Athena Simo

We have a lot of love for Athena. Many people in the village call her crazy, as she sits brazenly in the cafe in the center of the village, speaking loudly her opinions. She is a widow, and also lost a son early in his life. Her other children live in other countries, and visit very seldomly. We help her as much as we can. She has mobility issues and lives up a mountain, and the pension she earns from Albania barely covers her basic needs.

Dusha Bala

Out of all the people whose olives we harvested, we are closest to Dusha. Her and her two sons live directly beside us. Her husband, and our friend, died this past summer, and the village death rituals surrounding were some of the most heartbreaking things we have seen since being in Albania. Being neighbors, we spend a lot of time together and are very involved in each other's personal lives. There are no secrets between their family and ours. We have coffee multiple times a day, and spend many evenings watching the news or a Turkish drama together on the television. Dusha and her family are the best neighbors we have and we are so blessed to live beside them.

Rosa Dhimegjoka

Rosa, as legend has it, was once the most beautiful woman in all of the village. Even today, she is quite popular. She keeps a gorgeous garden year round, and when people come to the village to shoot music videos, commercials, or other advertisements, they usually do it in front of Rosa’s house. She is a widow, and lives two houses away from us. She was one of the first people who welcomed us into the village, and has brought us more lemons, raki, and olive oil than we know what to do with.

Fore Milo

A pensionist who lived most of his life in the United States, but moved back to his village of origin for retirement. He is too old to harvest his olives himself.

Harillo Koço

Harillo doesn't come into the village too often, but stays in his house. He likes to make self-made products, like raki, the local liquor that Albanians drink. He has a sweet demeanor and is soft spoken.

Hector Gjika

Although we didn’t personally know Hector before, he heard through the village that we were harvesting olives for the people, and he asked if we could also harvest his. He is almost completely blind, and walks slowly around with dark sunglasses on. On his property was a wild olive tree not planted by humans that is almost 1000 years old. At the end of the day when we harvested his olives, he bought all of the workers' drinks at the cafe.

Vjera Milo

She is a small, old, and friendly widow who lives in a 20 square house. Her son in law Filip put us in contact. She is the owner of a lot of olive trees. The first day we harvested her trees, she wanted half the oil. The next days, she asked if we would buy her half of the oil from her as she needed the money. Her pension is very low in Albania.

Lula Andoni

Lula Andoni is a true force of nature and matriarch of the village. She is the owner of the famous Bar Lula in the center of the village where everyone gathers throughout the day. While she has passed the duties of cafe running to her son and his wife, she still holds the utmost respect from the people in the village. Lula (which means flower in Albania) harvested her olives herself, and sold them to us to process.

Raku Kongjini

Raku has spent his whole life in Vuno. His wife and two young daughters walk with their sheep and goats all day through the mountains. They live a very simple life and stay true to the village ethos.