Excerpted from a letter from pedagogue Silvana Begaj in which she says goodbye to Albania for a variety of reasons that are sadly summarized with the immortal "this place is not done," we asked our followers on Facebook and Instagram why they decided to live and work in Albania instead. emigrate somewhere else. The letters we received were exceptional, but we selected the ones below to demonstrate that the only thing that drives you to leave is the desire to leave. Nothing else.
?I personally think about my life here in Albania. Here I want to live and work. Our Albania is so beautiful, with mountains and plains, seas, rivers and lakes. Everything beautiful has been forgiven by nature. I have studied Tourism Management and currently work in tourism. All the time I am dealing with strangers who fascinate our country, people who paradise this country, people who were given the opportunity to come and other times here, never say no. We have this opportunity, we live here. Why not do our best to improve this country? Why should we step down and abandon it? To the fault of some who have been put in charge and made us lose hope? We must kick those who are at the forefront today and not this wonderful country. We should all try to make this place. "
?At the moment I have been thinking of working and staying in Albania. I am 28 years old, divorced and with one child. Before I got pregnant, I thought I should leave this place because I would be cheaper. A child is a big responsibility. After I got divorced, I again thought about leaving this country. But I was offered a good job and a decent salary by my people. So here it is. This summer I was given the opportunity to do paperwork with an Englishman as I came from there and proposed them as an idea. I refused. I refused because I could only do the paperwork and they have two, three years of procedure. I would be alone in a foreign country with a child. The job that would wait for me there is no office job like here. Maybe I would suffer the first years and adjust later, but very difficult with a two year old. I stayed for work and I don't have my family members to help me out. ?
"I am one of those people I don't want to leave. I have invested a lot in myself to work here, not elsewhere, to do the work I have a passion for, to hang out with the people I know from a lifetime. Most promote security that is outside the Albanian state, but even here if you apply the basic principles of life, nothing happens. If you look to improve your life, yourself, if you see coffee for 10 minutes and not for two hours, if you work to increase well-being, why not? It is very easy to become pessimistic and want to leave because it is the easiest thing, but the point is why not try to escape. And who said that beautiful things and happiness bloom quickly? At least I have learned that you must strive to win in life. There is no painless victory. I would like to take an example: If you talk to different people about how it is best: to rent or pay for your home, almost 90% choose to pay for your home. And why? Because you know that in the end that house will be yours. Why not tackle the issue of staying in Albania or abroad in this regard? Stay here because you're struggling. But you're working, struggling for your home. And in the end your bones will stay in your house, they will not be burned anywhere, where neither mum nor mum will remain. "
?We need people like this, working and living here, who have invested their whole lives here like my job. I was out and back a few years ago and we started everything from scratch. With much sacrifice, we now have an honest, consolidated business of 10 years. Although the temptation to run away is great, I wholeheartedly want to fix the situation so we can raise children in Albania. ?
?I just finished my studies and so far I've been looking for a job. I just started. Meanwhile my parents insist that I go overseas because there is someone better off thinking they can help me with the scholarship and they do not encourage me to find a fixed job to fix myself, but for now that you have other plans. ' The one who promises to find scholarships, finds scholarships for every branch, just for my branch no. I'm so overwhelmed with the idea that someone is telling me what to do in life 'that's better' without asking me what I want. I'm overwhelmed with the idea of just doing a school out and you're coming here, to open all the doors. I invested five years, my parents invested over 10,000 euros for my education and when it comes to it, they ask me to do all this and do something unrelated that I don't want. Someone else would do everything for a scholarship in America, but I don't want it. I want to experience Albania's suffering, work daily to help myself and the people, respect the rules where others do not. I am so overwhelmed with learning English, despite the fact that I enjoy language as much as just the idea of being forced and commanded to do something that I wondered if I wanted to or not. Yes, I'm the one who doesn't want to go to America. I want to stay here. even with two minimum wages, you can make a living. If you want more, find more. This place is made when people do it. ?
?I left for study in Germany and do five years here. I didn't go away being pessimistic about my country. No, I left because I wanted to give myself the right education and in Albania, the branch I study does not exist at all. But in my mind, returning home is always possible. Even in my motivation letter when I applied here, I answered the question of why I chose Germany: It is the right experience and place I can follow as an example to improve my country. It is sad that there are so many Albanians out here that only poison for Albania. As if hell was on earth. I've learned something. If you don't love yourself, others won't love you either. I try very hard to promote my country and every year I bring some tourists with me. Love Albania, for me it is paradise on earth. ?
?A big reason I don't go is that I have a job that I love and live well here with my family. Another reason is my parents. We have motives as much as we want to stay, as much as to go away, it just depends on the mentality and thoughts we feed inside of us. ?
"I'm sorry America didn't leave. When I finished school, I returned to Athens with my family. Feeling exhausted for a year. I was neither enjoying the sun nor the air. I went back to Tirana. I have uncertainties about the security that the state should create, as in the field of medicine, road safety, but for the future of children, no. What assurance and perspective did we students of '97 have? But my whole generation is in leadership positions in banks, advisers in ministries and so on. None is for crying trouble. I told others not to narrow their example. We work, but we have also made the education. Whoever cheats on school, work, family does not even see the outside. Do you know why they turn behaviors when they leave? That there is no one to owe you. They don't have Dad's house and Mom's pets. Here too the parents and the mentality are to blame. Finished high school? Rent a home to see what life is all about. Pay the Master himself. ?
?My husband and I live in Nice, France. We've been here for three years. We left Albania because she was transferred here with work. My husband is not Albanian, but the country he misses most is Albania and not his country. As for me, I don't know what to say. I miss him so much that in those three years I never made it two months without him. I have traveled to many countries around the world and I say with conviction that I would never choose to leave Albania as all young people do. We always say that in the future when my husband's job is over, we will go back to live in Tirana. Albanians do not want to create opportunities for themselves. They do not obey any rules, while the opposite is true when migrating to Europe. Everyone's behavior is up to him and not to the rules or laws. If you obey the rules, you do it for yourself, so we obediently do the worst for ourselves in Albania. "
?I have been studying medicine abroad for two years and what inspires and strengthens me to work harder is the thought that one day I will return to my country, to my Albania. Maybe the living conditions are better here, maybe career opportunities are bigger here, but at the end of the day what you miss most is your home, your people. It is they who enjoy the victories and successes with you, not just through the phone camera. No other language in the world tastes like your own. You may spend many years abroad, you may know many friends, but nothing can make up for lost things when you're away. I'm one of those students who left with a great desire to study abroad, probably thinking that I would never go back, but today my biggest wish is to build my career there. "
?I'm a girl who has decided not to give up her place, the warmth to forgive except her hometown and the people she knows from a lifetime who speak your language, your culture and where you feel at home. I have graduated from a non-public university in Tirana. Engaging in internships or working and working not in a profession enough to support myself, today at the age of 23 I work in my profession. , but also many luxuries, spending time as in the cafes of Tirana, but also working to pursue a career and not stop studying. And I can say with conviction that my social circle, too, is all in their profession and with above average wages. I think there are foreign investors and companies in Tirana that provide valuable internships and many job opportunities. Just a little bit of positivity. "
