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Pocesti, the village of Dibra that changed itself and is attracting tourists

2025-01-10 07:22:00, Qyteti im CNA

Pocesti, one of the largest villages of Dibra, part of Maqellara, until last year was the same as other towns in the country that suffer from the departure of young people, poor infrastructure and lack of services. Today, Pocesti has completely changed itself thanks to an initiative taken by the boys who left the village.

Initially, they started from the need to somehow repair the road that connected the village to the regional axis, but the willingness of the community to get involved was so great that now all the alleys and squares have been paved with the contribution of the residents themselves, transforming it into a model that is attracts the attention of tourists and can serve as a good example for other regions.

"Albania does not change without first changing itself, then the family and then the community where it lives", the initiative "Djemte e Pocesti" explained to Monitor. Left almost two decades ago in emigration, after improving their and their family's economy, they did not feel well when they returned for vacation. The mud and broken alleys did not suit an old tradition of the Dibrans of Maqellara for order and cleanliness in the village.

From July 1, 2024 until the end of the year, with about 150,000 euros collected, the "Boys of Pocest" added concrete and tiles to several kilometers of alleys and squares and fixed the entrance road to the village. The projects are continuing with other investments and without any financial support from the local and central governments.

"We gathered in May 2023 and started some small meetings with our peers, discussing who the Dibrans were before, a combination of pen and rifle. Where are we today? This is where the conversation always stalled. After a 100-year wait for the roads to be fixed, help never came. They gathered in the youth and we decided to call ourselves "BOYS OF POCEST". And so we continued. We did the project alone without anyone's help, we made the plan, we continued the measurements, we came up with a value of how much it could cost", explained the "Boys of Pocesti".

The announcement for the collection of contributions started on July 1, 2024 and is expected to last until August 12. The first contributors were Pocesti's sons. At first they were incredulous as there was no previous experience.

The first weeks the contributions continued slowly, but day by day new people were added, until a stage was reached where the donations became more frequent. A total of 150,000 euros were collected, of which around 30,000 euros were used to pave the connecting road of the village and the rest for the alleys and squares within the village.

A library was also built, trees were planted and signs were put up. During the summer, several other roads will be built in the village. Now Pocesti, one of the largest villages with 800 residents, is probably the only one in the country that has completely changed itself with the contribution of the residents and is now being marketed as one of the most beautiful villages in the country. The area of ??Maqellara is traditionally an education-loving area and a model of community cooperation.

The revitalization of the village's infrastructure is a lesson that the residents gave to the local and central government that a lot of work can be done with a little money. With only 150,000 euros, where the construction materials were paid and the ustalars were built, several kilometers of alleys were built (see the photos below).

The initiative was a model of transparency where the "Boys of Pocesti" did the projects and disclosed every purchase invoice to the donors.

Pocesti can be a very good example for hundreds of villages in the country which, with their own organization, can improve the infrastructure and community life and therefore also the economic level./ Monitor Magazine