Full Transcript: Arif Huskic on Bosnia and Peace
Arif: My name is Arif Huskic. I’m from Bosnia Herzegovina and the state of war as a refugee program took me to United States, which I’m thankful. Now I live in Hamtramck since ’97 and I’m so glad to be Hamtramckan, so glad to be American citizen.
I grew up in city of Velika Kladuša, which is a region of bigger city Bihać, which is western part of country Bosnia Herzegovina. It is town like Hamtramck. Industrial, better economically better, territorially it’s bigger, but I settled myself in Hamtramck and really I love it just like the city I were born in.
Mostly was Muslims in the region I were born but growing up, my school teachers was different faith people, like mixed. And as a grown, start to work, I start to communicate abroad with non-Muslim people and have a good experience with friendship and continue still.
Of course, every one of youngs think that they can run whole world and take all the titles in the world but their life guiding you in different opportunities than we think as a young. Being born in an agricultural region, I’m good at gardening, farming, and in construction as well which I’m now doing, so I’m like thank God.
I came with my ex-wife back then and a year and a half later, we got divorced. Uncle used to live in Hamtramck, he came before me about half a year. Actually, Hamtramck is a great city to live in and once I saw first time Hamtramck, I love him every day more. Even after 19 years, I still really like Hamtramck, was here is place where I develop myself and just same as city that I were born in.
You know impressions are daily changeable, hard to say which one is more remarkable. I came in America with no English skills at all. I didn't know what means hi and bye so first thing once you listening people in the— doing grocer— doing shopping, people talking different languages, they laughing, they talking, so I just pray for one day that comes that I can be part of conversation.
Interviewer: What is it like to have a community of people, like though your mosque that sort of experienced the same really difficult experience, like with the war and becoming refugees? Do people speak about it a lot, or…?
Arif: You know, in first year we came, many people talked and spoke about this among themself because in time of war, we didn't have time to talk about anything or you even cant see reality. You can see partially in your region where you live but you don't know on other side of you region and the country of Bosnia, as other countries, are big countries. You cannot, you cannot know whats going on on either side of America, right? We don’t know whats going on in California but this is America. Also in Bosnia, people from this region don't know whats going on on other side of country, region. So after two years being in America, people start to think about war completely. We— many of us didn't know about each other because from various regions of the country that is far away from each other, couldn’t know all people. But we found ourself happy in America. We got jobs and we have other responsibilities for life and people in America settling very good from all countries as I— as far I can see, they all doing great, and from Bosnia as well. Being Bosnian, we are concentrated on a situation in America and we are Muslim Americans, we are Bosnian Americans. Yes, we go back and forth Bosnia and America, visiting families, going for vacations and so on, but we are in America and we are Americans mostly.
Since I came to America, I didn't go back home yet. My parents visit me twice and that change in that moment my wish to go. And last year actually I bought tickets for me and my son to go there and just three days before flight, I cancel my travel because of some other jobs that I had. I can go to Bosnia at any time. I didn't go yet, but at any time I could go back and forth. But like I said, I settled my life here.
I was in school for a long time, school and work, daytime working, evening time in school. I have to study. People went for vacations during holidays, I remain home to study so I established my friendship with many Americans that I had group studies with my classmates so that helps me but me and many of my friends didn't enjoy holiday vacations or even regular vacations, no even weekends. We were study. We would like to achieve what we have. Especially for me, was much harder because of English as a second language. I had to learn English first, then to study what I want to study.
People are human, wherever they are, whether they live in peace and freedom or they live in war. Peace is number one, this is, this is really number one. To be hungry, somehow probably you can survive but without peace, there is no survival. If you look the countries affected with the war now time and if you see whats going on, there is no peace. But if they have opportunity to talk about peace, they will make peace, they will drop the guns, they will stop to kill innocent people and I always pray to almighty God that as soon as he will to bring the peace on the earth.
I grew up in city of Velika Kladuša, which is a region of bigger city Bihać, which is western part of country Bosnia Herzegovina. It is town like Hamtramck. Industrial, better economically better, territorially it’s bigger, but I settled myself in Hamtramck and really I love it just like the city I were born in.
Mostly was Muslims in the region I were born but growing up, my school teachers was different faith people, like mixed. And as a grown, start to work, I start to communicate abroad with non-Muslim people and have a good experience with friendship and continue still.
Of course, every one of youngs think that they can run whole world and take all the titles in the world but their life guiding you in different opportunities than we think as a young. Being born in an agricultural region, I’m good at gardening, farming, and in construction as well which I’m now doing, so I’m like thank God.
I came with my ex-wife back then and a year and a half later, we got divorced. Uncle used to live in Hamtramck, he came before me about half a year. Actually, Hamtramck is a great city to live in and once I saw first time Hamtramck, I love him every day more. Even after 19 years, I still really like Hamtramck, was here is place where I develop myself and just same as city that I were born in.
You know impressions are daily changeable, hard to say which one is more remarkable. I came in America with no English skills at all. I didn't know what means hi and bye so first thing once you listening people in the— doing grocer— doing shopping, people talking different languages, they laughing, they talking, so I just pray for one day that comes that I can be part of conversation.
Interviewer: What is it like to have a community of people, like though your mosque that sort of experienced the same really difficult experience, like with the war and becoming refugees? Do people speak about it a lot, or…?
Arif: You know, in first year we came, many people talked and spoke about this among themself because in time of war, we didn't have time to talk about anything or you even cant see reality. You can see partially in your region where you live but you don't know on other side of you region and the country of Bosnia, as other countries, are big countries. You cannot, you cannot know whats going on on either side of America, right? We don’t know whats going on in California but this is America. Also in Bosnia, people from this region don't know whats going on on other side of country, region. So after two years being in America, people start to think about war completely. We— many of us didn't know about each other because from various regions of the country that is far away from each other, couldn’t know all people. But we found ourself happy in America. We got jobs and we have other responsibilities for life and people in America settling very good from all countries as I— as far I can see, they all doing great, and from Bosnia as well. Being Bosnian, we are concentrated on a situation in America and we are Muslim Americans, we are Bosnian Americans. Yes, we go back and forth Bosnia and America, visiting families, going for vacations and so on, but we are in America and we are Americans mostly.
Since I came to America, I didn't go back home yet. My parents visit me twice and that change in that moment my wish to go. And last year actually I bought tickets for me and my son to go there and just three days before flight, I cancel my travel because of some other jobs that I had. I can go to Bosnia at any time. I didn't go yet, but at any time I could go back and forth. But like I said, I settled my life here.
I was in school for a long time, school and work, daytime working, evening time in school. I have to study. People went for vacations during holidays, I remain home to study so I established my friendship with many Americans that I had group studies with my classmates so that helps me but me and many of my friends didn't enjoy holiday vacations or even regular vacations, no even weekends. We were study. We would like to achieve what we have. Especially for me, was much harder because of English as a second language. I had to learn English first, then to study what I want to study.
People are human, wherever they are, whether they live in peace and freedom or they live in war. Peace is number one, this is, this is really number one. To be hungry, somehow probably you can survive but without peace, there is no survival. If you look the countries affected with the war now time and if you see whats going on, there is no peace. But if they have opportunity to talk about peace, they will make peace, they will drop the guns, they will stop to kill innocent people and I always pray to almighty God that as soon as he will to bring the peace on the earth.