News of Albanians leaving to emigrate to the United States is getting more and more common nowadays.

Much rarer are cases of foreigners coming to Albania and staying here for good, like Mark Stocher.

For the last 30 years, Mark has been living in Erseka, together with his family.

“I came to Albania when I was 28 years old and I’ve been living here for the last 28 years. As soon as Albania opened up, in 1992, I came here as soon as Albania opened up in 1992. I came to Korca, with a group of foreigners. And I loved it here. Their hospitality, to be honest – at that time there were no hotels, and Albanians let us come into their homes, stay there and become really good friends with them,” – said Marck.

Marck played a unique role during the Kosovo War, by dedicating a building to sheltering refugees in Erseke.

“It was a difficult time when Kosovars came here. But during that time, we were in contact with many people from around the world, and we saw the whole world start helping them in that situation. And since then, we got a building and dedicated it to refugees,” – he said.

Today, this building serves as a camp for thousands of children from all over Albania as well as international students to spend the summer and learn through different activities and workshops.

Marck’s message to Albanians is to not leave their homes and their country, to cherish the good things here, and to protect their traditional families.