Ladies & Gentleman, Tonight a miracle happened;  you are all witnessing a big event in this evening here in Tirana, and it’s really touching.

It’s emotional not only because a Foundation has opened today,  in Tirana a lot of new ones are continuisly opening their doors.

This honored Madam is the descendant of a great family, and like it always happens with great Albanian families we have persecuted them and we have killed them,  but they have always nourished their children with love for this country.

Drita could have easily come to Albania, and use these spaces to open a new business and make some money, instead she created this Foundation and that is a miracle.

This is a common phenomenon happening to many fellow compatriots, that in crucial moments, when we loose track of our main goals and get lost, they reach out and save us from falling into emptiness,  even though we owe them so much, because we have killed and  buried their ancestors, whose graves are unknown.

I have to apologize because earlier today I was accompanying a group of foreigners from abroad, and we took them to visit the bunkers, and they were stunned by them, and that is why I am amazed today by this big occasion and as an artist I feel that something is happening here, something is moving, I see something beyond this event, because this Foundation, as Mrs. Drita previously mentioned in her speech, has an important mission.

It has a mission and if we don’t carry on great missions like this, we are going to have a hard time in continuing to develop valuable projects. We will keep on crawling, and trust me I know that for sure, because I come directly from a region that remains troubled and unfairly occupied.

This Lady comes from far away, from America, and this blessed flag and likewise our national flag, reminds us to always follow the right path.

That’s the reason I stated earlier that today is a blessed day, and allow me to make a gesture, that I have never done in my entire life;  I’ve only kissed the hand of my grandmother, who raised me, but tonight I want to kiss the hand of this noble woman, because her generosity  is profound,  and I feel it so strongly as an artist, that Mrs. Drita is rewarding our youth with greatness, to give them hope and faith, just like we are also doing at the Municipality of Tirana,  to make the new generation believe that the city of Tirana is a great city to live in, where there are foundations that care about the youth, about art, about tradition, about everybody’s well- being, that has high regards about cultural heritage.  I’m very confident that you are all witnessing a magnificent event tonight, and we should all be greatful.

Thank you, and allow me to make the gesture …. Thank you again.

 

ABAZ HADO

Vice Mayor of Tirana

October 10th, 2017

 

Return to: Cultural Center Opening Event