Discussion with Branka Peurača

Branka Peurača is mediator, trainer and adjunct lecturer at the University of Zagreb. She also lives in the Croatian capital. The city was shaken by 5.4 magnitude earthquake last Sunday morning. People fleeing damaged houses gathered on the streets in the freezing temperatures. When I contacted Branka, she said, she was safe and her building is “best planned for earthquakes”. I asked her how she and her country is coping the situation amid the Covid-19 outbreak, and how the lockdown measures affect her work. Our discussion is a part of the #SolidarityOverDistance interviews conducted by they European Forum for Restorative Justice, aiming to share updates about members and to strengthen our community in times of isolation. 

Branka, first of all, how are you now? 

On one side, I am happy that all the people I know in Croatia are healthy and safe. On the other, I mourn two people I knew who died in the last week, one from Italy and one from Slovenia. I also worry about my elderly relatives I cannot reach and support because of the travel ban. 

"We received tents and supplies from Italy, as if it didn't have enough of its own misery."

How does the coronavirus outbreak and its consequences affect your work? 

My organisation, Association for Creative Social Work, has been working in Croatian prisons for over ten years. We just started a new project with partners from Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands and Bulgaria. I held initial meetings with the governors and heads of treatment staff from half of the Croatian prisons. I should have done the rest in March, but it will have to wait, since all the visits and all activities done by the outsiders are suspended. A colleague, who visited prisoners just after the new rules were announced spoke to them about the opportunity for them to take responsibility and to show to the whole world what they have learned so far and how they changed since they got in. I have no idea what kind of situation we will find once we are allowed in again, but I hope the connections the prisoners made with some extraordinary people among treatment staff are strong enough to prevent violent incidents.

We do not work only in prisons, we work with different people who find themselves in difficult situations, mostly with children, youth and families at risk. Two weeks ago it was recommended to all social service providers to suspend these activities. Finally, last week it became impossible because public transport was suspended too, and everybody is working from their homes. There is something positive in it: this is the first time that our team is not stretched out between different activities and that we can reflect on our work. Usually, many important things are done hastily because the type of funding we have is forcing us to have too many projects and too many beneficiaries, instead of focusing on long-term effects and sustainable change. As a result, some important features of our work are often neglected. But now we can work on our website, take time to transfer lessons learned from more experienced to less experienced team members, to reflect on our work without pressure of everyday activities with beneficiaries and partners, and, last but not least, seek innovative ways to reach out and to keep in touch with the beneficiaries and the community. So, in a way, I see this lockdown as opportunity to bridge the gaps in our work that have been worrying us for long time, and we could not find time to address them.

Have you and your colleagues found any alternative solutions to carry on with some of your activities? 

Yes, we are starting to contact people on-line and by the telephone. It is very important that the relationships of trust that have been built for long time are not lost just because we cannot talk face-to-face. My colleagues who work with children at risk in these days are calling to tell them to keep in touch, to call if they want to talk or need help with their homework. We are aware of increased risk of family violence and all kind of troubles when people are confined in small space and we are trying to figure out how to respond to emergencies if that will happen.

"This crisis makes bad governance and good governance more obvious..."

"Am I connected with my community?"

In your opinion, can restorative practices still be useful to cope with conflicts and distress now?

Of course they can. Even when one does not have control over most of the external events, and cannot implement restorative practices in a structured and institutionalised way, there are still informal ways to act restoratively. First we can ask ourselves, and then, in gentle and non-imposing way others in our surroundings: 

Am I taking responsibility?

Am I respectful towards myself and towards others?

Am I connected with my community?

A friend of mine, peace activist Goran Božičević, recently pointed out the importance of how we use language: how choice of words such as „horrible, „dreadful“, „catastrophe“, „brutal“ that many of us use just to fill the void between two thoughts can raise tensions and diminish our capacity to deliberate and choose the best option. And I keep reminding myself of the power of words and of the responsibility for using them.

These extraordinary times have forced us to reorganise our lives. Did you gain anything by the situation? How?

My personal gain from the situation has to do with my decision to reconnect with the people whom I care about and do not contact often. I get reminded again and again how rich I am, having all these people in my life. I am also more aware to the everyday acts of kindness and support that, in my usual daily rhythm, got lost in rush and noise.  And, last but not least, I see some improvement in the way people communicate with each other. It seems to me that words of hatred were never silenced so fast by other participants in social media as they are now. It gives me hope that, when all this is over, the world has a chance to become a better place.