Tbilisi, Georgia. The European Children's Song Contest is being held here this year.
For the first time, the song representing Albania has been selected by the Nationwide Children's Song Festival, which held its 63rd edition this year, of course in Shkodra.
The song, created in every component by Adrian Hila, is performed full of energy and joy by 9-year-old Kroni Pula.
I'll stop here for a moment, because this note was born from her most spontaneous response.
In the hotel lobby, where children and adults from all over Europe mingle, someone asks: when does Albania sing?
The little sister replied without shame:
18, I sing the eighteenth. Albania is me.
I was so impressed by this seemingly naive response.
That's exactly it Kroni. You are Albania. You and Tjoena, Klesta, Nikol, Elia, the girls of Albi Nako Dance studio who accompany you on stage.
You are Albania. You and Noeli, Hea, Edeni, Klevi and Hana, the group of volunteer peers of the children's festival, who for the first time are in this competition to support and promote the child who represents us so beautifully.
For everything else in Albania that is not so beautiful, sincere, energetic and joyful, it is the fault or, if not, the responsibility of us adults. We must understand as soon as possible that Albania is you. And we must do our best for you, for it. Enough waving flags and tambourines. True patriotism is not measured only by declarations or symbols, but by the way a society takes care of its children in everyday life. A saying by Nelson Mandela seems to me to be the best concretization of this thought that I want to express. “There is no sharper revelation of the soul of a society than the way it treats its children”. Daily care for the food, health, education and safety of children is a silent, but essential form of love for the homeland. Children are our most precious resource and our greatest hope for the future, which means that every daily action that protects, educates and supports them is a patriotic act. The facts are showing us every day that we have taken a huge toll on our little ones. Nothing and no one can justify neglecting children, because a society that does not care for them today risks losing its future tomorrow.
ps: let's start with a simple action. :)
We go to the Junior Europe Song Contest website https://vote.junioreurovision.tv/ and vote for Kroni Pula with number 18, and for two other countries for the vote to be valid. Voting is free. And this is exactly one of those simple cases when "desire is enough" and we can show children our attention and care.
