Sunflowers and Snipers

Saving Children in the Balkan War

Credited with saving 300 lives through evacuation and many more through medical aid during her time in the Balkans, Sally Becker's story is both uplifting and a warning of the true nature and price of warIn May 1993, Sally Becker went to Bosnia to help victims of war, delivering medical aid and evacuating wounded children from the besieged city of Mostar. She was dubbed the "Angel of Mostar," and was hailed for her efforts to save the children from all sides. When Milosevic ordered his troops into Kosovo her missions continued, this time on foot across the mountains, to bring sick and injured children and their mothers to safety. While doing so she was captured by Serb paramilitaries and sent to prison, but neither this nor being shot by masked gunmen could make her abandon her task. This book reveals not only the suffering of the ordinary people and the bravery of those who helped them, but also the systematic inertia and ineptitude of government institutions and the often languid reactions of the United Nations. When the UN insisted they could have done it without Becker, her response was "Well why the bloody hell didn't they?"