The Ivanaj Foundations

On Wednesday, May 23^rd, 2012, the KODU Cup Competition sponsored by Microsoft Albania, the Martin and Mirash Ivanaj Foundation and the Regional Educational Directorates of Albania’s Ministry of Education, was held at the Jordan Misja Arts School in Tirana. 

58 students from middle and high schools throughout Tirana, using Microsoft’s provided visual programming language, presented the video games they had designed in front of three judges, their own teachers, and dozens of friends and family members.  Although only six students were awarded prizes for their achievements, the truth is that they all amazed and stunned with their creativity and wonderful presentation skills. 

Besides the skill, time and effort that was required to design these video games, the judges were impressed most of all by the students abilities to express themselves so clearly and beautifully in front of a large audience.  Standing on stage with a microphone in one hand and their laptops in another, students as young as 10 years old described the video game creation process as if they had been doing this all their lives. 

Quote below is from GISCorps - Ongoing projects (http://www.giscorps.org).  These two scientists will be in Tirana in late June to teach in a public middle school the workshop that is currently being developed at UFL for our project "Albanian Youth for Environmental Education" : 

GISCorps volunteer will teach GIS to K-12 students in Albania

We were recently contacted by Juna Papajorgji, one of GISCorps' co-founders, who asked if we could provide a volunteer to support teaching GIS to a middle school in Tirana, Albania. The project is being developed at the University of Florida's Urban Planning Department with support from the Martin and Mirash Ivanaj Foundation (MMI). The Albanian Department of Education, the Albanian American National Council, and several national representatives in Albania, including US Ambassador and members of the parlament are also in support of the project. The University of Florida's research group has developed a short term prototype course to be initially taught to a group of 35 students. Following the request, Jenny Rechel a seasoned GIS Specialist with the US Forest Service was connected to the team as a GISCorps volunteer. She will travel to Albania on the last week of June.

Mirash Ivanaj, one of two brothers in whose memory the Ivanaj Foundations have been created, was so described by Albanian historian, Iljaz Gogaj, in his 2004 book by the same title. He was born 121 years ago, and he is still well remembered today for his deeds, even by younger generations of Albanians.

He was one of eight children of Dodë and Zogë, whose birth was registered on March 12th, 1891, in Podgoriça, capital of today's Republic of Montenegro.   His family was well known in the region known as Malesia of Shkodra (mountainous region of  northern Albania), then part of the Ottoman Empire.  His paternal and maternal families consisted of a great number of people (50 to 70 members) of Illyrian and Albanian patriarchal ancestry, whose members fought the Ottoman rulers and were politically persecuted and condemned to death by the Turks. 

Mirash attended high school in Belgrade, and obtained, with top grades and honors,  two degrees from the University of Rome in Philosophy/Literature and Jurisprudence, respectively in 1921 in 1923. He spent his entire life serving his country in the field of education.   

He was first a teacher, then the Director of the Gymnasium in Shkodra in the 1920s; later, as Minister of Public Education in the 1930s, he was the reformer of Albania's school system, and finally he was elected Chair of the Council of State of Albania until he went into exile during the Italian fascist occupation of the country in 1939.

He returned to Albania at the end of World War II,  in September 1945, and resumed his teaching activity at the public Lyceum in Tirana.  Less than a year later, he became a political prisoner of the communist regime that began to rule the country for the next half a century.

He was arrested one night, tortured for several months, before being tried in a military court as an "imperialistic enemy of the state" . Stripped of all his rights and property, he was condemned in 1947 to a seven year imprisonment term.  During his incarceration he was used as a translator due to his knowledge of more than a dozen languages.  Twelve days before  the end of his sentence, he died of unknown causes on September 22, 1953.  As in the case of other prisoners, his body was used in medical experiments at the then newly formed Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tirana.

Two scientific conferences were held in his memory  in Tirana in 1993 and 2003, respectively on the 40th and 50th anniversaries of his death. A large number of public attended these events that were also televised. Several of the attendees were ex-students of his,  as well as teachers that worked with him when he established the first public school system in Albania. 

In addition to the decoration he had received while living, as a "Commander of the Skanderbeg Order", he was awarded, post mortem, top honors and medals by Presidential Decrees, as "Martyr of Democracy", "Teacher of the people", and “Honor to the Nation”.

His remains, found only in 1993, were re-interred in 1995 in the largest cemetery of Tirana, reunited with the ones of his beloved brother,  Martin, who had died in 1940, while in exile with him in Turkey.

into our refurbished small quarters, located on the Ivanaj old premises in Tirana, finally released to its rightful owner after decades of military occupation, and enormous struggles.

It is a very short video of what we have accomplished in the past year just to have a place where to work from to carry out our projects in Albania.

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0423-32b4-f352?ln

A recent article from AlbaniaNews, available online in both Italian and Albanian versions, brings to light  a very timely theme that was apparently addressed  in a forum in Tirana this past December 21st, entitled "Is returning to Albania worth it?".  More details in English about this event are available in the site of EMA (European Movement Albania) that organized this discussion, and BalkanInsight that also addressed this subject in its article "Albania's Brain Gain Efforts Thwarted by Red Tape".

