My sons showed me in a dream where to find a source of drinking water

Džemila Delalić lost three sons, three brothers, and, in total, 32 family members in the Srebrenica Genocide. One night, she dreamt of her sons who told her that there was no need to bring water from the forest because there was water near her own house.

Džemila Delalić lives in the Višća Collective Center in Živinice, originating from the village of Dobrak near Skelani. She is one of many mothers who live on the soil of Bosnia and Herzegovina, yet far from their homes.

During the Srebrenica Genocide, Džemila lost three sons, three brothers, and, in total, 32 family members. After the fall of Srebrenica, her sons, along with thousands of others, headed towards free territory. They never reached their destination; that is where their trail was lost. Determined not to have only photographs as memories of her sons, Džemila decided to search for them herself to give them a dignified burial. "I put on boots, a tracksuit, a cap on my head, and start the search. If someone stops me and asks who I am and where I am from, I will tell them I am from Scotland. Scotland just came to my mind. I searched for my children in the Sase mine and in Skelani. On a hill, I found my son Suljo’s trousers and his shirt with 'Srebrenica' written on it." "A little lower," Džemila continues, "I found Sadik's jacket, but they were not his bones." So far, Džemila has found her sons Suljo and Salko, while she is still searching for Sadik.

Džemila currently lives in the Višća Collective Center in the municipality of Živinice with about 300 other displaced persons, mostly from Eastern Bosnia. Her wish is to return to her village, Dobrak, where her grandchildren from her two daughters and a daughter-in-law now live. In the collective center, Džemila engages in agriculture, raises livestock, and dreams of returning home.

Thanks to her pension, Džemila was able to take out a loan to build the first and second floors and the attic of a house in the collective center, as she never believed that a return to Dobrak would be possible. Thus, she built a house without any donations, and now she regrets not investing those funds in a house in her village of Dobrak. After building the house in the Višća center, she faced problems with water, which she had to bring from across a wooden bridge. In order to solve this, she initiated a project to dig a canal to bring water to her house. One night, Džemila dreamt of her sons who told her there was no need to bring in water because there was water right by her house—she just needed to dig, and the water would appear. When Džemila woke up, more in delirium than in a conscious state, she organized digging at the spot her sons had indicated. Soon after, water began to emerge from the ground. Thanks to this found water, Džemila supplies her household, plants, livestock, and thanks to this water, everything in Džemila's yard is flourishing.

The money I receive is bitter to me.

"The sixty marks I receive for my children – those are bitter money," says Džemila. "Work keeps me going; if I didn't work, I don't know what I would do. I have no brothers, nor cousins, but nothing is harder than knowing there are no children. I am a member of various women's associations because I want to fight and I will continue to fight to capture war criminals. Also, I will fight for more of us Bosniaks to return to Srebrenica and to live there, that is our homeland."

Dženan Mašetić