Notes from Bosnia

I had been in Sarajevo for some time, and my money was gone from helping dogs, or bribing people not to kill any more animals. The money started to thin out. It went to people who transported wounded dogs and to people with higher positions who would sign papers so we could work undisturbed for some time. My last “book money” from the first two books I wrote was spent, and now I was as poor as the other people. I had made a huge mistake. But I found it impossible to pass some of the poor children and not buy them bread in the bakery, or to take the dog with a slashed throat to the veterinarian.
Ignorance! I couldn’t do that. Life felt so unfair, and watching the most vulnerable souls suffering because of people’s stupidity and selfishness was heartbreaking. In fact, going back home to Western Europe was the hardest thing I have ever done. To see our independence and wealth and yet hearing people complain. The frustration started to grow inside of me.

In Sarajevo I got an invitation to visit children in kindergarten. What an incredible joy to meet these children with all their curiosity and willingness to learn. The teachers were so caring towards them and welcomed me with open arms. I was amazed.
Outside you could see the buildings pock-marked with holes from bullets and rockets. Most of the buildings were made of concrete and the color grey dominated. But when the teachers opened the doors to these buildings, I saw color and joy --- colorful paintings by the students. Most of the paintings were of animals, and below one of them I read, “Animals do have a soul.”
The children seemed so happy. And when I left, they gave me a bag full of animal paintings to bring home to Sweden.

Old notes from Bosnia 2000

When I lived and worked in Bosnia a lot of stories were told to me, many times I met the people and children. This Rottweiler "mother" I met and I can still feel the pain echoing in my heart. I want to share my memories with you.

He abused his wife. She was frustrated, had anxiety, and yelled a lot. To make her silent, he smacked with his fist on her nose and broke it.
He loved to maltreat her. The power and satisfaction he felt afterwards was better than an orgasm. Actually, it felt the same as after having one.

The children saw their parents abuse each other, and out of fear they stopped talking in their own home, which ought to be a sanctuary for them.
The kids stayed out on the streets the whole day so they didn’t have to witness the abuse back home, or listen to the screams and see the blood. The boys hated both their parents; they already hated the whole world by the age of eleven and twelve.

They saw a deserted van with the backdoors open and hurried over to it and saw four puppies lying inside sleeping. They closed the doors and set the van on fire.
The boys laughed while the puppies’ mother ran around the van, howling with grief from her heart and soul. There was nothing she could do, but a mother’s instinct was as enormous as any feeling souls.
Her grief made her stop eating and she never left the burned down van.
She starved herself to death.

Notes From May 2003

I started the Foundation, Animals Without Limits in 2000, lived in Sarajevo for 1 1/2 year working with animals. Some people attacked with the question "Why help animals?" in a very aggressive way. Today, I found some notes that I wrote in May, 2003.

It was very hard to sit in front of the TV in Sarajevo watching CNN news. The world becomes so small that it fits in to my living room and comes so close in to my life.
Now, I am sitting in Sweden and watching the news from Iraq.

A small girl that is just 8 years old is working. Her job is to tie carpets. Her day begins at 0500 and ends at 1900 every day in the week, even Saturdays and Sundays, never a vacation. She will probably not grow to be very old. Every day is she inhaling wool fibres that her tiny lungs catch and hold, these lungs that probably will never breath freedom.
Her eyes and hands are being destroyed slowly day by day and with a pain that reminds her daily about the situation we have put her in to.

War, anthrax, nuclear weapons and refugees. With all this I find it more difficult to answer the question that so many people ask me: “Why help animals?”

But it is not hard to help the animals in war-affected countries. Wherever the human being is in life he will always have questions and other opinions. Maybe he feels guilty because he doesn’t do anything for the humans or the animals.
Maybe she doesn’t have the knowledge, after all, what you don’t know you cannot change.

When I work with animals, I am working together with other people and children. Children and their animals are a natural pair in every culture. Children learn to be compassionate and caring from and through animals. If there were no animals, many of life’s lessons would be lost on the children, and the adults that grew from such a world would be sorry indeed.

But why help animals when so many humans are in desperate need? My answer is that I help people to regain their compassion and concern for their neighbors and their society, through the animals.
On this earth we need both, and both do what they are good at.
We have the same needs and feelings, whatever religion we have, or colour of our skin, or sex, even if we walk on two legs or four. We breathe and live here together on this earth that we slowly suffocate.

It is a strange way of showing our gratitude.

The bully that is ganging up on a fellow pupil says; I like you but you are a threat to me and that scares me.

The man that hits his wife says; I do it because I love you so much, but sometimes you annoy me.

The paedophile that is molesting a child says; I do it out of love, I love you my child don’t you understand that?

The warrior says; I do it out of love for my people and my country.

The person that uses the religion as an excuse to use violence says; I do it out of love to God that is so big.

It is a strange way to show their love, when it is blind for the receiver’s feelings.

Animals and Children

We where working in Bosnia with my foundation Animals Without Limits with spay and neuter programs which were helping both the animals and the people.

I also followed other projects and made a lot of notes that I knew I would write about in the future.
The animals had a very quick healing effect on the children that had been abused in Bosnia. I was amazed and happy at the same time, and wanted everyone to see it for themselves.
A sad story doesn’t in many cases have a happy ending, but with some help it can change the direction of a human’s life.
A young boy hadn’t been speaking for several months -- close to one year—but started to show emotions when he got his own dog. After two meetings with the dog he reached after her and petted her with a gentle hand. Tears were running down his cheeks and he said “Mother”.

Energy is the language of emotion's.