Melina: a girl who wants to change the world
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA- Melina was 17 when she decided that she wanted to be the one to bring change to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It all started when she and a group of her friends became active in their local community. As a member of the Roma minority herself, Melina often witnessed the difficulties that people of her origin face. And that made her determined to change the situation.
“We wanted to make a revolution. We wanted to change the world,” with a wry smile Melina Halilovic remembers her beginnings in the field of activism. But for most of her friends, that desire didn't last long. “After a year, many of my friends started giving up, as they saw that change doesn't happen as smooth and as fast as we all thought it would,” she adds.
But Melina was determined to keep going. Her desire to fight for change remained long after that first year passed.
"I know it's hard to change people's minds, but we need to keep trying”
"It's not easy to work in the non-governmental sector; one has to work hard and be very persistent”.
Since January 2004, Melina has devoted her time and energy into advocating for the rights of Roma children, youth and women in her hometown and across the rest of the country. Parallel to that, she has also been completing her studies in the Faculty of Political Affairs at Sarajevo University.
Melina is the first in her family to even start University. It’s a huge step in a country where Roma people are almost completely absent from higher education. Statistics reveal that only one third of Roma children are enrolled in primary school, while the numbers for high school are even lower.
Roma people are often completely isolated socially, while prejudices and stereotypes are deeply rooted. The accurate number of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not known, but estimates suggest anywhere between 35,000 to 76,000 people.
"I often witness discrimination that happens to my family and friends. As people usually don't recognise me as Roma, they often say or do certain things in front of me. I used to react to these situations very strongly, but now I also try to teach those people. Why would we all have to be the same?” asks Melina. With her blond hair and fair complexion, it is hard to label her as "Roma” at first glance.
"The common perception of Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that they are dirty, dark-skinned, and smelly, etc. But these misconceptions were born out of ignorance,” Melina further explains.
“What concerns me the most is that people sometimes don't even bother to overcome this ignorance. Sometimes it's enough just to be dark-skinned not to get the job”.
In the last couple of years, Melina has managed to affirm Roma women in her hometown; often through projects led by World Vision’s office in Bosnia and Herzegovina where Melina is currently employed.
She has worked on different projects, but what she remembers the most is the education workshop for Roma girls that don't go to school. Many of them just wanted to learn how to write.
"I remember one girl who completed primary school and had a great desire to continue with her education. I spoke with her parents to see if we can enrol her in high school. Her mother was not at all interested and her father said: Why would she need school? She is female,” recalls Melina. While in many cases, Melina convinced the parents to enrol their children into school, in this case she didn’t succeed.
Her biggest achievements are yet to come but she is determined to work hard to make them happen.
"I know it's hard to change people's minds, but we need to keep trying”.
In 2010 Melina represented the youth of Bosnia Herzegovina at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. She took part in the youth conference, undertook media work and showed her photographs alongside others as part of a World Vision/PhotoVoice photoproject into Youth as Agents for change in their communities. http://www.photovoice.org/projects/international/youth-as-agents-for-change-direct-voices-russia-and-bosnia-herzegovina-2009
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