OriginAL has become more than just a trip for the fourth year since its inception – a call to return to the roots, a personal journey to discovering oneself. The 2025 application cycle again demonstrated this, as hundreds of young Albanians worldwide expressed a clear goal: to connect with their ethnic and cultural heritage. That goal is now taking shape as the program’s first tour of 2025 kicks off on June 3 in Prishtina.
Diversity that becomes one
Young Albanian diaspora members applied from every corner of the world, from Canada to Germany, the United States to Australia, and Portugal to Norway and Romania. Though they were born or raised in different countries, they all long to understand their ancestors’ history, learn about their origin countries’ present, and seek inspiration for the future.
This year, 120 young diaspora members with diverse backgrounds and contexts from 25 countries will journey through Kosova, Albania, and North Macedonia to create lifelong friendships and join a global, growing network of alumni of the program. Many have never visited the countries of origin before; others spent a week or two with grandparents during childhood in the region. But all of them now (re)turn with a more profound sense of purpose.
More than a trip…
For many, this journey is about discovering something personal. One applicant wrote that music had always been their bridge between the homeland and the diaspora, but they longed to hear those songs where they were born. Another expressed a deep desire to move beyond stories passed down by parents who lived through the war of Kosova, and instead witness the country’s progress firsthand. Others hoped to build lasting friendships with fellow young Albanians who understand what it means to grow up distant from our homeland.
OriginAL: A Bridge Home
As the first cohort of 2025 prepares to begin their journey, they carry more than luggage. They bring with them stories heard at dinner tables, songs sung in faraway living rooms, and dreams shaped by both distance and longing.
OriginAL bridges generations who remember and those who are just beginning to understand. Between countries where Albanians live today, and the homelands that live in their hearts. It’s a bridge from inherited memory to lived experience.
OriginAL serves as a bridge by creating a space where young Albanians reconnect with their identity not through textbooks or headlines, but by walking the streets their ancestors once did, by speaking Albanian language with peers, and by feeling at home—perhaps for the first time—in a place they’ve never lived.
Our identity doesn’t fade across borders. It travels with us. It evolves, and when nurtured, it grows stronger. Through OriginAL, our youth find that being Albanian isn’t just about where you were born, it’s about who you are, and how you choose to carry that forward.
For every young person who steps off the plane and onto this journey, OriginAL is a bridge back to something bigger. And for the community that supports them – it’s an investment in a future that’s rooted, proud, and united.
