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My parents named me Aisa (Aisha) – meaning a long comfortable life. Boy were they wrong!
The war in my country pushed me from my homeland, but not without a struggle. On September 29th, 1995, after three years in a war zone, my son and I were reunited with my daughter and husband in an airport in Dayton, Ohio. At the age of 45, with no English skills, it was a new beginning but not yet comfortable. I had taught my students back in Bosnia that knowledge is permanent wealth. I didn't know at the time that refugees must leave their knowledge along with their material possessions behind. Language was only a part of my challenge, there were also cultural differences that shaped my new life.
My true passion is teaching. I became a special education teacher in 2001. I think I'm very similar to my students with special needs because we must both work hard to communicate. My Bosnian fellows invited me to St. Louis on September 1st, 2007 to give a speech for the Bosnian president, Mr. Komsic and his delegation. I started my speech, “The world has big and rich countries, but in our hearts our Bosnia is the biggest and richest.” We Bosnians cried.
I am chairperson in Bosnian Community in Cincinnati. Every two weeks we have our gatherings where we share our food and talk in our language about our struggles, accomplishments, our goals, and news from our homeland. We also pray together and ask God to grant us a good and prosperous life, to spread peace on the Earth, and to help all people, especially those who are forced to leave their homes.
In August 2010, I earned a Master's degree in teaching. That was one more drop in my glass full of wishes to write a book. In July of 2012, my story, "My Last Teaching Day", was published in www.spiritofbosnia.org. In September the same year, my story, "The School Bus Driver”, won first place in the contest: "Voices from Far Away".
I am an American citizen now, and proud to be a part of this country that has opened the gate of opportunity to my family. But a part of my heart will always be in Bosnia.
I wrote Nana’s Shoes so that the world may come to know my people, so that they never forget what can happen to a people, any people, and so that, whatever their faith, they realize that a wise, just and merciful God is always with them.
You can contact me at softic.ohio@hotmail.com
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