Benon Progri, the Shkodran who defended the "Rinia" Park of Korça

2024-02-23 15:14:00, Qyteti im CNA

rinia Park

Benon Progri, 73 years old, is perhaps the most special character he brings to Cna Tv viewers. With a very interesting story, as an employee of the public services company a long time ago, Benon is known by everyone in the city as the man who protected the Rinia park with flesh and soul. A story of inspiration for the youth, seeing the great sacrifices he has made for his work. More than 40 years in the protection of the city park, even today that he is old, he still stays close to the families of Korça to serve.

"Benoni is a citizen born in Shkodër, and came to Korçë in 1960. Over the years, we finished high school, went to the army, came back, and as a result we entered some companies that I didn't like, but I got into them out of spite. From there, in 1977, I entered the 'Renaissance' park. The first day I entered, we cut down the poplars in the Martyrs' Cemetery that were down at that time."

The 73-year-old tells how he found the park in 1977 when he also started working in the municipality, as it was called in those years. Since the beginning of the work, Benoni has intervened in the poplars of the park area, the opening of the plots up to the planting of grass and the arrangement of the pines.

"The park was a mess when I entered, everything was a mess. First we started with the poplars, they were useless there, and we also removed the Martyrs' Tombs. We started opening the plots with waist, the whole park. We leveled it exactly with primitive tools, we threw seeds the grass started and the grass came out. We made the shapes because it was shapeless, we made them with borders and planted them with flowers. We raised the branches of the pine trees because they were too low, so that they wouldn't hinder anyone, and after 2-3 years it recovered. When it grew we harvested the grass with a scythe because there were no machines at that time. In the fields they took us to the hills, where we learned how to temper and sharpen the scythe, and for 3 months we harvested all the hills of Korça."

At the beginning of the interview, Benon Progri says that he is from Shkodran, and what immediately comes to mind is how he ended up in the city of Korça. A rather painful story that he tells with tears in his eyes, pointing out the difficulties of that time in terms of state laws. Benon's mother was imprisoned, while his father was killed. He tells this story exclusively for Cna TV.

"My mother became a partisan in 1943. When the war ended, my brothers did not approach us. My mother was a nurse, it was over during the time of Italy. After the war, they did not approach her here, she entered the military hospital in Tirana as a nurse. From there she was thrown into Shkodër, where I met Vasil, my father, but without celebration. They made my sister, the father was an officer with the rank of colonel, and they told him that 'Let's go Vasil, they want to cut our heads off'.

They had arranged for them to escape in 3 large cars, the first with soldiers, the second with officers and the third with the officers' families. Vasili did not betray the country. In the end, they took both mother and Vasili. They let out dogs to Vasili, made him into a fritter, put him in a bag and threw him in Buna, while his mother was sentenced to 15 years for not reporting for attempted escape and possession of weapons without a permit.

When she was arrested, she was 3 months old with me, while her sister was taken to the children's home. The popular assembly forgave her, because she was a nurse and they needed her mother. He spent 3 years in prison and got out, but stayed in Shkodër."

After Shkodra, they returned to Korça, where Benoni's mother started working as a nurse in a hospital, while his sister also started her studies to become a nurse. Benoni's dilemma remained which job he could get, asking and looking everywhere. At that time the difficulty was very great as they did not offer work, they even suggested him to go to the mine but Benoni refused. And this until the employment in the public services enterprise was realized.

The Youth Park came to life, initially from the toys that were placed for the children.

"In the beginning, the municipality made the toys for the children in the park, we surrounded them with railings and it turned out to be a beautiful thing. Every afternoon it was full there, it seemed like something big."

But what the 73-year-old has done for the protection of the city park is fantastic as well as painful. With tears in his eyes, he tells how he found the way that by "intrigue", firing a gun at night, he managed to drive away all the people who wanted to cut down the trees in the park. Many of these malicious persons were also faced with penalties in monetary value that at that time were quite difficult to secure.

"I worked for 4 hours in the park, and for another 4 hours I took the ax and went down the hills around to Saint Thanas."

"During the war, I was shooting all night long, not to kill, just to frighten. And no one came close. After 1997, because I kept my gun in the tunnel and every night I was shooting, a porter told me 'you have they are going to kill you, because you punished them during Enver's time. I said, 'I punish them because I shaved the place of work, everyone who came and waited here?'

We took the almighty, we came to Barç and he took out all the men one by one. They asked me which one? I was telling them. And they punished him with 3 thousand lek, 5 thousand lek, but it was a lot at that time. I've never had any fist fights, I only defended the park with cunning stunts."

The great passion of the old man from Shkodran makes him to this day serve the families of Korça, when they need to cut the roses in the courtyards of the houses or to clean the different types of plants and trees.

"Behari, I have a job, I don't cry, because they know me and I know them. I take the scissors and cut different plants, roses. I have a bit of a hard time in the winter because the work is expected, at the beginning of March the work opens. I look for places where the roses need to be cut, I knock on them and ask them Do you? If you came after a quarter of an hour, you wouldn't find me, because I would drink the coffee, take the saw and the scissors and run away from the agricultural school because I have some places to do. I also feel pleasure, and 5 lek for my pocket. "

Benon Progri is literally the best example of a hard-working man, who puts work as a priority in life, and who protects it in all ways. Today he has a daughter, and is retired, but he does not ask the state for anything but a job for his daughter. Through this report, we hope that the viewers will have experienced the pain of a man with values, who continues to give a lot of himself to the citizens of Korça./ CNA