Survivor of the war in Bosnia and author of ‘Not my turn to die’, Dr. Savo Heleta manages research on internationalisation of higher education at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). Heleta talks to The PIE about his vision for meaningful intervention and long-term capacity building in post-conflict regions.
The PIE: Tell me a bit about your background.
SH: I’m originally from Bosnia where I lived during and after the war, until 2002. I was very lucky that a few years after the war I had the opportunity to do leadership training for an NGO, then after that I was offered a scholarship to study anywhere in the world, paid for by the Whalen Family Foundation from Oakland, California. I went to St John’s University in Minnesota and actually I couldn’t speak English at the time so I spent a few months learning English before going to university.
My first year was a nightmare as you can imagine. I majored in History and Business Management and I was interested in African history and colonial history, so when I had the chance to study abroad for a semester I went to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in South Africa. After graduating from Minnesota I returned to NMMU to do a Masters in Conflict Management and then a PhD in Development Studies, focusing on post-war and post-conflict reconstruction and development.
“My experience of war in Bosnia made me want to understand why things happen and how we can stop conflict”
My experience of war in Bosnia made me want to understand why things happen and how we can stop conflict. I came to South Africa because of the history and the way the country was able to negotiate the end of apartheid, happening at the same time when the conflict started in Bosnia, where our politicians completely messed up. Being from Bosnia I know that ending a conflict is just the beginning of a long process of recovery and that became the main focus in my PhD research.
The PIE: What makes NMMU so special?
SH: The history of NMMU goes back to the 1960s. It used to be the University of Port Elizabeth and a number of other institutions, which merged in 2005 to form NMMU. We have around 26,000 students and there are close to 2,000 international students from all over the world.
“During apartheid the University of Port Elizabeth used to be a white-only university and today it’s a very diverse institution where all groups in South Africa and also international students come together”
What is fascinating is that during apartheid the University of Port Elizabeth used to be a white-only university and today it’s a very diverse institution where all groups in South Africa and also our international students come together. There’s still a lot of work to be done but I think it’s going in the right direction.
How did you end up specialising in internationalisation of higher education in post-conflict areas?
SH: I’ve helped design and teach programmes for ex-militants in South Sudan and I’ve done a lot of research and teaching in conflict analysis and post-war reconstruction and development as well. Then I was offered a job at NMMU doing research focusing on internationalisation of higher education and internationalisation at home.
“I started thinking about how to make links and I realised that hardly anybody is focusing on higher education in post-conflict settings”
Coming from an academic background that has to do with post-conflict recovery, I started thinking about how to make links and I realised that hardly anybody is focusing on higher education in post-conflict settings. There are projects and people talk about it but no one looks at what the long-term impact on these countries is.
The PIE: Tell me more about your work with ex-militants in South Sudan.
SH: What amazes me is the hunger for education that these people have. They were fighting between 1983 and 2005 when they didn’t have the chance to study or do anything other than fight.
“What amazes me is the hunger for education that these people have”
When the war ended they could either stay with the army or go into government institutions. Those in government institutions had no education or skills that could actually help them do their jobs properly which is why their government called on us. They asked us to put together something flexible, different and skills-based. We structured it around leadership, economics, development, politics and international relations.
To see these people come to university and watch them changing over three years been an amazing experience. Their bosses, all the way to the President of the country can see the impact of education on them and the work that they do.
Many ended up as heads of departments in ministries and members of the national parliament, and every time they get a promotion they tell us ‘without the education that you gave us, we would never be able to do this.’
The PIE: What’s your vision for international collaboration to assist countries that are emerging from conflict?
SH: I’d like to see rebuilding higher education becoming a priority. There’s so many other priorities after a war, there’s the humanitarian crisis, health, basic livelihoods, basic education and if you mention higher education people say well that’s luxury, we can’t talk about that now, we need to save lives.
I’m not saying that the rest isn’t important but also if you look at the bigger picture, what is going to happen in five, 10 or 15 years from now? Will the aid workers and foreign aid still be there? If we don’t assist countries in building higher education institutions and capacity so that they can be responsible for building their own human capital, it’s going to be impossible for these countries to even think about a better future.
“There’s so many other priorities after a war and if you mention higher education people say well that’s luxury, we can’t talk about that now, we need to save lives”
The UN has a pool of money that is used for post-war recovery, and out of that money, there’s about 2-3% that goes towards rebuilding education and higher education gets a tiny percentage within that. Funding is essential because universities cannot assist on their own.
The PIE: What can higher education institutions across the world do to help rebuild higher education in post-conflict countries?
SH: Universities have their own priorities, but I really hope that we can make rebuilding higher education in countries that are trying to recover from conflict a priority. It’s important for associations like NAFSA, EAIE and IEASA in South Africa to add this to the agenda and acknowledge the importance of academic solidarity within regions that need assistance.
“There are many ‘intervention-style’ and ad hoc projects around but we need to help HE systems and institutions reform and rebuild”
There are many ‘intervention-style’ and ad hoc projects around but what we need is to think about helping HE systems and institutions reform and rebuild. This can happen on many levels: we can do joint research, we can do staff and student exchange, we can work on joint teaching projects, we can do a lot of different things.
If we don’t think about development issues immediately after the end of conflict, as well as job creation, rebuilding of infrastructure and universities, it may to be too late in five years or a decade. Conflict might start again because people had no opportunities for education or employment because we were only focusing on humanitarian issues.
