Djulbo Kadic and Radojko Vilaret, a Bosniak and a Serb who used to work together before the 1992-95, have joined forces again these days.

The two men are helping to rebuild the mekteb, or primary Islamic school, in Ustibar, a village near Rudo in eastern Bosnia.

Radio Free Europe reported that the mekteb, built 85 years ago, was saved from destruction during the war thanks to neighbours including Miloslav Cetkovic, a Serb who has lived next to it for 73 years.

“I personally said, twice: ‘People, don’t touch this, the mekteb is a place of prayer like any other, why do you need that?,” he recalled.

Mektebs are primary schools where Muslim children go alongside the state civil primary school.

While the village mekteb did survive the war, it was not taken care of until some Bosniak families returned to the village after the war.

None has met trouble. “There are no fights here. As for interpersonal relation, they are kept on a level, even people who are Orthodox have helped and given contributions,” Kadic said.

The reconstruction job is mainly being financed by the Islamic Community but is being helped by many others.

Vilaret, a Serb from nearby Sjeverin, in Serbia, is among those helping the Muslims of Ustibar to reconstruct their mekteb.

Most stories from Bosnia play on the country’s bitter ethnic divisions, pitting Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats against one another.

But Zijad Kadic, head of the construction committee for the mekteb, says they have encountered no hostility from local Serbs.

“We have had contributions from Serbs too,” he said.

“Personal and neighboring relations between us and Serbs are good, since this is a mixed village,” he added.

One reason may be that so few people are left.

Ustibar, Mioc and some other Bosnian villages that can only be accessed from Serbia, are half-empty,

Most Bosniaks fled at the beginning of the 1992-5 war while many Serbs have since left, looking for work.

“More than half the houses are empty,” said Cetkovic. “Bosniaks [from the area] have stayed in Sarajevo; they come occasionally, over the weekends. But there are no jobs.”