Albanian Alps.....Where eagles dare!!!

Last week we received a request to help a man who lives in a village called Thethi which is in the middle of the Albanian Alps near the border of Montenegro.. He had a bad wound on his foot from a burn 3 months ago! The young elders discovered him when they visited this village the week before on their P-day(day off). They had travelled there on a furgon which is a type of minivan which is used as a taxi. and can get you just about anywhere in Albania on any sort of terrain, due to the reckless abandon of the driver!!

We were told the road wasn't very good. We set off in a large Chevrolet for the 3 hour drive up and over the mountains.

The scenery was spectacular but the road was terrible, full of rocks and boulders and very narrow in places with VERY tight switchbacks!! It was bone-shaking and gut-wrenching. Dave had a hard job keeping the car away from the edge.

We arrived in the totally charming village of Thethi. It is set in the valley with the moutains rising up all round and the tranquillity hits you as soon as you get out of the car. This is the village church, unchanged for centuries.

People live here for Spring and Summer and work their land and look after their animals and are self-sufficient. They leave before the Winter sets in to go and stay in the town as they would be cut-off with snow. Its a simple and healthy life.

The smell of the meadow stays with you long after you've left. The little boxes here are beehives. We saw fields full of corn, and the river had the clearest blue water. We didn't have time to explore very much but there are waterfalls, caves, and other natural beauties

The man with the injury and his wife were glad to see us. This child who is a neighbour is fanning the flies away with leaves.

Amazingly, there did not appear to be a raging infection in the foot and new skin had grown! I advised about keeping it as clean as possible with daily soaking with saline and putting Betadine on which is the only antiseptic I've seen in Albania so far.We were able to leave him some painkillers as he said it was  painful at night. 

Our young translators wrote down the instructions in Albanian.

Apparently there is a community nurse but she came 2 weeks ago and didn't look at the foot; and buying any sort of medicine would be impossible for these people. The Ibuprofen we gave her has travelled all the way from Tesco in England!!

Dinner consisted of a thin lamb roasted on a spit and fresh goats cheese with salad and bread, along with the watermelon we had travelled up the mountain with us.

Have some stuffing Elder, from the lamb's stomach! He had already eaten some tongue, and the rest of the head and brains were offered to everyone.....just couldn't!!!

We loved our trip to Thethi in spite of the difficult and dangerous journey.  We accompished what we set out to do which was an errand of mercy. It was an adventure, but Dave said he would'nt drive there ever again!!

We appreciate the help that these two young men and others here in Albania give us with translation. It's amazing to think that the young missionaries who go out to every country in the world, receive only 3 months preparation in the training centre before they go to the country in which they will serve, and can speak the language fluently and so can teach people in their own tongue.