(gentle music) - I was a very young and ambitious student of medicine, who graduated from my medical school, 1981, and pursued a career of a physician and pediatrician at Children's Hospital in Sarajevo.

I finished my residency in pediatrics, and started my fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology.

Meanwhile, I also finished my Master thesis, which I defended right before the war started.

It was 1991.

So my ambitions were great, and I had a big dreams, big career, and medicine was my love, my, I perceived my future in medicine, and of course in building a family in Sarajevo.

I practiced medicine at Children's Hospital, big clinical center with secondary and some tertiary healthcare.

I was a young practicing physician, working, actually, I was at that time, just finished my residency in pediatrics.

There were days when I had to stay at home, because it was dangerous to go out.

There were days when the car was sent from the hospital with guarantees for the physicians to be safe, to be transported safely to the hospital.

It was very, very, very dangerous to move between the buildings, trying to find a shelter, to run the open areas to come to the hospital.

And that was my everyday work.

Because I had to be in the hospital.

The hospital that I initially worked in was burned.

Five babies were killed that night when the hospital was relentlessly bombed and shelled, in order to take the hospital.

The hospital, children's hospital, and maternity center were the same, practically the same facilities in the same, at the same location, next to each other.

That day, when the hospital was shelled, there were about 130 women in the hospital, about 70 babies.

It was not looking good.

In the building where I lived, we were sensing the tensions among people.

We were seeing looters around our building.

There were no supplies.

And suddenly, people started to disappear from the building.

My husband was still going to work, and he's still crossing the bridge at that time.

He told me to pick up my children.

It was a panic.

It was morning, and I took my children.

I dressed them and took some clothes for them, and my diplomas, my medical diplomas, and some of the money that we had in the apartment.

And we ran downstairs, and then we actually run to cross the bridge, to make it across the bridge, because few days later, that bridge was closed, and nobody could go back and forth.

People were not able to leave.

'Cause it was not easy to leave the country when the war started, the roads were blocked.

Sarajevo is in besiege, there were artillery every 35 meters and the 65 kilometers around Sarajevo.

I lost my husband.

He was killed as a civilian.

We arrived to Split, which is Croatia, which was way different world.

As we are approaching Split, we saw the hope.

This was the world, the world that didn't know or never experienced the war.

The markets were filled up with food, all goods.

When you see that and you suddenly realize, "I'm safe, and my children are safe," and I perceive that as victory.

Well, Dayton is a very interesting place.

This is a very diverse community.

This is a place where you really feel free.

This is the center of the Air Force Base.

I think this is the place that gives a very positive vibes and message to the world, and for that reason, I think it should take role in peace negotiations.

I think there is a hope, but again, requires a lot of work.

This is a different country now.

When you go back to Bosnia, it's rebuilt.

There are many, many interests for Bosnia, because it's attractive country with a lot of sources and wealth.

This is the country that has great potentials and great people.

(gentle music)