24 September marks the establishment of a new Bulgarian association in Albania – Association of Bulgarian Identity – registered in Tirana. Its chairman is Besim Muca.

Besim was born in Orjanovo in the region of Golo Bardo where he spent his entire childhood. He then moved to the town of Elbasan where he continued his education at a professional school of construction, and then went on to graduate university in Tirana as a civil engineer, to later become a successful entrepreneur. But there have been difficulties along the way:

“We were treated differently. We were looked down on, we were called “golo” (that was what all people from Golo Bardo were called in communist times – editorial note), wherever we would work, wherever we would go – in Elbasan or in other towns. Those of us who spoke another language were disliked,” said Besim Muca in an interview with Radio Bulgaria.

Bulgarian was spoken in his family, as in many other families there – his mother did not speak Albanian. Besim learnt Albanian at the age of 7 when he started going to primary school. Communication in the village was only in Bulgarian which made it easier to preserve the language and the traditions.

Besim Muca knows the region of Golo Bardo inside-out because that is where he grew up and even though he moved out of the village, he has never severed his roots. He often goes back to Orjanovo where he has planted around 300 walnut and hazelnut trees.

Mr. Muca knows well the problems in the region and the needs of the Bulgarian minority living there. He says that two of the biggest problems are road infrastructure and medical care.
“The roads are absolutely tragic. There’s no road, no nothing, not even an ambulance. The region is completely abandoned. The young have moved away, for the people who have remained in the village there is no adequate medical care. There is just one woman who has worked as a nurse for 35 years but she doesn’t even have an examining room where people seeking help could go. That is why I decided to help and to build something using my own savings,” he said.

Knowing these problems, Bulgarians there set up a new public organization called Association of Bulgarian Identity. As its name indicates its aim is to help the Bulgarian national minority in Golo Bardo and to preserve the Bulgarian identity, language and culture. The aims of the association include also identifying the people who identify as Bulgarian, bringing them together and offering them support, because if people do not come together, if they are not helped, they begin to drift apart, Besim says.

“I want to build the road because it is impassable and completely destroyed. To make an investment. Next year I plan to provide an ambulance for the village. There is a bridge that needs to be built, the place needs a lot of investments. I believe I can help but I cannot do it all by myself because the road cannot be repaired by just one person. I have my father’s old house and I can turn it into a medical centre. I am willing and able to serve the community. I am 65, I live in Tirana but I am thinking of the people who are there,” says Besim Muca.

• Over 7 thousand Bulgarians live in Albania

Asked whether Bulgaria has done enough for its people living outside the country’s boundaries, Besim says he is grateful that the Bulgarian administration recognizes and shows an interest in Bulgarians abroad. Still, Mr. Muca says there has been no real investment in his part of the country and more support is needed. 

The people in Golo Bardo have suffered a great deal and have been neglected, especially during the communist system, he says.  That is why, even though he is retired, he continues to care for his community and to want to help preserve the identity, culture and language of that little Bulgaria. And he urges: Let us all do something!

More:

• Seeds of understanding must be sown in children so that the beautiful flower of peace may bloom in the Balkans
• Associate Professor Raki Belo: Albanians are a tolerant people and value Bulgarians
• The patriotic activity of Ahmet Bala and the Bulgarian community in Albania
• Milena Selimi: Bulgarians in Albania need teachers and attention

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: Krasimir Martinov, Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs