Undertaking for a Generation

Livja B. was 8 years old. Blind bullets were penetrating normal homes and two thousand lives were claimed. This was 1997. Two billion U.S. dollars and hopes of many Albanian families evaporated in a pyramid scheme that was peculiarly endorsed by the government. The cost for a free market was hefty. Nearly seven months of violence and anarchy ended with an election – the leftist Socialist Party took power but “it could have been any snake”, said Livja. Years have gone by and she has grown to become a lawyer who also runs her family hotel in Voskopoja. On the surface, “It felt like our lives started all over again for a second time, just like in 1991 after the fall of communism. The scars, anger, mistrust, misplaced ambition are still very present in our society”. In her eyes, I see reflections of light and the refurbished Bazaar of Tirana; few passersby waltzing around, notes of coffee and cinnamon in the air.

While the fury and “bread and beans days” are gone, Albania remains one of the least developed countries in Europe. Sources suggest that the national average monthly income is around US$500, or “low enough that everyone wants a visa lottery to leave”. The parliamentary election is ten days away but many critical minds see through the façade. Born in a middle-class family, a lottery ticket is there. Livja chose to stay. She has a plan to set an example for the ones who want to return home and restore hope for the many generations to come.

Lens of Passion: It has been so great knowing you during my time here. Thank you for accepting this interview and sharing with us your story.
Livja B.: It’s my honor to be interviewed by you and I think it will be helpful for my own progress as well.

The election in Albania is happening this month. What would an educated and ambitious woman want to see changed in this country?
First of all, education definitely, this creates the basis for a bright future. Ministry of education should attract the best teachers to work in the public system. We have to build exchange programs with foreign universities to enable exchanges of teaching and learning. It would be truly amazing if international professors can lecture here and Albanian students can study abroad. Right now, from elementary schools to colleges, we are still very “Soviet” in the teaching methodology and in a sense that we don’t have sufficient modern labs for all of the science subjects, many of them were built 50 years ago and not kept up-to-date. Also, many cities do not have a public library! How can it be? The one in Tirana is closed for constructions and I don’t know when it’s going to reopen.

I have thought about this for a long time, we should really add “Introduction to Law” in the high school curriculum. This applies for all the world, but especially for developing countries where the rule of law is still in progress. It is very important to introduce kids their rights and duties, the basic concepts of law, such as contracts. For instance, marriage is a contract that has great gains but it also impacts your life forever; same goes for divorce. Although it is a hard pill to swallow, we should be open about the fact that the law is made by, and in favor of certain interest groups, almost everywhere in the world unfortunately.

The second change we must see is in the medicine and healthcare sector. We must pay the best doctors more to bring them back to the public system and again invest in national research labs to make big changes.

The third, is bringing focus to the tourism sector, by developing cultural tourism, taking care of archaeological sites and restoring old churches. Adventurous tourism should be another focus area we should invest to map trails for hikers, create adequate facilities for water sports and extreme sports, for instance.

I think we have great potential to be a country like Greece or Croatia that relies a lot economically on tourism. We are a small country that has a lot to offer, a coastal line of 476km, home to 247 natural lakes and more than 800 artificial ones. In the last years, this sector has attracted a lot of attention also from our government and in terms of infrastructure I think we are getting there.

The forth change we need to see is more of a sentimental and sensitive issue but rather crucial. We must disclose all the classified files from the Communism period “Dosjet e Sigurimit”, what the Sigurimi (The Directorate of State Security) knew. We are the only country that abandoned Communism yet has not handled the snakes because many deputies of our parliament have dirty hands in the past regime. Until this day, we don’t know who in our neighborhood was a spy, who betrayed their loved ones, who stole, who signed for someone’s death execution. Last week, a former communism executor and criminal was decorated by the president of the Republic with the title “Knight of the flag”. The whole community that was politically prosecuted by this person are protesting against it. The country can’t move on as a clean slate without justice and respect for the past. Revealing these dossiers could bring a little bit of inner peace to the thousands of families who suffered that regime. This task is difficult but truth provides a solid base for a new beginning.

What do you think is in the heads of your country’s politicians?
They want fast money until this day, big time. Socialists and Democrats, all of them. All the young people in Tirana want the political scene to be removed altogether cos the politicians work together and pretend to be enemies. It’s all a show. When they do that, it is very easy to feel your dignity is stolen.

How has the history of Albania since Hoxha impacted your happiness and passion?
It’s funny how when you’ve live here all your life, you don’t notice and feel too much, until you are asked to think about it. There is a lot of “black news” in Albania. Often we hear people fighting, abusing drugs, laundering money and so on. I am desensitized, on the one hand, which is a coping mechanism. Albanians have a lot of traumas from their past. The physical deprivation and violence lead to verbal and psychological violence, as subtle as they may seem sometimes. We are programmed to be defensive. A normal conversation could easily end up in a fight.

I see my people carry their traumas from daily stress. When the politics is unstable and the salaries so low, everyone lives in insecurities. Of course, the situation has improved a lot since the 90s especially aesthetically speaking, Tirana is a very modern metropolis now, however, we still have to make a lot more improvements to get out of this ongoing chaos in our country’s system.

Countries such as Albania that have experienced long-term deprivation such as communism can have a lot of dreamers and revolutionaries who have hope in their eyes. Our young generation is changing a lot and my want is to offer these young people the means, respect for meritocracy and the minimum facilities to develop their passions. A can-do environment that unfortunately my and previous generations couldn’t dream of.

