Albanian village where only the elderly live

The signal on the bagel - paved road is bags that are visible at night by the light of the moon. The lands in this village have been empty for years. At one time wheat was planted in them, but today only grass sprouts.

The village of Polican has student-free schools and youth-free playgrounds. Everybody's gone, except for the age of three. Some of the village residents say the country has been completely abandoned by young people and that the notion of a large family has no meaning here anymore.

Philip Pocan relates: “We were a big family, we stayed together. Now we're done alone. The little family lives a monotonous life. We didn't mean to live like this, but kids don't have what they do here.

Fifteen years I live alone. Today no one loves you anymore. I lived with my husband's parents and cared for my sick mother-in-law”, recalls an elderly woman.

In the summer, children visit their parents in Polican, while tourists visit the village. But the vitality in this area lasts very little. Next, the only remaining ones are the black - dressed ladies and the men who gather in the center of the village to discuss the few young women who happen there.

Youth has largely emigrated to EU countries or to neighbouring Greece to seek a better life. Thus, economic and social conditions have forced them to abandon their parents.