03 - Bear Necessities
This past week I had the opportunity to visit both Gračanica and the Pristina Bear Sanctuary.
Gračanica is a village just outside the capital city of Pristina. It was founded after the Serbian forces pulled out of Kosovo and the majority of the Serbian population of Pristina fled to the surrounding areas. While charming, I had the opportunity to interact with an American who has been living amongst the locals for several years now. As he guided both a contingent of UN employees and me around the village, he described the local attitudes about Kosovo as well as the struggles and corruption of the local economy.
He described the fear and resentment still held by the local Serbian population. Many of the older folks have not visited Pristina for over 25 years, despite the fact that it’s only a 15-minute drive away. The young kids in the village, because of what their parents have told them, genuinely believe that they will be killed if they get on the bus to Pristina. Moreover, the population strongly considers Kosovo to be part of Serbia. Serbian flags line the main road to a statue of a Serbian folk hero. Giant letters spelling “MISSING” sit in the front yard of the local government building, a counter monument to Pristina’s “NEWBORN” monument.
Economically, Kosovo has been flooded with international funds to the point that many claim it makes up most of the economy. These funds, however, do not appear to be used for the purpose for which they were awarded. For example, one group within the village received a grant to construct a new community center and attempt to bring different ethnic children together to break down the hostile narratives fed to both groups. Instead, the group renovated its own office, and, though officially, they ran several events with a recorded attendance of over 300 kids; the actual attendance was only 1 for every event. Another group received funding for bike racks and a fleet of bicycles, but after only a few weeks, the same group that received the bicycles sold them off and allegedly pocketed the money.
Though Kosovo has made great strides in the last 20 years following independence, the scars of war run deep, and much remains to be done to combat corruption and settle differences between the Albanians and Serbs.
On a lighter note, the Pristina Bear Sanctuary is truly a wonderful experience. All the bears living within the Sanctuary were rescued from within Kosovo; many of them were kept in unimaginable conditions as entertainment in restaurants or other locations. Today, the bears live in either small groups or within their own enclosure. Each enclosure is lush and mountainous, with several swimming pools for the bears to drink and cool off in within each enclosure.
The bears themselves look healthy and well cared for. Surprisingly, the bears have become rather accustomed to human presence and will come right up to the fence line to sniff your scent. It almost makes me wish bears weren’t so dangerous; they all looked quite soft.
