., is the best place in America. Other Bosnians who arrived in America with them went to Chicago and Dallas, where they mostly were left to fend for themselves.

By contrast, First-Plymouth members have treated them as family from the moment they stepped into the airport terminal on that September day in 1993.

And still do.

“The people from the church made everything easy. They took us everywhere. Helped us get our Social Security cards. … It made a world of difference,” Salko said.

Church volunteer Alma Vlasak has been by their side all of those 20 years.

“She is like a sister,” Samka said. “She is second mom to my kids. … They are like family. … Nebraska is like home.”

Emsud clarifies: “This is our home.”

In other news

Bosnia Court Decision Sends Message To International Community

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA

By SETimes

September 16, 2013

By Drazen Remikovic

A court ruling that makes Dutch state responsible for the deaths of three Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995 could impact future UN peacekeeping missions, as states could be held responsible for preventable situations that went wrong, experts told SETimes.

The Netherlands Supreme Court ruled on September 6th in favour of two Bosniak families who filed a lawsuit against the Netherlands. Hasan Nuhanovic and the family of Rizo Mustafic, who have been pursuing the case for the past 11 years, argued that the Dutch soldiers serving under the UN flag in Srebrenica in July 1995 did not do all they could to protect their relatives from the BiH’s Serb Army that overran the Netherlands-run UN safe area.

“The court has clearly established their [Dutch soldiers] responsibility,” Nuhanovic, a former UN translator, who lost his brother, mother and father in Srebrenica told SETimes. “The court also confirmed that no one can hide behind the immunity of the UN. And the other way around. I’ve heard other people that they would take my example and sue the Netherlands. I will be available to them, for all that it takes.”

”This is a great victory for the victims,” Kada Hotic, president of Mothers of Srebrenica Association, told SETimes. “These people were there to protect the lives of Srebrenica residents. And they pushed them to death. It is a crime. Mothers of Srebrenica have also filed a lawsuit against the Netherlands a few years ago. After this verdict, a lawyer who runs our case in the Netherlands said that this is the encouraging news for our common lawsuit.”

The Hague district court first ruled in July 2011 that the Dutch state could be held responsible for the deaths, but the country’s defence ministry appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the UN had ”effective control over the ‘Dutchbat’ forces, not the Dutch state.”

But the court rejected this, with Judge Floris Bakels ruling that clearing the Dutch state of responsibility would mean that ”justice would have almost no way to judge armed interventions.”

Experts said the ruling is significant for the international community.

“This ruling puts in to a focus the full engagement of the international community in BiH during the ’90s,” Bojan Vlaski, a professor at the law faculty in Banja Luka, told SETimes. “I think the experts, especially those who deal with the law and history, in the future to have a reason to put the international community in questioning and critical position, especially when it comes to peacekeeping missions around the world. Now there is a legal basis for such views.”

BiH’s Serb forces killed more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, an act that was declared genocide by the International Court of Justice and the UN. Several BiH’s Serbs were convicted in war crimes court for their roles in the deaths. It’s been called the worst crime on European soil since the World War II.

Visiting Srebrenica last year, Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki Moon said the international community has learned the lessons of history in Srebrenica.

”We have to do all to protect civilians and to stop bloodshed particularly in Syria now, when we have learned the message of Srebrenica,” Moon told at Potocari Memorial Centre. “The international community must be united not to see any further bloodshed in Syria because I do not want to see any of my successors after 20 years visiting Syria apologising for what we could have done now to protect the civilians in Syria which we are not doing.”

There are 6,066 victims in the memorial centre and 2,306 still missing.

In other news

Difficult without EU, more so without Kosovo

SOURCE: TANJUG

BELGRADE -- Tomislav Nikolić said on Monday as he received Finland's FM Erkki Tuomioja in Belgrade,that Serbia was "working intensively on the EU integration process."

 

(Tanjug)

But any talk between Belgrade and Priština and signs of willingness to reach a compromise "are seen by Albania as recognition of Kosovo's independence," the Sebrian president was quoted as saying.

Serbia is aware that it can "hardly survive" without EU membership, Nikolić said and added that Serbia is also aware that without Kosovo and Metohija "it cannot survive," his press service said. 

The president underscored that in the mediation in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, the EU is faced with two sides which have a different view of the situation, as one sees it as an autonomy for Kosovo and is trying to protect the national interests, while the other sides sees this as Kosovo's independence. 

