Albania’s southern villages, blessed by year-round sun and proximity to crystal seawater, are being abandoned by its inhabitants by the day. The elderly who have remained only see their children online, as the youth has chosen to migrate abroad seeking a better life.
The streets of Piqeras, a small village located in the south, risks losing all its people, with the youth taken away by massive migration, while the elderly at great risk by the pandemic.
What used to be the school of the village is now completely empty as there are no children left, tells us a former teacher of Piqeras.
“This is the third massive exodus in the history of the village. The first was in 1744, where the whole village went to Vila Badiza in Italy. The second was a relocation in Greece, forming the town of Piker. And this is the third and most tragic one”, said former teacher Vasil Gjivogli.
“And above all of this, COVID-19 is claiming a lot of lives here. What remains here is a village without a school, without children’s voices. Unfortunately, the only thing left here is the sound of the bells when someone dies”, described Gjivogli, adding that his wish is to see the people returning to the village.
Sofia is another local woman we met, living in a typical house in the area. Her children too have migrated, as she tries to hide her tears away while admitting that “it’s been a while” since the last time she’s seen them.
“The children can’t come back. You don’t get to meet people anymore. It’s a real shame because every household used to have at least 3-4 men before. Where are they now? It really is something that makes you want to cry because our most precious ones have left”, said Sofia.
Solitude makes things even harder. Euronews Albania went to the municipality of Himara and spoke to Laert Mezani, the Civil Emergencies coordinator.
He explains that the geographical distribution and the physical terrain of the villages in the municipality of Himara make it very challenging to deal with all the families, especially the elderly. Nevertheless, local authorities have created a database and provide concrete assistance for all the villages.
“We were able to resolve some of the requests of these citizens for food and medicaments through this database system”, he said.
The situation is similar for many villages in southern Albania. Abandonment and oblivion have taken a backseat, waiting to drive out even the few locals that are left.
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