I've been documenting the changes in my grandma's village in Prespa and the effects of globalization and climate change on the lake and the villages. The name of this village is Ljubojno. Once a striving settlement of more than 2000 inhabitants and today less than 200.
Once a rich village full of life, today comes alive only in summer when the descendants return for their holidays. Ljubojno hosts the first school with classes in the Macedonian language, opened right after WWII, which unfortunately burned down sometime in the 80s and now sits abandoned to testify about the negligence of the officials.
As a child, I could see all kinds of animals: horses, donkeys, geese, cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, and pigs. Today farm animals are a rare sight, not even chickens. The young move out to cities, and those in the cities move abroad.
These beautiful regions lay there forgotten to testify of days of glory long gone, serving as a monument of our childhood and happiness. Each corner, each stone in the river, and each bird nest is deeply engraved in our nostalgic memoir.
Photos and text by Kristijan Evgo
Dokumentovao sam promene u selu moje bake u Prespi i posledice globalizacije i klimatskih promena na jezera i sela. Ovo selo se zove Ljubojno. Nekada strmoglavo naselje sa više od 2000 stanovnika, a danas manje od 200. Nekada bogato selo puno života, danas oživljava tek leti kada se potomci vraćaju na odmor.
U Ljubojnu je prva škola sa nastavom na makedonskom jeziku otvorena odmah posle Drugog svetskog rata, ali je, nažalost, izgorela negde 80-ih godina i sada sedi napuštena da svedoči o nemaru vlasti.
Kao dete sam mogao da vidim sve vrste životinja: konje, magarce, guske, krave, ovce, kokoške, patke i svinje. Danas su domaće životinje retkost, čak i kokoške. Mladi se iseljavaju u gradove, a oni u gradovima u inostranstvo.
Ovi prelepi krajevi leže tamo kao zaboravljeni svedoci o danima davno prošle slave, služeći kao spomenik našeg detinjstva i sreće. Svaki ugao, svaki kamen u reci i svako ptičje gnezdo duboko su urezani u naša sećanja.
Photos and text by Kristijan Evgo
