Carol Wagner, a neonatologist at MUSC and I visited Mostar
Bosnia as a step toward responding to an NIH request for proposals to establish
a Global Network for Women's and Children’s Health Research. We selected Mostar because a number of
physicians from Mostar has visited MUSC’s Ob/Gyn and Pediatrics departments in
order to explore strategies for perinatal management. We left Charleston for Zurich and then on to Sarajevo. I had with me my handy-dandy GPS (which we
used to calibrate the SwissAir navigation) and here you can see our path from
Sarajevo to Mostar and then on to Chitluk:
Driving from Sarajevo (below left) to Mostar took us along
the beautiful Neretva river of green water, through small villages and
beautiful countryside. That military
hostilities had recently taken place was not really evident (except in
Sarajevo) until we approached Mostar.
We traveled south along highway
17 and as we entered Mostar, we found the juxtaposition of ‘war’ and peace was
not describable with words. So here are
photos that tell the story much better than either of us could tell it. There is one essential feature of Mostar to
grasp: the river, Neretva, flows
through the city – and to the right (west) are Catholics and Orthodox while on
the left (east) are Muslems. There was
a bridge built between 1557 until 1566 that was completely destroyed during the
war – but here is a photo before the war and then a photo from our visit – you can
easily compare the windows on the right:
Now, one sees the river and its
emerald water, but no ancient bridge – only new bridges either under
construction or recently completed.
Superficially, the
city looks ‘ok’ - for example, below is
the front of our hotel (front) – but looking out the back window
and street scenes, if
you look in the right direction, all is ‘normal’
But always,
juxtaposed to ‘normal’ was massive destruction
We visited the hospital and met our ‘Team’
of folks, all with unbridled optimism (see Carol in the middle)
We explored their
‘Tools’ and found a new life
and another new life
and time for tea and cakes
Truly a happy family
But behind the
hospital, there were all the remains of that terrible war
We visited new
colleagues at the University of Mostar:
Prof. Vladimir Simunovic and Stefi Dodig (talking with Dara and Carol)
Finally, a temporary
goodbye from our friends
and a promise that our
story will continue