Flying for Kosovo

James is currently in Malta.  Today he had several interviews for local newspapers and will soon depart for Africa. He is awaiting the landing permit for Tunisia, which will be his next destination. James still needs your help and support for the fulfillment of this very important initiative!  Show your support and become a part of lobbying for Kosovo!

James has made it to Malta after five very difficult, long and expensive days in Greece.  He was able to get one newspaper interview in Greece, though their media was somewhat hesitant to address Kosovar concerns.  He was able to meet with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs though and they were somewhat receptive.  After multiple attempts to make it all the way to Malta (part of the issue is that many airports in Greece don’t carry AVGAS, which is necessary for the plane), James was able to make a few stops in Italy before finally landing in Malta.

During this phase of the mission, it is very important to have your ongoing support.  Many African countries are themselves dealing with issues similar to ours.  Therefore, working with the local media, aviation regulations and governments may be much more challenging than the South American and/or Caribbean portion of our mission.  Your support means so much to Mr. Berisha!

From James himself:

Landing in Malta was easy and joyful.  Upon approach, I was able to take some great pictures of this beautiful island.  I had been wanting to visit here for a long time now.

The ATC air traffic controllers were very friendly. Those are the first people who reflect their country’s friendliness by how well they cooperate with the pilot.   Based upon this first experience, I will be happily give them Euros for their friendly and cooperative service.

After landing we were great-ed by friendly staff of the airport and in no time we were on our way to the hotel. Here in Malta, people speak either English or Maltese, a language that I never heard before. For the next few days, we were able to speak with the media and visit parts of this beautiful island, which is loaded with tourists from around the globe.  This gorgeous island’s economy is very much concentrated in tourism, so they tend to cater to outsiders and take care of them. They are very customer-service oriented and are there to help at any moment.

The architecture of this beautiful country is great, the hotels are very
nice,cleanliness is great and people are amazingly friendly. Restaurants are full everywhere.  Boardwalks are so busy that it is difficult to walk at times.  It appears that anyone could afford a vacation here as everything seems to be within a budget and not extremely expensive (no $5 hot chocolates here!).  The temperature here is also very pleasant.

Here, the AVGAS has been the cheapest that I have paid in months (this helps make up for the expensive price that I paid in Greece).  The airport fees were also very reasonable, making the entire trip nothing but good memories!

The journalists and everyone I came in contact with here were happy to know that the people of Kosova have lots of respect for them!

The next country is Tunisia.  This will be my first landing and Flying for Kosovo’s first touchdown on the continent of Africa.  My journalist friend from Macedonia Mr. Jusufi, will be leaving me here in Malta.  So, starting in Tunisia, I will be on my own.

Africa, here we come!

Times of Malta

IT-Torca

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Hello everyone,

Greece.  The very first country to visit after leaving my comfort zone of being at home with my family and my people.  What a beautiful country with lots of great history.  I would like to visit here again in the future, although it is a very expensive country.

Luckily, the people are very nice and are customer-care oriented. Unfortunately, their services end up costing you an arm and a leg.  I had to pay $5 for a cup of hot chocolate – the most I’ve ever paid in my life!  Handling fees for our Cessna 172 (which weighs slightly over a ton) were 197 Euros.  Fuel was almost 2 Euros a liter and they added another 20% for tax.  Additionally, to have the fuel pumped into the airplane was 33 Euros.

For three hours of flight, I had to deal with another three hours of bureaucratic nightmares.  This is probably the hardest, continuing frustration of the mission – the bureaucratic issues in each country.

At least the two airports in Western Greece were much better and easier to deal with (though the fuel prices didn’t seem to change).  They also had a very friendly staff.

First country of the Africa portion of our mission is now complete!

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Dear Friends and supporters of our mission Flying For Kosovo:

One more time I have decided to continue our mission – this time to the African continent. This portion of our mission is the largest yet and will likely be the most challenging, since there are 56 countries lined up on the agenda.

It has been a great joy to have all of you around, giving your continued support. The great energy that you transmit has kept me going during my hardest times.  I have learned so much from each of you and have enjoyed my time with you all during this past summer in Kosovo.  I want to take a moment, again, to thank you for being there for me.

Thank you for your moral and financial support and all that you have sacrificed for our mission.  You all have become my family during these last two years and have been there for me as I have traveled the globe representing you.

Flying for Kosovo belongs to all of you individually, and I will continue to need your presence during this next phase and throughout the time that I am traveling throughout Africa.

