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A modern woman in a rural setting Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska -- Ljuba Radić is a farmer who lives in the village of Pridvorci, near the municipality of Nevesinje in south-east Herzegovina, with her husband and two children. Her life has changed dramatically in the last decade or so. Before the war the family lived in Mostar; she taught in a secondary school while her husband worked as a civil engineer. The civil conflict which led to the dismantling of Yugoslavia had devastating effects on the economy and social structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One million people left the country while another million were displaced internally – altogether nearly half the country’s population was uprooted. Like many war refugees, Ljuba and her husband left everything behind them when they fled from Mostar to Nevesinje in the mid nineties. “My husband found work in the construction business, but I was unemployed,” she says. “There was nothing for me to do but stay at home and take care of our two children”. “We live in a rural community,” she says, “but I didn’t want to be just a housewife, shut up in my own home.” Rather than sit around and wait for a better future, she decided to act. She and her husband built a barn and bought two cows. She joined Nevesinje’s producers’ association, an association supported and financed by IFAD through the Livestock and Rural Finance Development Project, and signed up for training on milk hygiene, the use of milking machines and how to operate a lactofreezer, a milk refrigeration system. Now, ten years later, she has ten cows and her own milking machine. Until 2005 she milked by hand but most of her work is now mechanized. The project, through the producers’ association, gave her credit to purchase three cows, covered half the cost of the milking machine and gave her the communal lactofreezer to operate and maintain. The local dairy comes to collect the milk directly at her house, a convenience for her as well as all her neighbours, six of whom use the lactofreezer to store milk. Ljuba is a born fighter, striving for a better future for her children. After years of hard work, she is now a leader in her community and a role model for other women. She raises her son and daughter as equals, but she herself has had to fight for equal status as a woman within the community. To begin with her neighbours were perplexed by Ljuba’s activities. “But now they can see that I earn a salary on my own!” she says. She has proved that she is able to succeed on her own. Since starting the farm, the family has built a new house and has been able to give their old one to Ljuba’s husband’s brother, together with some cows. Ljuba now trains local women and encourages them to take initiative and become more active. While her husband has always been supportive and helpful, other men are more reluctant to see their wives gain independence. “Many of the husbands complain about me. They try to prevent their wives from seeing me or coming to my house. They feel threatened by my influence.” She sets an example that proves that rural people do not have to be behind the times. “I want to help modernize rural living,” she says, “by keeping in touch with new trends and technologies." She drives a tractor, a truck and a car. She plans to buy a computer and to learn how to use it so that she can keep accounts. Ljuba has recently received an award from IFAD in recognition of her contribution to the community and her hard work. “I’m very proud of this award,” she says. “The first thing I want to do is invite my husband out for dinner. Then I’ll throw a big party for all the ladies in my village and cook for them. I want to show them that they shouldn’t be afraid to become active. In fact it’s very rewarding!” Source: IFAD |
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