SHANI PNISHI: JOURNALISM, WAR & A REMARAKABLE CONTRIBUTION TO CANADA’S ALBANIAN COMMUNITY

Shani Pnishi is a passionate writer, journalist and activist. Throughout his career, he’s seen it all. From covering the stories of war in Kosovo to interviewing high-level politicians, activists and celebrities. When the war in Kosovo broke out in 1998 amid ethnic tensions between Kosovo and Belgrade, Shani Pnishi was studying Albanian Literature at the University of Pristina in Kosovo’s capital while his family was living in his native hometown in Demjan, Gjakova. He was a passionate writer actively involved in student journalism such as contributing to the student newspaper "Bota e re", and was the editor of the magazine ‘Fryma’ at the Faculty of Philology. This year, as Kosovo’s liberation marked 25 years, Pnishi’s work has been recognized by the ‘Association of Journalists of Kosovo’ among many other journalists who worked on the frontlines and from the newsrooms during the crisis telling the horrific stories of war.

While Kosovo was under Serbia’s seige, Pnishi’s family fled to neighbouring Albania seeking safety. Pnishi would lose a cousin during the war who would succumb to his injuries. Pnishi not knowing the whereabouts of his family or the fatal fate of his cousin, he continued reporting from Pristina and would then leave the city for Macedonia’s refugee camp for nearly two months. Pnishi would end up on a flight to Canada alone arriving in Winnipeg and unaware whether his family was among the survivors only locating them months upon his arrival in Canada. Prior to the war, Pnishi’s family had a good and normal life and were living in a newly built home, a home that would be shattered to pieces. When his family returned to their hometown in June of 1999 after the NATO bombing campaign brought the war to a halt, there was nothing to find. The family discovered that Serbian forces had used their home as their barracks, they found only debris and dust, a home only existing in their memories.

Today, Pnishi is a dad of three, a loving husband to his wife Albana who came to Canada after marrying Pnishi in 2008. She’s from Drenica, the part of Kosovo that was hit the hardest during the war. But living through war in Kosovo wouldn’t be the end of difficulties journeys for Pnishi. The new life in Canada would not be an easy transition for Pnishi who was part of ‘Operation Parasol’ Canada’s airlift response in the crisis in response to UNHCR’s call to assist with the refugee crisis overwhelming Albania and Macedonia, countries already facing their own economic despairs. Pnishi would need to learn English in his twenties and find work unrelated to his journalism studies to make ends meet in this new foreign land and help reignite hope for his family and help in rebuilding the family home Serbia destroyed during the war, all of that combined with the traumas that war left in refugees as they began a new difficult road ahead.

Starting over a new life in Canada was anything but easy for Pnishi “when I came it was hard to find a job, or at least for me, no English and bored. I think that the sponsors that we had for integration in Canada should have been replaced with employment counselors, because the first step of integration in a country is employment, not buying things at Walmart, which is important as well” he says, recalling a difficult new beginning in Canada as he began a new life away from the family he left behind and a field he was passionate in “we were upset for our families, for our burnt land, for our killed people, for our destroyed lives, and these people, as if to comfort us, said: "Don't worry, you are Canadian now!". How did I become Canadian in three days? I was a war refugee, missing what I left behind!”

A Difficult new journey in Canada

‘Albanian News’ issued its first paper copy last month. For a short period, the newspaper has managed to cooperate with the relevant institutions such as the Embassy of Albania and Kosovo, with the Consulate General of Kosovo in Toronto, and with the largest and most active associations from most provinces in Canada coast to coast whose activities have often been a source of information, and a proper address for communication. The paper documents community activities and individual achievements profiling successful Albanians in Canada 'Profile of the week'.

Besides his work in journalism, Pnishi has been actively involved with the Albanian community in Ontario, and formed ‘The Albanian Association of Hamilton’ with friends where he served as the Association’s President for four years. The Association is the first Albanian Association in Canada to have its own Albanian Community Centre where the building is now mortgage free. He was on the board of ‘The Albanian Home Buying Council’ in Hamilton.

Pnishi stands out for his outstanding community service in Canada and outstanding contributions in journalism but he is also the author of two poetry books called ‘99’ and ‘Here and There’ both published by well-known publishing houses in Kosovo’s capital Pristina and is currently working on an English title in Canada. He’s also the recipient of the Nation’s Ambassador Award by the government of Albania in 2019 for his community service toward the Albanian diaspora at the second ‘Summit of the Albanian Diaspora’ in the country’s capital Tirana.

While many people living in Kosovo view Canada as a land of opportunity, Pnishi urges people to use caution when seeking life in a new country as the journey is not the fairytale it’s made out to appear on social media “For those who choose Canada as their new home, the journey is often filled with a mix of opportunities and obstacles. The main obstacle has been finding a job. For a simple job, they required a detailed long resume, and there was always a meaningless limitation- the lacked of Canadian experience required in every possible job that you applied. Without Canadian experience, companies wouldn't even invite you for an interview, let alone hire you” says Pnishi.