Tuomioja commended Serbia's leadership on its courage, pragmatic approach, and the efforts it invested in the implementation of the agreements reached so far. 

Finland supports Serbia's prompt EU accession and believes that there should be no brakes to EU enlargement, Tuomioja said as quoted in the release. 

The Serbian president expressed the belief and hope that EU members are aware of the difficult situation Serbia is facing and the fact that European values are deeply knit in the Serbian way of life, thinking and being as a whole. 

Nikolić underscored that Serbia maintains excellent ties with regional countries and announced that Croatian President Ivo Josipovic would visit Serbia soon, noting that he met with presidents of regional countries. 

"Unfortunately, there is a tendency for Romania to present the Vlach minority as Romanians, and Serbia cannot allow this as it does not serve the interests of that minority," Nikolić said. 

Tuomioja said that Serbia maintains the optimum approach to the regulation of minority rights and added that the position of the Roma and LGBT community needs to be additionally improved. 

Nikolić agreed that additional investments should be made in education of the Roma community and underscored that Serbia is facing potential reintroduction of the visa regime so as to prevent members of the Roma population from crossing the borders. 

The benefits which the EU grants asylum-seekers are very attractive to the Roma population because the privileges are greater even than those which ministers in Serbia have, Nikolić said. 

The EU should ensure freedom of movement for all citizens, including the Roma, instead of shutting them in within Serbia and other countries in the region and leaving the issue for them to tackle on their own. 

"We should resolve this problem together because a country can solve it on its own," the Serbian president said. 

As for the LGBT population, the president underscored that they should have the same rights as other citizens and that he would personally back their security in case there are reasons to believe it may be brought into jeopardy.

Possible story ideas

A story idea occurred to me and it just makes sense. I will be covering efforts of a new initiative by World Relief Chicago – Priority 3 Family Reunification Program – and how it may be helping Bosnian or Serbian families in Chicago that are trying to get family members that are currently living in the Balkans over to the States.

I hope to be able to follow a family that has recently come to the States, or even during the Balkan civil war, and is trying to bring loved ones over.

If this doesn't pan out, I want to focus on the work Serbian Orthodox churches do to help newly arrived Serbian families in Chicago. For example, the Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral helps families find homes and work within the Serbian community.

This is just a tentative story idea. I am also very interested in the Club Prijedor, 5611 Kimball Ave. I want to know why the organization decided to form at that location (Maybe there is a large populations of Bosnians from Prijedor living there) and what kind of work they do. Even if there isn’t a story here, maybe they will be able to direct me to organizations that I can do my story on. Also, they may be able to tell me some of the issues in the Bosnian community in Chicago – maybe even just the Prijedor community. Since I will be in the Albany Park community on Sept. 17, I will stop into the club to see what is going on.

My communities

For the semester, I will cover the Bosnian and Serbian communities. Since the countries share such a deep and bloody history, as a correspondent for a newspaper, I wouldn’t be able to cover one without the other. For geographical reasons, I would be stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Bosnia borders both Serbia and Croatia, and is close to other former Yugoslavian republics that I might have to cover. Bosnia is a melting pot of Serbians, Croatians and Bosnians - the only country with such mixed ethnicities.

A very small bit of history:

The two countries were republics of former Yugoslavia, run by Marshall Josip “Tito” Broz. After Tito died in 1980, the republics such as Croatia and Slovenia decided to succeed from the Union. In 1992, Bosnia wanted to do the same. By 1995, Bosnia seceded, only after three bloody years.

In Chicago, there is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian cultural center, 1016 W. Argyle St. For the Serbians, Chicago is the largest Serbian community, outside of the Balkans. The Serbian-American Chamber of Commerce is also located in Chicago.

As recent as last week, the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia in Chicago has been in hot water, and even removed from office. My first story will focus on the removal of the Consulate General and the effects of it for American-Serbs and Serbs in Serbia.

Who I will follow:

Bloomberg News is the only site that has correspondants stationed in the Balkans. I have been following, but will follow more closely Gordana Filipovic and Misha Savic. I will also be reading the work of David Rhode, who covered the Balkans during the civil war. Along with this, I will follow Reuters journalist Aleksandar Vasovic. 

Stay tuned!