North Macedonia
For Violeta*, seeing people take steps and make changes is her biggest motivation. As the nutritionist at OPM’s Hope & Health Centre, she finds joy in seeing changes in habits and improvements in people’s lives happening in the enclave. In this community, limited budgets and long-established habits often lead people to cook with too much sugar, white flour, and oil. The results are inadequate protein intake, obesity, widespread back problems, diabetes, and, for many, an early grave. Many Albanians spend evenings hosting guests, or mysafir, with no option but to show hospitality and generosity by serving what they have: lokum (Turkish delight), gorabija (biscuits and sweet snacks), white bread, and sugary drinks.
Semra* was one of those who came to the centre after earlier completing the vocational skills programme. At first, her husband gave her a hard time about spending time outside the home. Nevertheless, she persevered, determined to explore everything the centre had to offer, eventually joining the physical therapy exercises there. Finally, she attended Violeta’s seminar on nutrition and how healthy food contributes to healthy lives. Violeta’s training covered how to build healthy eating habits, as well as healthy routines in other areas, such as sleep patterns. In short, it focused on how to develop better habits for a better life.
Semra said she had been looking for this kind of guidance for years. She is 29 years old, with two small children and a degree in journalism, although she was not working. As a mother and a person of influence in her children’s lives, she worried about whether she was providing healthy food for her daughter. Violeta reassured Semra that she was a good mother and emphasised that healthy living does not need to be expensive, even on a limited budget. Violeta cooks this way in her own home. She answers questions such as: How can Albanian food be made healthier with less white flour? How can traditional dishes be prepared in ways that are actually good for you? Foods like flija (heavy baked flour cakes), pide (pastries), burek (meat or cheese pies), kosi (yoghurt dishes with meat), and baklava can all be made in healthier ways, for example by using honey instead of sugar. Semra is eager for all this information.
Violeta says, “Every time we talk about habits and which habits will impact our health, we say that food affects our peace, our energy, our sense of well-being — everything. And that the point of food is nutrition, not weight gain.” Violeta works hard to create an environment where people feel free to ask questions without fear of judgement or embarrassment. Her own research never stops, and her message is holistic: exercise is important for psycho-social health, and better sleep supports the body’s healing processes. But throughout it all, nutrition remains her focus. How can food be used in the best way? How can you prepare an avocado? To be sure, money and habits remain challenges, but healthy food does not need to be exotic. As Violeta says, “You can eat apples and not papayas.”
(*Names changed)
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