Two Youngsters Scheduled for Medical Assistance at Central DuPage Hospital

The 12 students in Natasa Jovicic’s "Women and War" course at DePaul University have learned lessons about compassion and the ugliness of war that are not found in any textbook. Since April, they have worked with single-minded determination to bring two young Croatian land mine victims to Chicago for medical assistance. On May 14 students and teacher will see the fruits of their effort materialize when a very special entourage from Croatia lands at O’Hare.

Ivica Bagaric, 10, and Marijana Knezevic, 18, will arrive on an afternoon flight that will be met by a cheering group of well wishers including the DePaul students and teacher. The youngsters will rest over the weekend before they begin free evaluation and medical treatment at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Ill., thanks to the efforts of Dr. Bernard Gawne, an ophthalmologist on staff at the hospital.

A Croatian war survivor, Jovicic was invited to DePaul to teach the "Women and War" course by Elizabeth Kelly, director of DePaul’s Women Studies program. The two women developed the course together. "Our women’s studies program has a long history of combining scholarship with activism," said Kelly. "Natasa is just the sort of scholar/activist from whom our students could best benefit. How often will Chicago undergraduates have the opportunity to learn from someone who has survived life in a war zone, and who continues to work for social justice in the campaign against land mines?"

On the first day of class, Jovicic decided to share videotape of the two Bosnian children who were wounded by war. "I began to talk to the students about creative action and how necessary it is to impact change," said Jovicic. "I told them that if they really wanted to do something meaningful for their final course project, they could work closely with me to bring the children to the United States."

When one of Jovicic’s students, Liz Gawne, volunteered that her father was an ophthalmologist at Central DuPage Hospital and that perhaps he could help, things miraculously began to fall in to place. Gawne talked to her father, who quickly got a team of physicians together who agreed to examine and operate on the children pro bono.

"It was as if all the windows had opened up at once," said Jovicic. "I started crying because I knew God had sent this girl to my class."

Gawne approached Dr. Gerald M. Gawlick, chief medical officer at Central DuPage Hospital, to enlist support of the institution. Gawlick in turn approached Dr. David Fox, president of the hospital. "Both colleagues generously offered the hospital’s backing of the project," said Gawne.

Winnetka Presbyterian Church paid for another major expense – the cost of round trip air travel. Thomas Mockaitis, a church elder and chair of the history department at DePaul, spurred a flurry of supportive gestures by his church including the purchase of Braille equipment for the boy.

Ivica was blinded by a land mine explosion in Bosnia in 1995. He lost his right eye and sight in his left. Jovicic met and befriended the boy and his mother Anda through her work for NONA, a women’s organization Jovicic founded to aid land mine survivors. When tests in Croatia earlier this year indicated that Ivica’s left eye nerve might still be alive, Jovicic intensified her search for sophisticated medical assistance for the boy.

During this time Jovicic was living in Chicago because she had begun her doctoral studies in multicultural education at Columbia College in 1997. She traveled back to Croatia to further the cause of land mine survivors whenever she had a break. "I was contacting hospitals all over the United States and lecturing on the need to ban land mines, but except for raising awareness, I was not having any concrete results."

Meanwhile, Jovicic began seeking help for Marijana who lost part of her right foot in a Bosnian minefield in 1995 while attempting to guide her two younger sisters to safety. Both of the younger girls were killed in the blast. "Marijana has severe pain in her spine, she walks with great difficulty, and she has deep psychological scars," said Jovicic. She said that of all the children she has encountered in her work as a land mine survivor’s activist, Ivica and Marijana stood out in her mind as the two that needed help the most, so she concentrated her effort on them first.

According to Gawne, who is coordinating the evaluation process, teams of specialists will evaluate the children at different locations on May 18. Marijana will be evaluated by a team headed by Dr. David Mochel, an orthopedic surgeon affiliated with Central DuPage Hospital. According to Mochel, Marijana may require reconstructive surgery, skin grafting and physical therapy to repair the damage to her foot and leg.

Dr. David Gieser, president of the Wheaton Eye Clinic, has arranged for Ivica to be evaluated and treated at the clinic. Dr. Jon Gieser, a retina specialist, will lead a team of 20 ophthalmologists in evaluating and treating Ivica’s condition.

In addition, Dr. Vincent Sackett, a psychiatrist and vice president of medical administration at Central DuPage, has offered to coordinate any psychiatric care the two young patients might require.

Jovicic uses her personal story to demonstrate why the psychic damage of war cannot go untreated. An art historian, she worked with refugee women for seven years using art as a method of healing before friends convinced her to seek refuge herself in the United States. "My friends here in the United States told me ‘you need to come here because you are going to die,’" recalled Jovicic. "I was 27 when the war started. When one of my teachers at Columbia College asked me recently how old I was, I said 28. It seems like those seven years didn’t even exist. I was not able to deal with my stress until I came here to Chicago and began my healing," said the 34-year-old.

Perhaps the greatest "cure" for Jovicic has come from the fulfillment she finds in opening the eyes of the 12 women in her class to the ravages of war. "I want them to start to think about activism, to change the way they view education," said Jovicic. The students, who range in age from 18 to 34, have applied this proactive educational approach to their efforts to bring Ivica and Marijana to the United States. They’ve written letters to hotels seeking housing for the visitors, arranged transportation for them while they are here and are seeking ways to raise money for the additional expenses that will be incurred. The students also plan to create a videotape to document the entire experience.

"They are two people who didn’t do anything to deserve the destruction they are a part of," said student Erin O’Brien Dugan. "At least we can try to help them heal, to try to fight the destruction."

For more information about Ivica, Marijana or the NONA Land Mine Survivors Aid Program, visit the Web site at www.websofpassage.com/landmines.