Few people know that under the berries that we find on the rural roads, there is a real treasure of income: the leaves, from the sale of which money can be earned.
Fredi Pirra, a farmer from the village of Mujalli i Fieri, who has dared to turn the thorns into family income.
He raised the economy of his family of 6 years with the income he provides from the sale of thorn leaves and other wild plants, which, according to him, constitute medicinal plants.
Fredi Pirra starts work every day at 6 o'clock and works until 11 o'clock. He leaves the cut seeds where he finds them, piles - piles for 3 days until they dry.
"Today I may have cut at least 1 quintal. This amount is once every two days, it depends on the volume of the thorn. Here comes the vehicle, the cars, who take it, the traders who take it to Durrës. This dries for three days, I leave it in this place, it dries here, it is beaten here with raincoats in the heat, because it is like the bean job that it has in the heat, at a high temperature. During summer it dries for 2 days, in winter it does not. There is a problem with the drying process. It takes half a day to beat the thorn", said Pirra.
Fredi has been doing this job, not very easy, for 5 years.
"This is my daily job. We find the thorn in the fallows, in the canals. The drying process takes three days from the expected day; he cuts it and lets it dry, beats it and puts it in bags, packs it and sends it to the market. 10 bags are collected per week and it brings in about 30,000 ALL per week," he said.
"From Mbrostar Ferko to Mujalli, no one did it, only me, almost even in the Seman area", adds Pirra.
According to him, others do not do it because it is shameful work.
"Because it's a shameful job, that's how it seems to them. I have been working with the thorn for three months, I started in June until now", said Pirra.
As the years go by doing this work, Fred adds to the range of wild medicinal plants he collects in the villages and sells to collectors, thus providing work for the whole year.
He says that these plants are in high demand in the world, as they are natural, wild without chemicals.
Work has also taught Fred to know the value of these precious plants for health:
"As far as I have heard, this is used when the child is sick, the thorn tips are boiled from the stomach and within 5 minutes it has given effect, it has been cured. This is 100%, because it is proven. A child has a stomachache, take 10 yeasts, boil it, take the liquid, give it to the child and within 5 minutes it is normal", said the farmer.
In this challenge with this difficult job that he has chosen to do and that provides a good income for his family, he continues calmly, without any competitor, every day of the year, following with a smile the "karshilikka" of his fellow villagers looking for work. /Abcnews.al