Joshua

T. Irby, American Protestant activist and humanitarian, moved to Bosnia and Hercegovina two years ago with his family and discovered his interesting connection with Adeline Paulina Irby, an English educator and humanitarian who, in the 19th century, opened schools throughout Bosnia and advocated for literacy and education for young girls; Joshua has written a book Meeting Miss Irby in which he speaks about his distant cousin and how she inspired him with her noble work; the book will be published in September, on the 100th anniversary of Miss Irbys death.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MISS IRBY

Adeline taught me to ask myself what I can do for others, not seeking anything in return.

Written by: Adisa Basic Photo: Milutin Stojcevic

Adeline Paulina Irby was born just before Christmas 1831 to a wealthy family in east England. She grew up on the property of Boyland Hall, an Elizabethan palace built in the 16th century, full of servants and luxury. In front of her was the secure and beaten path of social gatherings, dances, courting, and then a good marriage. This daughter of a British Rear-Admiral Frederick Paul Irby chose, however, another path. The suitors were not interesting to her, although she could be to them: if they were not interested in her slightly rough exterior and brusque nature, they were certainly attracted to her great family wealth. Instead of trendy resorts and villas, she chose to set out on an adventure, with her friend Georgina Mackenzie and one maid, in two carts and with four horses, through the little known and impassible region inhabited by an unknown (to her) peoplethe Slavs.

ON AN ADVENTURE WITH SOUP, TEA, AND AN UMBRELLA

Despite these challenges, Adeline and Georgina left Vienna in early June 1859. They were experienced travelers, fluent in German, and decided they could make the trek without a guide or translator. Wanting to travel light and to avoid delays and breakdowns, they brought along only a supply of dried soup, tea and a green umbrella to shade themselves from the sun. They had been delighted at how little information they could find in preparation for the trip. They were searching for an adventure, not a vacation, wrote Joshua Irby, author of the book Meeting Miss Irby, about the first serious journey of the two young women. Adeline Paulina Irby remained always connected with the Balkans (especially Sarajevo and Bosnia) where she spent the majority of her life in educational and humanitarian work. Here life was an inspiration to one young American, her namesake and distant cousin, who asked himself how he can make his life meaningful and how he can help other people. Joshua Irby was involved in humanitarian work as a student and came often to Croatia. For some time he lived in Split and, out of curiosity, visited Bosnia for the first time in 1999, not realizing that ten years later it would be his home. In a conversation with our paper Joshua said: My first trip to Bosnia was during the winter, it was cold and dark, I thought that this was a great place to visit, but not somewhere to live. Later, life led

me here; you can never actually know for sure where you will be in five years. After finishing school for engineering, Joshua married and settled down in Atlanta, but was not interested in a career in that field. In the book, he writes of one experience from his first day at his university in America. The dean warned the freshmen to take a good look at the people sitting on their left and right sides, because only one of them would make it to graduation. The ruthless struggle for survival and the beaten path that was waiting for him (house in the suburbs, two cars, children, a wife, and a good job) didnt look attractive to Joshua. He says: When I decided to move to Bosnia two years ago, I wasnt running away from anything. I had students in Atlanta, I worked for an organization similar to what I do here, I was happy, successful, in a well-known environment . . . My wife and I love to live abroad, for years we spoke about moving to Bosnia, and one day we agreed that we needed to quit daydreaming and simply pack and move. It took us a number of months to do everything, but at last we succeeded and, with our two children, moved to Sarajevo. Today we have a happy and full life. A special surprise for him was when he discovered that one of his favorite streets in Sarajevo (behind the national Presidency) that he walked daily, was named for a woman with his same last name Irby. Even more interestingly, the road kept its name in spite of all the historical storms and societal changes. He decided to research Miss Irbys life and soon knew enough about her to want to write a book. I had a dilemma at the beginning, I asked myself, who am I to write a book about some woman from Bosnian history. I didnt want to be just one more in a line of foreigners who write books about BiH explaining to Bosnians and Hercegovins how they should live. Thats why it was important for to me to write my own story, and how Miss Irbys life and work affected me and my connection to Bosnia, Joshua said candidly. In the book, he writes about the dilemmas he faced before his departure, about the anxiety that this life decision could grieve his family. Joshua works with the organization Hope and Life which has been in Bosnia 7 years and organizes social events for students, discussions about spiritual questions, and free English language workshops. Although they work with other organizations and congregations, the organization is protestant and the spiritual life of young people is their primary focus. Miss Irby was also a protestant to whom spiritual life was important and for whom one of the greatest obstacles was the distrust of people who thought that the primary goal of her mission work was to convert children to her faith. Although Adeline lived and worked in completely different conditions, the way in which she overcame obstacles is an inspiration and encouragement for Joshua. Her biography encouraged me because I saw that it took her three years see results from her work. What fascinates me about Miss Irby and what I learned from her story is to ask myself, what can I do for other people, how can I make myself available to them, how can I help them and make their life easier. She intrigued me, both privately and professionally, and inspired me to be better, to think about others, to think about the purpose of my life. To the question of whether unconditional lovewhich he mentions in many parts of the bookis really possible, and whether the profit humanitarians receive is really from the appreciation of those they help, Joshua says that unconditional love and philanthropy are very visible in the example of Miss Irby: During the period of the Uprising in Bosnia in the second half of the 19th century she collected money for the refugees, around three million euro in todays value, after that, she spent around four million KM in todays value on Bosnian children and the schools. She fed the hungry, clothed the naked, gave education to the children . . . She didnt do this to get rich, she raised the money and spent it to help others. If you do what God created you to do and what fulfills you,

