Albania (MNN) — Capitals become battlefields around the world as young people demand change. Youth-led protests are gaining ground from India to France to Albania. 

TeachBeyond’s Bani Vercani says demonstrations were peaceful this summer in Albania’s capital, but starting last week on October 13, “The violence has come to our capital. People have gathered and they want the change of our government because of the corruption.”

Protests have rocked central Tirana and spread to other cities in the past week, according to a report from DW. 

“Albania is one of the poorest country of Europe. It has a lot of corruption, and many of these corruptions have come to light, and people are angry,” says Vercani.

Theth, Albania (Stock photo courtesy of Sabina Kallari via Unsplash)

The protests come at a difficult time for Albania as it looks to join the European Union by 2030.

“The process was going fast, and they were saying within two or three years Albania will be part of EU. But now with all those things, it makes Albania go far, far back, says Vercani. 

TeachBeyond’s school in Tirana is shuttered for now because of unrest. Yet there is still hope despite the difficulties. 

“Because all the unrest [is] happening, [it’s] very hard to travel into Tirana now freely, and the parents are scared about the situation,” says Vercani. 

“Even during the hardest time, [the] Gospel and the power and the love of Christ is very vivid and it’s very open. We have seen the school, the teachers, and the community of believers sharing love, praying for each other, and giving hope.”

Please keep Albania’s people and government leaders in your prayers. Pray for justice and peace to be restored in all spheres of life in Albania. 

“The government is not giving anything, and the same way the protests are just going worse and worse,” says Vercani. 

Learn more about TeachBeyond here.

 

Header photo: Tirana, Albania Tirana, Albania (Stock photo courtesy of Mario Beqollari via Unsplash)