You studied law and pursued humanities projects in Czech Republic and Austria. What did you learn from that experience?
Yes, I did my undergraduate in law in Prague and LLM in International and European Business Law in Vienna. After my education I stayed in Vienna and interned for UN and OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), but to come to my interpretation that as much as the work environment and the professional friendships were great, efficiency of their projects was not very high. Take Kosovo for example, for many years after their war with Serbia, funds were poured into the country but they were poorly managed and salaries for “international experts” sucked up a lot of the money. Too many words and too little done. I felt disappointed.

How does it feel like to have studied and worked abroad, now back to this country that many locals (told me they) want to escape from?
Initially I was full of positive energy, ambitions, dreams. I wanted to do so much for Albania but slowly I felt like drowning in the dangerous currents. It is my biggest inner struggle – should I leave again or not. It is very tempting to give up on this country and enjoy other places that clearly have higher standards and a much richer artistic scene. I miss the museums, concerts, libraries, an international community, stuff that Albania lacks. I can say that the same feeling occurs to many overseas returnees. Sometimes I close my eyes and think “What am I doing here?”, I’d much rather be dancing in Berghain, Berlin or surfing in Ericeira, Portugal.

But, yes, I have chosen to come back and stay. The world is beautiful and I think part of my mission is to make the world we (Albanians) come from part of that beauty. I have a strong sense of responsibility towards that. I hope that one day, young Albanians will not have to leave because Tirana would be as cool as Valencia or Lisbon.

*Livja and friend at the Lennon Wall, Prague*

Tell me a few examples of these negative swirls that discourage those who want to make a change here.
Bureaucracy and corruption. If your goal interferes the people in power or certain interest groups then you are eradicated. My friend’s dad is one of the biggest historians in Albania. He wanted to build a house museum of all his books and artifacts but government and an orthodox religious leader did not allow it because the display would reveal inconvenient truth. My friend’s dad is dead now. He wrote books about…nothing dangerous. I don’t rely much on public projects now. I’d rather work hard in the private sector.

Tell us about the private project you are working on that can bring positive changes.
I am currently incorporating a library corner and a gallery of local artists’ work in our humble family hotel, built by my father in 2009 with a lot of love and ideals. I hope our guests, local or international, can have an authentic and artistic experience with us, immersing in history and art, getting inspirations for now and tomorrow.

The hotel is situated in the historical and cultural Voskopoja, situated at 1,100 meters above sea level in southeastern Albania. It is where the second printing house in the Ottoman Empire was built, truly a treasure chest of Balkans history with some of the most ancient churches in the region.

Voskopoja is my grandmother’s hometown. My father had the vision to rebuild the community’s ecosystem there, light up local businesses and preserve our historical heritage better. He was very passionate about doing something for Albania and caring for our people. When he passed a couple years ago, I felt compelled to carry the torch forward. I want to keep his passion alive, to grow my talent in building human connections and to honor Albania’s traditions. The hotel brings my family together and hopefully will bring many others together too.

I have paid attention to my inner calling since Vienna, I felt that I had a lot to contribute to my family legacy, and hopefully my country as well.

What is passion?
It is the answer you have right in front of you all your life. You should just surrender and let it happen.

What is your passion?
My passion is to bring hope to young people via appreciation for history and art, something beautiful, expressive and fun that can be healthy therapies for our unresolved emotions.

How do you plan to bring your passion to life?
My dream, or plan, shall I say, is to build a sculpture park and museum in Leusë, Përmet, one of my roots; and incorporate literature and art in our family hotel in Voskopoja, my other root. I feel blessed and connected with my origin and I want to contribute. A lot of prolific writers, translators, painters, sculptors of our times are from Përmet, the cradle of the Albanian language. I want to pay my respect to the amazing history of these places and through that to positively ignite the sense of belonging in young Albanians, by organizing and displaying our country’s history and beauty to them. I hope more of us can look inwards and rebuild the honorable things our country once had. I hope we change the problems, and not run away from them.

*Livja’s first sculpture work (left); Bust bronze of Nonda B., as known as “Chri-Chri”, Livja’s family member, famous Albanian writer and sketchers in the 30s (right)*

What elements do you think are essential to support and grow passion?
Keep it sincere and never stop dreaming. Protect it from people who discourage you and avoid oversharing with negative vampires. Nourish it with knowledge. Read, enrich, make it high quality, and most importantly, do it with your heart.

What do you think is Albania’s most special and beautiful element?
Religious tolerance. We are very hospitable people accepting all backgrounds and cultures here. We have hosted in our homes 450,000 Kosovars during 1999, who fled their country because of the war with Serbia. We were also the only country in Nazi-occupied Europe that had an increase in its Jewish population.

The good intention you have for your motherland makes me reflect on my citizenship. Thank you again for opening up with us. I wish your project all the best and hope it will touch the hearts of many young people in Albania and future visitors here.
Faleminderit (Thank you)! I hope that next time you come back I can bring you to see my projects in Përmet and Hotel Royal Voskopoja!

We hope you find Livja’s story nutritious for the garden in your heart.
Join our discussion room to chat with Livja and some of our readers!
Scan the invitation QR below to download and join us, or click: https://lensofpassion.select.id/