[ALBSA-Info] Newsday

[Agron Alibali]

Newsday (New York, NY) 

January 7, 2002 Monday QUEENS EDITION 
VIEWPOINTS, Pg. A23 

NEW VOICES; 
Nights of Evil Now Haunt Her Here 

Rozhaja Doci; Rozhaja Doci is in the 10th grade at Long Island City High School 


I AM 15 years old, but my eyes have seen beyond my years. I grew up in a once-serene environment, in Albania, where I spent my days playing with my friends and exploring my country. Life was simple and peaceful, but unbeknownst to me, people had died and left their families. The news never reported about them until the mass murders had already begun. Every night I would fall asleep with the sound of bullets in my ears. It became a routine: At precisely 8 p.m. we went inside, locked our doors and hid under the blankets, trying to keep the danger out of our lives. 

Every day, someone died, innocent lives were unjustly taken. All of a sudden, life became a struggle, a war we had to survive. 

I remember one night a group of 10 people came to our neighborhood. They wore masks as black as their souls and carried weapons. They started to shoot up at the sky as if they were angry at God, but they could not hurt Him. Instead, the bullets bounced back and went into the windows of the apartments. I remember my mother's screams, my brother's cries, my heart's rapid beats. We hid under the table, held our breath, and prayed to God to help us. 

They left, but the fear they caused us is still there, hidden in our souls. For the first time, I was able to see vulnerability and fear in my parents' eyes, for they couldn't keep us safe. 

In 1998, we left Albania, escaped the war and came to America, the land of the free, where hopes and dreams are born. My parents left everything behind to come to a new country where we could have a better life. They had graduated from college with honors and were respected intellectuals: an engineer and a doctor. Here, my father is a construction worker and my mother a manicurist. Their established careers ended when they left Albania. 

Now my parents are doubting themselves and their decision. Is America safe any longer? Is anyone safe after the attack on Sept. 11? No one ever thought that the world's most powerful country would ever be attacked, but it was. So where does that leave my family? Millions of people came here looking for freedom, for a safe life. I pray that their dreams, as well as my own, will not be shattered by evil. 

GRAPHIC: AP File Photo, 1997 - Women in Tirana, Albania, protest for peace. 



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