On December 5th, at our Foundation’s premises here, in central Tirana, we celebrated the International Volunteers Day [IVD], in sync also with Youth Day, which is upcoming this weekend, as a National Holiday in Albania.

Our President, Ms. Drita Ivanaj and our own Volunteer Hub’s Coordinator, Ms. Jona Siliqi, distributed certificates of appreciation to the volunteers in our group to acknowledge their commitment and responsiveness in supporting a variety of activities that we have conducted since the opening of our office in the area of Tirana e Re last year.

This year, IVD globally celebrates volunteer efforts that strengthen local ownership and resilience of the community in the face of natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

This same topic covered the core part of our celebrative event through a special address delivered by a lawyer and guest speaker of ours, Mr. Admir Duraj, who emphasized that participation, solidarity and accountability of us, as citizens, are the contemporary values that build resilience in our communities. Hence, Duraj concluded his speech by stating that now is not only time to discuss about matters that concern community welfare, but more importantly it is the time to act and find viable and sustainable alternatives for community resilience.

All present, volunteers, friends, and special guests of ours actively participated in this event, and much appreciated the organization of it and the speeches.  At the end, Mrs. Shqipe Zani, a well-known opera soprano at Tirana’s National Academy of Arts and National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, saluted the event with an impromptu vocal performance and, in thanking the organizers and the invited guest on behalf of the audience, encouraged all of us to continue our work and never loose enthusiasm.