Hope Keeps Her Going

She arrived in the United States with eight suitcases, two for each of them–Enisa, her husband Djelo, and two daughters. “I didn’t know where I was going and what I was going to do when I got there, but it was hope that kept me going.” 

      Bosnia is Enisa’s homeland, where there had always been problems between different religions, but they never expected them to lead to war. They lived near Enisa’s three siblings and thought she’d never leave the place she loved the most.

      But one night in 1991, her husband came home from work with the news that he thought war would break out in their area–Hadzici, a suburb of Sarajevo–sooner than anyone expected, and said they needed to leave during the night to stay at a relative’s house. Once they got there, they could hear gunshots outside. TV news reports showed Hadzici being bombed.

Fleeing to Germany

      After a tense night of discussion, they decided it would be best to flee to Germany, where Enisa’s parents lived, and where their daughters, ages six and seven, would be safe. The Sarajevo bus station teemed with people with the same idea. Enisa and her daughters, Mela and Emina, caught the last bus leaving that morning–with all women and children. Men were not allowed to leave.

      Soldiers stopped the bus, got on and hunted through it, making sure no men were on board. They rode all day, through the countryside where they could see fighting and blood right along the road. They rode all night, still with no food.

      They later learned that one bridge had been bombed after they’d crossed it, ensuring that no one else could flee Bosnia. There was so much pushing and shoving that it was a miracle they got on that bus.

      Enisa’s father met them at the Stuttgart station in Germany, where they had a tearful reunion. Images on the TV news were so disturbing, but everyone thought the war would be over in a few months and they could move back home. 

      Mela and Emina started school and began to learn German. Enisa took German classes and got a job as a cleaning maid. She had been what we call a registered nurse for thirteen years. After she learned enough German, she was able to get a nursing job. 

The War Was Over

      About three years later, Enisa’s husband Djelo, a former history teacher, joined them in Germany. He had not been wounded but suffered from severe depression and PTSD from having a gun directed at his back while taking food and medicine to those who needed it most. He was unable to work.

      When the war was over, they learned their home in Hadzici had been destroyed. A letter arrived from the German government in 1997 stating that since the Bosnian war was over, they had sixty days to leave Germany, or be escorted out by the police.

“I was frightened for my girls,” Enisa said. Her two sisters had also fled Bosnia but because their homes had survived, they decided to return to Bosnia, repair their homes, and wait for jobs to reburn. But Enisa’s home was gone. 

      When she learned that several families were going to the United States, she got an application. “I didn’t know what else to do.” It took a long time to fill out everything and write essays about why they couldn’t go back to Bosnia and why they wanted to go to America.

  America

On May 14, 1998, they flew with their eight suitcases, all they were allowed, from Stuttgart to Detroit, Michigan. A cousin of Enisa’s was already assigned to Detroit so they were registered with the refugee center there. 

      They bought a used brown Pontiac but Enisa was unable to find a job. A friend who’d moved to Des Moines, Iowa, told her it was a nice place for families with children. They decided to move to Des Moines before school started.

      They arrived at an empty apartment in a suburb where they slept on the floor. Because they’d moved away from their assigned refugee center, they were no longer eligible for refugee assistance. Westchester Church donated furniture to them, offered English classes (ESL), and helped Enisa get a job–with Molly Maids.

Struggling

“It was so hard to start over again, but it was still hope that kept me going,” she said. While Enisa’s Bosnian friends bought new things on credit, and chided her for driving her old brown car and living with used furniture, Enisa had other goals. Above all, she hoped her daughters–who were then about junior high age–would be able to get a good education here.

      As her language skills increased, she was able to get a nurse’s aid job at Broadlawns Hospital. She attended classes at DMACC, hoping to become a registered nurse again.

      After too much car trouble, Enisa traded the Pontiac for a blue Ford Taurus. Since her husband was still unable to work, she traded her college courses for working overtime as a CNA at Lutheran Hospital in order to send her daughters to college. She began working four double shifts a week.

      Most Bosnians smoked when they arrived here. Enisa went through the hard work of quitting, saying it was much harder than she thought it would be, but the tobacco companies weren’t going to get any more of her hard-earned money.

College

Even after a decade of peace in Bosnia, there were still no jobs there. Her niece and nephew there had no hope of going to college or finding jobs. Her sisters even asked for money so they could buy wood to keep warm during the winter. And medical help for a brother-in-law with cancer. “I have nothing,” she said, “but I have more than they do.”

     Both Mela and Emina held jobs while going to college, and both of them have earned master’s degrees. Today Emina is an Adjunct Professor in a local college.

      Enisa bought a plane ticket for a nephew and gave him a chance to get started in Iowa. When he got a job here, he could provide for his own mother in Bosnia. And once he was settled, Enisa brought over the son of her other sister.

Fibromyalgia

After paying rent for almost seven years, Enisa bought a small condo. At first she slip-covered the used furniture they were given. She grew plants in pots on their balcony, creating a beautiful garden. Later she was able to buy new things. But she wore herself out and is now disabled with fibromyalgia’s pain and exhaustion. She misses those she worked with at the hospital, who loved working with her. Enisa’s patients also loved her, blessing her with notes and gifts. 

      Both daughters have good jobs. Emina is married and has a daughter. Enisa and Djelo live with them. Enisa loves to cook and to crochet when she feels well enough. Even with her troublesome health, and missing family members in Europe, Enisa believes she made the right decision to come to the United States. 

      “It was for my daughters.”