Anesa kajtazovic biography examples
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It was a normal life, then it went crazy.
I met with an illustrator to tell my story with pictures, to best capture it. You just keep moving forward.”
Around five years ago, a third grade teacher asked Kajtazović to speak to her classroom about her experience. Even at a recent book launch in Waterloo, held on World Refugee Day, Kajtazović had someone else read the book out loud.
But she said she’s gotten “such a great response here in the community” about her story, and is thinking of writing a follow-up book about her experience in the refugee camp where she lived with her family until she came to the US.
“It’s not just a story of displacement and loss; it’s also about courage, strength, and the will to rebuild,” Kajtazović said.
Growing from situations that seem impossible to escape, and yet finding the positivity in them, are all reasons why I feel I should keep sharing this story. But when war comes to her town, and her father leaves home, life as she knows it is forever changed. Not just ourselves, but also so we can educate and share with others.
Former Iowa legislator writes children’s book on fleeing war in Bosnia
Anesa Kajtazović, who served in the Iowa Legislature from 2011 to 2015, talks to Iowa Starting Line about her new memoir.
Several times during our interview, Anesa Kajtazović’s voice breaks.
More than 30 years later, the memories of fleeing her childhood home—the sound of gunfire, packing her life into a backpack, and leaving her grandparents and beloved dog Bobi behind—still feel emotionally raw.
That’s why it took the former Iowa legislator so long to write her experiences down in the first place.
“It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done professionally, and in a way personally,” Kajtazović said.
Ask the Author | Former Iowa politician discusses children’s book about being a refugee
Born in Bosnia, Anesa Kajtazovic escaped the Bosnian War as a child in the late 1990s. I didn’t know I would ever be sharing this. “I think, when we look at these refugee stories, it can also help shape us into more compassionate communities and members of our society.
“And I think it’s important to give our children a foundation that’s rooted in awareness and understanding,” she added.
Follow Anesa and her family’s story of resilience, courage, and hope.
Anesa Kajtazovic and her family survived three years of the Bosnian War and refugee camps in Croatia. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.
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Recently, I decided to write a book to describe my experience in Bosnia, and I am on tour, sharing my book across Iowa.
It was an unexpected journey, honestly. Not only for adults, but for younger children to learn about as well.
What else do you hope to share with the world?
I also hope stories like this, and stories that are shaped by war, are ways to plant seeds of peace of hope.
But I later realized that by sharing my story, I can open the narrative to topics like this.
What is the goal of your story? Hope and courage are key pieces to my story. In 1997 they received refugee asylum and settled in Waterloo, Iowa.
After graduating from the University of Northern Iowa, Anesa became an avid volunteer in her community and was elected as State Representative at the age of twenty-four.
So, I decided to write during the spring of 2020. She is the youngest woman ever elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, and the first Bosnian-American elected to a public office in the United States.
Anesa wrote Anesa, No Škola Today to portray one child’s experience of war and survival. Kajtazovic and her family survived three years in the Bosnian War and refugee camps in Croatia before receiving refugee asylum in 1997 and settling in Waterloo, Iowa, according to her website.
Sharing accounts of my life like this is a way that others can gain perspective. Before becoming an author, Kajtazovic served as a representative in the Iowa legislature from 2011 to 2015. My parents had always kept the topic behind closed doors.