The Story of Saskia’s name
Dedicated to Saskia
In October 1995, I went with a convoy to Croatia and Bosnia borders, to take aid out to the refugees. It was a harrowing journey to say the least, meeting thousands of refugees, who all had a tragic story of war to tell. This is just one of the tragic stories I encountered along my way.
We arrived at Vocin where there were once twenty two villages, there are only nine villages left remaining after being invaded by the Serb forces. On December 14th 1991, forty four people from the villages ( two from each village) aged 29 – 80 years of age, were murdered by the Serbs. They were taken into the church and shot. The church was then blown up. The Serbs proceeded to plant live mines in the rubble so the villagers could not recover their dead relatives.
It was here I met a little girl called Saskia. She was thirteen years old, very pretty spoke good English, but her eyes alone told a story. We became good friends when I was there. At first she was very shy but followed me everywhere. I tried many times to talk to her but she shied away, often running from me to hide behind a tree or vehicle. She gradually became braver and eventually walked around the village with me - holding onto the back of my tee-shirt and mumbling a few incoherent words to me. By the end of the day, she sat cuddled up to me, as we all sat around a campfire, trying to get the children of the village to sing.
The next day whilst talking with one of the camp organizers, she explained that when the Serbian Army invaded they had picked two villagers from each village and by coincidence both this child’s parents had been chosen. She told me that the little girl had witnessed both her mother and father being taken into the church and murdered. At the time this happened she would have been just nine years old. Her name is Saskia and we have kept in touch ever since. Saskia is now married with a child of her own.
I took the name of Saskia on Paltalk because the morning I downloaded Paltalk, whichever name I choose was rejected. On my desk was a letter I had received from Saskia that morning. I typed in the name and was accepted. I am very proud to use her name on here, it helps to remind me to treasure each day I live in peace. |
