Broken Lifelines

It is in 1991 when the war in the former Federation of Yugoslavia, breaks out. Nobody saw it coming. In 1998 the curtain falls and the Federation ceases to exist. Svetlana's dreams dissipate in thin air. Born in what is now called North-Macedonia, she had plans to go to Cambridge to study, with the money that her hard-working parents had saved for her. They lose everything and her life takes a dramatic turn. With her family she tries to survive as a hairdresser. In 2002 she marries and moves to The Netherlands with her husband. She lives as an illegal citizen for 16 years in The Netherlands, because Macedonia is not member of the European Union. After the birth of her son, who becomes stateless, she decides to return to her home country. 'The war is in me' are her words when I meet her in 2011. As an uninvited guest it has settled in her life and that of her family. She discovers that her city and region have fallen prey to poverty and decline. She takes a radical decision about her life, with big consequences for herself and her son.