happiness and satisfaction come on the end like a reward, but you dont do it for the reward. That kind of love isnt selfish. Joshua thought that the writing of the book would take many years, however, in the end, he decided to finish the work in a little less than two years so that the book would be published in September of this year, in connection with the 100th anniversary of Miss Irbys death. His idea is that in cooperation with his publisher, Sahinpasic, with The Serbian Educational Society Prosvjeta and other organizations and individuals to organize a commemoration of this woman in whose schools thousands of children were taught to write, fed, and clothed against the cold and dozens of teachers were trained. The 15th of September we want to gather various representatives of the Bosnian government to honor her, just like they all did at her funeral a hundred years ago, also the orthodox community, who most openly accepted her and whom she helped the most, but also the Catholics and Muslims, explained Joshua Irby. In his research about the life of Adeline Paulina Irby, which he describes as a kind of detective work, Joshua used the internet, local and foreign archives, photographs, also books and texts that Miss Irby wrote (for example, Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey-in-Europe) and a number of old London Times in which she published appeals to help the poor Bosnian refugees and thanks to her wealthy friends who gave donations.

WE WILL NAME OUR DAUGHTER ADELINE

His plan is to compile the material that he did not use in the book and present it on a website about his distant cousin. It isnt important to be related to someone in order for them to be close to you, you dont chose your family, it is important to recognize that we have the same goal. Still, I investigated my familythe poor American Irbyswho were related to her wealthy family, but moved to America before she was born, says Joshua who is so excited about the selfless life and mission of Miss Irby that he and his wife plan to name their daughter, who will be born in October, Adeline. Miss Irby is remembered today as a Serbian benefactress because she mainly worked with the Orthodox population, but she was sensitive to all people in trouble. At the same time, she was also aware of her own origins, sometimes calling Bosnians half- barbarians. She definitely wasnt a saint, says Joshua Irby, referring to the headstrong nature of his role model. Reading her book you can see her personal prejudices and the bias of England at that time. But, some of those weaknesses reveal her strengths. She was not a great lover of Catholicism and, keeping in mind her protestant background and the historical relations of that time, it is somewhat understandable. The Anglican Church has traditionally had a better relationship with the Orthodox. There was certainly an historical context with the Catholic Church that caused here to have a closer relationship from the beginning with the Serbian community. But, at the same time, she gathered money for the Catholic poor, helped the Catholic nuns, cooperated with those nuns who also were also leading schools. In that way, she overcame her initial prejudices. Adeline also wasnt a big supporter of the Ottoman Empire, and her position was opposed to the prevailing mood in England at that time. That prevented her from having a full picture of some of the positive aspects of the Ottoman administration. She was hardheaded, she didnt mince words, often, because of that, she found herself in unpleasant situations. But, she reacted instinctively to others misery and misfortune; she sacrificed herself for others. Often I wonder how much we would agree with each other today, whether we would argue, but, in any case, her undertaking in Bosnia is a timeless inspiration to me.