Blog created by Barbara contains stories and photos and personal impressions collected by Barbara during her trip to Serbia and Macedonia. It is targeting Slovenian youth and aims to raise their awareness about socio-economic situation of women in the Balkan countries which still face the consequences of war and economic transition. Barbara emphasis their role in economic development of the country.

Barbara: Although I am acquainted with the informal economy in the countries of former-Yugoslavia, the extent to which it is present in Macedonia and Serbia surprised me. I had no idea that the number is so high and that it forms such a big part of GDP. The process of the so called transition in the Balkans affected large number of people, particularly women. Although aware that women have been facing many challenges, these were often vague and described by large words such as economic instability or poverty and have been mainly seen through statistics. With the trip, these statistics got faces.

We often tend to victimize women, or people living in the so called ‘developing countries’ in general (doesn’t developing country already apply that victimized tone?). In my blog, I do that as well to certain extent. They have been hit by transition much more than man and have been fighting unemployment and survival for long time. Nevertheless this is only one side of the story. It would be very unfair not to also see them as heroines. Because they are capable and they work hard and they face everyday challenges with smiles on their faces. They search for creative solutions and they not only fight for their own bread but also for the bread of many other women in the region and the world.