Fr Emanuel Cutajar, a missionary priest in Albania, relates how he is tackling the diverse problems arising from the coronavirus pandemic lockdown in Torovice, a small village in the north of the country.

It is not easy to put on paper what we are all going through here in Albania and indeed all over the world! I try to keep up with the latest news, tuning in to all the main television stations in the world; Malta included, online, of course!

What can be done? What can I do, stranded as I am in the town of Lezhe? There’s fear and distress everywhere. We have it all here, too.

The present government in Albania seems to be handling the dire situation quite well and the restrictions are quite severe. Coming from an ex-Communist country, the authorities have to steer through this crisis in a delicate but strict way, without stirring up the ghosts of the regime’s dictatorial tactics of old.

Like all my fellow citizens here, I am stuck at home in the town of Lezhe and have been refused permission to use my car.

“You are a senior citizen,” I was told very politely.

My parish is about 20 kilometres away, situated in the Torovice valley, which stretches north for about 30 kilometres. The valley, one kilometre and, at times, two kilometres wide, used to be marshland and was reclaimed for agricultural purposes some 50 years ago. It has been duly dried up and criss-crossed by canals that siphon off the extra rainwater with the help of a giant pumping station, called ‘hidrovori’. By the way, these canals were dug out by political prisoners with their bare hands.

My parishioners are all farmers or shepherds living in very modest houses, sparsely strewn along the sides of the valley. Of course, the population is severely hit by the present crisis and they normally live from hand to mouth.

The former headteacher of the primary school confirms that 70 per cent of the families of Torovice are below the poverty line. As a parish, we do normally give handouts to the poorest but it is not enough and we cannot help everybody.

Matters are made worse by the lack of proper social assistance, medical expenses, family blood feuds, recurrent unemployment and other chronic social problems. Most of the youths have sought other ways to help out their families, mainly by going abroad and then sending them remittances, when that is possible.

Now, we are in the middle of this coronavirus lockdown. I knew I had to fend off for myself. But I just couldn’t stand back, locked down, as I am, in my flat and do nothing, quarantine or no quarantine. On the other hand, I didn’t want to risk being infected. I am no hero, either! I am terribly afraid, too. A hundred and one phone calls from family and friends in Malta were lambasting all the time: keep safe, stay at home! I made an application to the police department for permission to be able to use the car to visit my parish and bring help along. Very politely, permission was refused on the grounds that I am over 65 years of age.

Fr Emanuel Cutajar, the parish priest of Torovice, Albania, with members of his community during the COVID-19 pandemic.Fr Emanuel Cutajar, the parish priest of Torovice, Albania, with members of his community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So I bought a bicycle. Straight away, I cycled to Torovice. It took me the best of an hour and 20 minutes to arrive there. Along the way, I cycled slowly, wary of the sheepdogs, lording it over in front of the sheepfolds. There are also a flock of geese that, not infrequently, defend their territory in the middle of the road. Unbelievable!

Firstly, I said Mass at the convent, where three Franciscan sisters live and help out in the parish. The church of St Joseph is now open only for short visits. With the help of a local lad, Valentino, also on his bicycle, I proceeded to the poverty-stricken neighbourhood of Torovice, namely, Kampi-Malecaj. There we gave out €50 notes, each note safely tucked in an envelope to some 53 families. All this while sporting a mask and keeping the distance!

I feel so sorry when I see the plight of the people of Torovice

Surprisingly, the people kept the distance from each other too and the whole operation was over in no time at all. The people were understandably very grateful. Some wanted to oblige with a hug or the traditional kiss on both cheeks. “No, no, no!” I kept echoing.

I ventured a second time on my bicycle to give out the precious envelopes, each including the €50 note, to the central part of the village, which comprises a rather dilapidated seven blocks of apartments but which still stand tall and strong after the powerful earthquake of last November. Again, with the help of Valentino, the job was done without a hitch. Thank God! I am always a bit nervous when I am roaming around with a large sum of money.

The same cannot be said on the third visit, during which I sent €500 worth of foodstuff, a van full of macaroni, rice, edible oil and other basic food items, to the sisters’ convent. The food was carefully prepared by Gjevalin, the owner of the family shop down below me, on the ground floor of the three-storey building where I live in the town of Lezhe.

The locals somehow got to know about this and the poor Sisters were overwhelmed by the demand. Word goes around in an incredibly short time here, especially in the villages.

But, there was still the northern part of Torovice to be taken care of, the Shkembi I Kuq (literally meaning ‘Red Rock’) area. It’s quite a poor area, too.

Enter Gjevalin, my trusted shopkeeper (and my landlord) again. He took another €500 worth of foodstuff, this time all packed in plastic bags to the Sisters in Torovice.

With Gjevalin and the bags of food, I also sent another batch of 59 envelopes, each of which contained a €50 note. I put in some extra money for some of these beneficiaries, classified as the poorest of the poor.

These envelopes were taken up and distributed by a young man from Shkembi I Kuq, named Preka. He is my man in Shkembi I Kuq, who regularly helps me on these sort of rounds, normally during Christmas time or the Easter Festival. I felt good that I was able to deliver some kind of help to the people with whom I work day by day and am so strongly attached to. Their simplicity and stoic steadfastness in the face of so many day-to-day adversities are admirable, not least now in the face of such a pandemic.

Albania just could not have had it safe, not least because half a million Albanians are happily settled in the north of Italy. Numerous daily flights to and from Italy were inevitably going to bring about the virus.

One very obvious question will surely come to one’s mind: how do I get the money to be able to help these people? The truth is I was really lucky.

At the end of November, a Swiss philanthropic organisation got in touch with me and kindly asked me to help them help the Torovicaket (people of Torovice) .

I can never forget what a Swiss lady, one of the representatives of this organisation, who regularly visits Torovice told me in the ensuing correspondence : “I feel so sorry when I see the plight of the people of Torovice.”

This note almost made me cry and gave me the extra impetus to do all I can for the poor people here. This Swiss organisation had already spent a lot of money in rehabilitating five small state schools that were in a very bad state.

I was more than glad to accept the financial help which was quite hefty. There were more than 150 families who received financial help just before Christmas. I did again receive another good sum of money just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the sake of the sponsors of the organisation, I oblige with photos and signatures of the beneficiaries. At the moment, though, understandably, we are not taking any photos or signatures because of the fear of infection.

In the meantime, I am still thinking of how I can reach out to some more families that have as yet not received some financial help in this particular period.

This week, I hope to be able to do just that. I think there is still plenty of time to oblige.

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