Belma’s trip
Sangeeta Kaur (left) and Belma Gracankic (right)
Belma Gracankic is a Bosnian refugee working for the bank. Here is her background, in her own words:
My family and I lived in Bosnia until 1992, when the war broke out.
We came to England in 1993 with the hope of re-building our lives.I started working for smile in 2004, taking a short break to go
back to Bosnia to get in touch with my roots. On my return I began
working for the Manchester Branch of the Cooperative Bank.It was through general chit-chat with Richard Wilcox, in the branch,
that I heard of Microfinance. Richard told me about his trip to Bosnia
and the good work we were doing over there.Coming from a Bosnian background I know how proud and honest
Bosnian people are; they do not want handouts. I felt that Microfinance
was the perfect way to help them get back on their feet.I wanted to find out more and to see first hand what a difference
Microfinance was making to the country that has made me the person
I am today. It was for this reason that I got involved.
Belma went over to Bosnia earlier this year with Sangeeta Kaur, a member of the Corporate Banking Team. They took a video camera with them to document some of the beneficiaries of Microfinance, but also to revisit some of the places that Belma lived.