Why projekt LiveAlbania was created?

21. 11. 2023

The initial motivation was the desire to build "something" in the beautiful Albanian mountains. At first it was supposed to be a cottage, but very soon it became a project with the working title "Albanian nature valley".

At that time I had a cottage in Vysočina, in a beautiful place, but it was "just" a cottage and a plot of 1,500 meters. Neighbors on three sides and fields on the fourth.

There was nowhere to grow.

Additionally, I've always wanted to contribute to change within a larger locale. Don't just change your land, but ideally make a larger landscape unit and influence the entire valley. And when I write to influence, I don't mean only in terms of construction, but to contribute to the entire community.

So the plan was born - to buy land in Albanian Village and gradually develop the whole community. And since I have been working on the topic of gender equality and emancipation for a long time, I wanted the project to bring positive change in these areas as well.

Albania has proven to be an ideal place - it still has a long and difficult way to go in terms of gender equality. If in the EU we are dealing with the fact that men and women do not have equal conditions, then in Albania it is an order of magnitude worse and would require a separate article.

As far as community development is concerned - it is needed like salt in the countryside. The Albanian countryside is being depopulated, the old stay and the young go either to Tirana or even abroad. There is a lack of work for adults and education for children.

That is why from the beginning we consider our project as a comprehensive development of the village. We want to combine short-term and more visible development through tourism and, in addition, long-term support for local farmers and craftsmen in the development of their business.

We are also committed to supporting local education. We have agreed with the local community to sponsor English classes at the primary school in the village where our guest house will be established.

We realize that we have difficult tasks ahead of us. But we believe we can do it because Albania has a huge potential and we have a lot of energy and optimism bordering on dreaminess!

What we have already succeeded in and what gives us energy:

• We launched an e-shop with BIO/natural cosmetics and tours to Albania. You are currently on it.
• We found some amazing Bees and Trees products. Not only are they made entirely of natural ingredients, but their author, Rona Nurshi, is a young entrepreneur whose
• family left Kosovo for Albania. Thanks to our e-shop, he can offer his products outside of Albania and Kosovo for the first time!
• We bought a plot of land suitable for building a boarding house and we are working on a building permit.
• We have agreed with the local community to sponsor English lessons.

We are planning even more and gradually we want to introduce people to all the possible beauties of Albania. So keep your fingers crossed and we look forward to seeing you in the next article.

Vladimir