The topic is particularly significant at this time since it fits the recent evolution that is taking place in Albania where a loss of population has occurred in the past couple of decades, as per last year census.

Many Albanians that have worked abroad and learned a trade are returning home to open their own businesses and they are successfully accomplishing their goals.  Another portion of population, however, represented by young  Albanians that left the country to study abroad are now going back to it, armed with a good education, but experiencing difficulty in reintegrating themselves for a variety of reasons. 

While in Tirana recently I also met and spent a bit of time with a few of these individuals and can confirm their discontentment in having to deal with situations that, while abroad, they kind of forgot about, but, upon return, had to somehow face again.  

Their unhappiness is heartfelt and incites in them also a genuine sense of volunteerism that should be understood, and harnessed, because behind their skills lies a great power of change and transformation.  The 'brain drain' of the past can be reversed thanks to these individuals, but their needs should be listened to, supported with solutions, given the chance to prove their worthiness,  so that they can become efficient members of the society they belong to, and can provide development for.  

Thus, let's raise our hopes for the year that is just beginning, and wish everyone a better understanding, and a healthy and prosperous 2012!

For both our organizations this has been an incredibly exciting year in the development work of our programs, in the expansion of our virtual and tangible networks, as well as for the concrete progress in the realization of our physical facilities located within our property in Tirana, Albania.   

As we continue to strive  toward the actual implementation  of some specific projects we plan to offer Albanian youth during 2012, we want to acknowledge here the great help received so far, on both sides of the Atlantic,  from our Donors,  Collaborators, Volunteers, Associates, Friends, Fans,  and wish them  all a wonderful holiday season!  

We look forward to your continued support next year,  the 100th anniversary of Albania's State creation!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and NEW YEAR!      

GEZUAR FESTAT dhe VITIN e RI!

BUONE FESTE e BUON ANNO!

We are back in NY after a demanding, but successful stay in Tirana where we worked tirelessly to formalize details and steps needed for the implementation  of the projects we have described in our previous posting.   

Assisted by our Albanian volunteer team, we met enormous cooperation everywhere we went. We are happy to report  to have greatly enlarged our sustaining network, having made several new contacts, essential  to our work. We obtained  written approvals from the appropriate authorities for the use of a public school facility in Tirana, received documented  support and collaboration from regional offices of some renown foreign corporations and associations, operating in Albania, as well as an official backing by the Minister of Innovation and ITC.

Both our organizations (our Foundation in NY and our Institute in Tirana), have already committed partial funding toward these projects, as well as portions of large pro-bono and in-kind stuff.  Now , as we continue our development work in our quest for funds, we need and ask also for your financial help.  

Any amount is gratefully accepted and will be officially acknowledged by our NY office, since we are  a tax-exempt, charitable organization, publicly supported, not for profit corporation under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, so that donations, bequests and gifts are fully deductible for income and estate tax purposes.

Thus, there is still time to issue us a check and get a 100% tax deductible contribution in your 2011 tax returns,  to be mailed, before this year's end, to :    

                                             The Martin and Mirash Ivanaj Foundation 

                                             Cherokee Station - POB 20661 

                                             New York, NY 10021-0073    

Make sure to include your complete name and address to receive appropriate acknowledgment!

While we hope to add you soon to our group of faithful associates and fans,  we take this opportunity to renew our thanks to our loyal contributors and extend, to one and all, best wishes for HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

You don’t have to set foot in Albania to walk into the spirit of our mission; we can do wonders with your support!

The Martin and Mirash Ivanaj Foundation of New York and its partner, M. & M. Ivanaj Foundation Institute in Tirana, are hard at work to make two great projects, summarized below, become a reality for Albanian youth, culture, and education during Albania’s centenary year in 2012.

Big strides are being made in the planning and development of these projects on both sides of the Atlantic. The volunteers’ team in Tirana is endlessly pursuing and obtaining all sorts of help and collaboration from in loco organizations and institutions, as indicated below, while our NY corporate entity is in the position of receiving donations, and furnishing, due to its legal status as a 501 (c) (3) non profit organization, appropriate receipts for tax deductible contributions in the U.S.

  With any gift you make to us you can uphold our undertakings in providing Albanian youth with the wanted,  external training and support they are seeking in addition to public education, and you can give confidence to their parenthood that others, even across the ocean, care to help them gain self assurance through programs they can shape themselves, within their own country, given the opportunity and the knowhow.

