DAYTON, Ohio — Thirty years ago, the eyes of the world were focused on southwest Ohio during the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords.
The treaty negotiated at Wright-Patterson AFB secured peace in the Balkans in 1995.
Now, three decades later, students from Bosnia and Herzegovina are in Dayton for another round of the Youth Leadership Program.
For high school students Emma Besic and Lea Anic, and just about every student on the trip, this was their first time to the United States.
“The opportunity to go to an entirely new continent and engage with an entirely new culture just seemed so appealing to me and also we get to work on our project to improve our local community which I think might mean to me even more,” said Anic.
“They’re staying with local host families, so they’re folding into real lives of U.S. American families,” said Dayton’s Civil Rights Administrator and Human Relations Council member Miranda Brooks.
Visits to key places in Dayton, like the Peace Museum, bring special feelings as students get up close to exhibits on the Dayton Peace Accords.
“You can’t go anywhere without hearing about the Dayton Peace Accords, and we like to joke it’s the reason we exist right now. If it wasn’t for the Dayton Peace Accords, our parents couldn’t educate themselves, work jobs, and we couldn’t get our education either,” said Anic.
“If it wasn’t for that, there wouldn’t be for us. There wouldn’t be peace so we’re really grateful for it,” Besic said.
The program helps the students and teachers learn about democracy, civic engagement and community building.
They also got to dive into the fun parts of American teenage life like shopping and visiting local schools.
“Our guys played basketball with them, we all cheered, everything is so much different but fun on so many different ways,” said Besic.
“I think the cultural exchange, for sure, allows for expanded cultural competency. I think there’s a real opportunity for them and for us to learn from one another,” Brooks said.
Students describe the trip as life-changing and a way to make new friends from back home.
“Here, everybody is so bubbly and so full of love and wants to talk to you. So that’s a nice surprise,” said Anic.
“It’s probably going to sound really cliché, but it is like a dream. I’m happy with Dayton. I think I’m going to apply to UD,” said Besic.
The city of Dayton has been welcoming student delegations from Bosnia and Herzegovina for several years now with the help of the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo.
It’s a competitive process to be selected, students submit applications, sit for interviews, and are chosen by colleagues at the embassy.