For many years, the country of Albania has experienced great political unrest and cultural turmoil. Having a communist dictator for the majority of the 20th century left the country crippled and set it back socially from the rest of the developed world. Not only has the country suffered, and continues to suffer, from standards of living that are well below what is considered acceptable, but it also has constant economic issues which have landed it in the third-world country category. My ancestors before me have all been born and lived in Albania, but in the end it was factors such as the ones previously mentioned that led to my family emigrating out of the country and moving our lives to America.
At the time of the communist take over, my grandparents on both sides of my family were pretty well off. They owned lots of land and livestock, and had money saved in the state bank. However, this was all taken from them once the change occurred. All of their land was taken to be used for the good of the people as a whole and all of their money was taken to supposedly advance the government economically. They were left with nothing and had to basically start their whole lives over. This was the start of a downward spiral for the nation of Albania in essentially all aspects. Most people lived in poverty and had to struggle daily to survive. Luckily, both of my grandfathers were sargents in the army, so their families did not have as hard of a time as most others. They were able to somewhat recover financially and live “comfortably” in the weakest form of the word.
My parents grew up living relatively privileged lives compared to most others, considering that they had a house, a source for water, heat, and food. They both went on to receive university educations and my father joined the army while my mom became a primary school teacher. This of course was not by choice. At the time when they graduated, the government got to send you to a job that they chose for you, and you had no choice but to do it. On their salaries combined we were able to afford a one bedroom apartment and barely manage to save close to nothing every month.
By the time I was born, the dictator that led as the communist ruler had died and the country was attempting to convert to democracy. This caused a lot of unrest as the power was juggled between the hands of corrupt parties trying to seize it. Once the conflict was resolved, the government still did not do its job of attending to the needs of the people. They would periodically during the day shut off the power of the water in order to save money so that the political leaders could have it for themselves. The parties that were in control at a given time were never able to truly implement any of their policies because every time elections were held, the party that was in office was voted out and a new party with new policies would come in and start the rebuilding process all over again. Seeing that Albania would never advance, my parents decided that they had to do what needed to be done: leave the country. They decided that coming to America would give our family the best chance to succeed. Even though they would have to start their lives over, they knew that this was the best place for me to get educated and have a chance for a better future than they did.
In the end, Albania’s unfortunate past which led to a future without any hope caused my family abandon the place where many generations of our ancestors before us had lived and start its own legacy here in America.
No comments:
Post a Comment