Aubrey J.c. Verboven

Border Crossings - an Aid Worker's Journey into Bosnia Aubrey J.c. Verboven

In 1994, the world beyond Justin?s scope is crumbling. Daily images of genocide in Africa and ethnic cleansing in Eastern Europe assault his conscience. Fresh out of university, Justin?s tame Toronto life is suffocating. Fuelled by restlessness and disgust, Justin begins a journey that takes him across borders caused by ignorance and indignity. When he is hired by an aid group to deliver medical supplies in war torn Croatia and Bosnia, Justin is flooded with obstacles and the tangled bureaucracy of war. Clusters of frustrated Croatian refugees block all main roads so no aid can reach their former Serb oppressors. Thousands of Bosnian Muslim refugees who blindly follow an enigmatic warlord also obstruct assistance destined for their enemies inside the Bihac Pocket. When the already violent but forgotten Bihac Pocket erupts in full-scale war, Justin?s deliveries become more critical than ever to the sick and wounded. As Muslim forces within the Pocket fight each other, surrounding Serb forces attempt to crush their trapped Muslim enemies once and for all. If Justin is to help anyone, he must find a way to overcome duplicity, ethnic hatred and his own fears. Border Crossings uses the oft-overlooked perspective of an aid worker to present a meticulous record of a forgotten corner of the Bosnian war. It is also the chronicle of a young man?s journey to examine the content of his own character and of those he has come to help.