Won’t you join us, therefore, in making a financial contribution at this time of the year, in the spirit of giving and sharing?  It can be easily done in a couple of ways:

-        Preferably,  by sending a check, with your name and address, to “The Martin and Mirash Ivanaj Foundation”  - Cherokee Station – P.O. Box 20061 – New York, NY 10021-0073,  as indicated also in our website :

http://ivanaj-foundations.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=97

-        Or by making a payment, via credit card, through The Network for Good site (that charges us a fee for processing) : https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=13-3810233&source=GS&cmpgn=DNT&vlrStratCode=VjwOL2RQsrd1jyLwf4B7%2fo5szAKqRzOnAb1VSjQ7kHj88R8LPMaU%2b6tybMPwbSDM

Here are the projects’ summaries:

AYFEED – “Albanian Youth for Environmental Education” – Developed in conjunction with the University of Florida, aims at implementing a short term educational training course that will introduce Geographical Information Science (GIS) techniques to middle school (7-9th level grade) students for learning with technology in public schools in Albania. 

The course, while establishing environmental concepts by use of the GIS and related computer technology, can provide a new and innovative method of learning that will engage the students’ sense of responsibility, stimulate their independent thinking, encourage improved reasoning, and develop strong problem-solving abilities. 

At its conclusion, the educational materials developed for the course, including data and license-free software, will be made available, through the Ivanaj Foundations, to Albanian non-profit agencies or public schools, for their long-term reuse.  The project, endorsed by Albania’s Ministry of Education and Science, will be conducted also in collaboration with Microsoft Albania ‘Partners in Learning’, and the Albanian Regional Environmental Center ‘Green Pack’ programs.

APTA – “Albania Parents and Teachers Association: a new venture for better child development” - The goal of this project is to establish an association that can work, independently from governmental and/or religious entities, to create and run special extra curricular programs and activities, according to its own specific needs and wishes, to promote better children’s education for their welfare in the home, school, and community.   

It will be conducted as a “pilot” program to provide an exercise of “democracy in action” with the introduction of a collaborative and planning concept for the establishment and development of special activities, to be agreed upon by parents and teachers, that would expand the state-determined curriculum with pleasurable activities, and engage the children to a better use of their free time after school hours. The purpose of this pilot project is to:

-        test the feasibility of coordination between parents and teachers in an environment outside the everyday pedagogical setting (a new experience for both parties);

-      allow the construction of a relationship between teachers and parents that permits a variety of problems to be discussed openly and honestly, without impinging on the authority of either party;

-     offer them the opportunity of great creativity in developing individual ideas for extra communal activities for children, which can also be supported by the local business community;

-        allow the children to express their inventiveness through the planning agreed upon by parents and teachers;

-        complement the structured Albanian national educational system with the shaping of additional programs that could benefit the children, but that are not provided by the state.

The development and implementation of such an initially small program by a few people at the local school level would assess what will be possible for a larger group to function at the national level.   The successful result at one school can then be used as a model for others, and could be reproduced throughout the city and, later on, throughout the country. 

The big day started early in Tirana at the Ivanaj Foundation's premises to celebrate the beginning of Albania's centenary year. Exactly 99 years ago this tiny, but very proud of its history, country declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire and diplayed its national flag in the city of Vlora on November 28, 1912.

The more than 3 meter large, old flag of the Ivanaj family, which was saved by my mother over seven decades ago during WWII, when the then occupying forces used our home as their military headquarters, was displayed again this year in the front of my ex residence on this historic occasion.  It is only the 2^nd time lately that this beloved banner is flying and spreading again its ‘wings’ in the place where it belongs, the family properties that took more than 15 years to re-obtain possession of.

The first bouquet and the caterers arrived promptly, while other flower arrangements followed. They were brought by other visiting guests as they came to view for the first time the newly furbished library of our Foundation, which is part of a small office setup in one wing of our residential complex. The rest of the premises are in need of  extensive renovations, after 70 years of various uses and abuses.

More than 15 varieties of food specialties, including some foreign dishes, were carefully prepared and served throughout the four hours of our open house celebrations, and plenty of leftovers were later shared with our guarding and cleaning personnel.  

The guests signed a visitors' log, felt very much at home, did justice to the food and drinks, and a lively conversation in more than one language flowed constantly throughout the day.

Our guests’ list included a well known historian, an architect, school teachers, business people, doctors in specialized medical fields, the director of the National Archives,  and even a couple of ex Ambassadors and their spouses that honored us with their presence.  

It was a pleasure to greet a variety of friends and supporters that have morally and physically sustained our efforts for over a decade now in developing what we believe can become a loving place for their youth, where to exchange ideas, get special training, preserve their valuable history, and plan their future in the cultural and educational tradition of their country.   

Some of our volunteer staff could not attend due to family outings abroad, but will visit us throughout this week.  Others came and brought along their family members, including well behaved children.  To our surprise and delight a couple of them offered spontaneous performances of Albanian national songs and delivered from memory an historical poem.   

At the end of day some of the bouquets were  also shared for enjoyment at home.

The weather cooperated beautifully, and now the old flag can rests safely inside our offices, eagerly waiting for the next event to fly again in the gentle breeze of Tirana.

On Monday, November 28^th , the 99^th anniversary of Albania’s Independence Day, the library room of our foundation in Tirana will be open, during midday, to receive friends and volunteers for an informal reception commemorating  this national holiday. 

More pictures will follow next week; meantime, we wish Albanians all around the world a happy holiday!    Rroftë  Shqiperia!