A De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student is set to take part in a 10K walk to raise funds and awareness for a charity honouring the memory of those killed in the Bosnian genocide.
Kirsten Parsons, who studies Criminology, will be helping to raise awareness of the work of Remembering Srebrenica UK which is dedicated to tackling hatred and intolerance.
She was inspired to do the charity walk after learning about the Death March, which took place during the genocide in Bosnia. On 11 July 1995, at midnight, 15,000 Bosniak men set off from Srebrenica, for the long walk to the free territory of Tuzla.
As the men assembled in a column on the hill, Bosnian -Serb Military forces began heavy gunfire. Unarmed and without shelter, the back of the column disintegrated as the men ran into the woods for cover. A mere 3,000 survived.
“Until I started the Building Stronger Communities programme, I didn’t know anything about the Bosnian genocide and hearing the survivor testimonies and learning about what so many families went through made me want to do something, however small, to help,” said Kirsten. “I hope that by doing this sponsored walk I can help the work of Remembering Srebrenica.”
She will be doing the walk this weekend in Northamptonshire. She has already raised more than £600 for the cause. You can sponsor her here
Kirsten has just finished her final dissertation and is hoping to return to DMU and do a Master’s. Her ambition is to work with the United Nations and be part of peacekeeping efforts.
Her lecturer, Kim Sadique, said: “Remembering Srebrenica UK is a charity that uses the lessons from Srebrenica to tackle hatred and intolerance to help to build a better, safer and more cohesive society for everyone in the UK.
“This year’s theme is ‘Together We are One’ and this reminds us of the importance of remaining vigilant against the forces of hatred that seek to “other” groups as being negatively different and which undermine the notion of us being together as one. I am immensely impressed by Kirsten’s commitment to educate others about how we can bring people together, celebrate diversity and unite communities.
“Kirsten is a shining example of what we at DMU stand for – we are a university that empowers our students to make a difference in the lives of people they meet and Kirsten is certainly making a difference.”
Hasan Hasanović, a surviving member of the Death March and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at DMU, was among the people who survived the Death March. He hid in a stream for two hours, whilst the few armed men of the column resisted another Bosnian-Serb Military assault.
He said: “I was hunted like an animal in the woods of Eastern Bosnia 27 years while trying to escape from Srebrenica. I ran away from soldiers who were shooting after me, this happened on daily basis. I didn't sleep for nights, I was hungry and thirsty and scared all the time. I survived this unimaginable journey but my twin brother, father and uncle didn't. Now I'm spending every day of my life remembering them. And in what I do, I do my best to remember all the victims."
Kirsten took part in the Building Stronger Communities programme delivered by DMU last year where she learned about the genocide in Bosnia in the 1990s. Having completed the programme, Kirsten became a Community Champion for Remembering Srebrenica pledging to take social action to build stronger, more cohesive communities, and recently joined the East Midlands regional board.
Posted on Thursday 11 May 2023