In the heart of old Sarajevo, called Ba\u0161\u010dar\u0161ija, where the smell of fresh coffee and baklava waft down a narrow lane, 24-year-old Alen \u0160pilja is enjoying conversation and dessert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u0160pilja\u2019s ancestors have lived in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 15th century. He says in his family, with its interweaving of faiths and cultures, the memory of war does not dictate the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Yugoslavia everything was mixed, and Sarajevo remains like that today,\u201d he told ONE magazine. \u201cIn one neighborhood you\u2019ll find a mosque, a Catholic church, and an Orthodox church side by side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s harder for the older generation,\u201d who remember the three-year Bosnian war and suffered the loss of friends, relatives, homes and work, he said. \u201cBut if we focus on rebuilding and living in peace, we can do it. \u2026 a peaceful future is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n