Don’t forget that we all can contribute toward improving our country’s image around the world.  It is our duty to continue to lobby and represent Kosova in the best way that we can – let’s continue to show the world who the people of Kosovo are and share with them the beauty of our country and our people.  Let’s do this so that we can build a better future for all of us and our children.

Kosova needs you all now more than ever.  Let’s build a more prosperous home and share our country with the world.

Stay with us,

James Berisha

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James has been busy meeting with several municipalities within Kosovo lately.  However, he has made it back to the states and is currently in the process of gaining visas for further travels to the African continent.

Flying for Kosovo has made such a huge impact that there is strong support for continuation of the journey.  Our new goal is to visit the 54 countries of Africa.

Stay tuned…

My dear friends and loved ones, wherever you might be: The end of a small chapter of our history has arrived.  We should all be very proud.

The countless moral and financial contributions that you have all sacrificed and given me have made this mission not only possible, but all of the many times that you have supported me along the way have made our mission a success.

You have all become part of my family and have been there during some of the hardest times of my life.  Without your support, many times I thought that it would be impossible for me to continue and reach an end to this mission.  When I began, I had no idea how many struggles that I would have to face.  Between all of the foreign laws, paperwork and finances, there were many times that I did not think that I would be able to complete this mission.  But then I would read your emails, or hear your sincere comments and phone calls and it would give me the courage and the energy to continue the struggle of flying the baby plane around our giant planet and educating the world about our beautiful country and its people.

Because of your support, 34 countries – their people, their news outlets and their government have now personally heard about our small country.  34 countries have been introduced and want to learn more about our people.  Many people now understand the need for proper recognition of our independence.  And many of those people don’t understand why we are not already officially recognized by their own countries.

We’ve accomplished an historic feat and I am grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to meet amazing and supportive people at every stop along this journey.  I have made many friends for life and on top of that, I have been given the best opportunity in the world – to share with people about our beautiful country, our struggles and our people.

Thank you to the diaspora of family, friends, brothers and sisters whom I have met. Thank you for your hospitality and encouragement.  Thank you some, for being with me during some of the most weakest times of my life.

During this last phase, I was so very happy to reach US territory again and my friends in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida gave me a welcome that I will not forget. My trip up the Eastern side of the United States was filled with similar welcomes in Washington DC, New York, New York, and Detroit, Michigan.  Meeting friends and supporters while flying back to Europe was also inspiring.  As soon as I met supporters in Reykjavik, Iceland I began to become more and more excited for home.

Landing in Lausanne, Switzerland was very emotional for me – but this was just the beginning.  Folks in Zagreb, Croatia and everybody in Prishtina, Kosovo filled my heart with joy.  Upon reaching Albanian territory, I could only see the magnitude of all of the work that you had done just to see my baby plane – N2807L – reach home as magnificently as possible.  Words cannot express my thoughts at the time, and really, there were no words to say, because there were too many tears flowing at the time.  As mentioned before, there were many times throughout this mission that I thought this bright day would never come.

Reaching our lands of Albania and Kosova felt like being in paradise. Flying through these great lands enriched my soul and filled my heart and mind with a sense that cannot be described.  Memories of many years of your struggles are what pushed me to reach places,lands,countries and continents without the slightest
hesitation.  No matter what unexpected issues or problems came up during the mission, I knew that I would never stop until I was finished sharing your story with each and every country that I had planned.

Many times in life you think of your accomplishments, achievements, fulfillments, etc.  It would be impossible to give you all the most sincere description of the thoughts and feelings that I have when thinking about our mission, the reasons it began and how very many times I thought of my fellow countrymen and all that has been sacrificed before us by our mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters.  There are no words that would be able to express just how deeply moved I have been to be able to serve you and represent you throughout this entire mission.  The memory of this time during my life and all that it represents, will stay with me forever and remain close to my heart.  And, though there were many struggles along the way, they seem to nearly disappear when I think of how blessed I am to have had all of you around for support.  To know that I was able to play a small part in the struggle for our countries recognition and that I was able to use my skills as a pilot in order to honor all of those that have fought for our country in the past and all of you who continue in the struggle, is a feeling that is very overwhelming to think about.  I am indeed a very blessed man.

May you all be blessed with joy and many more happy days to come.

Your brother, your friend,

James Berisha

Don’t forget to check out what’s going on on Facebook. There are lots of pictures from recent activities in Kosovo.
Join our group.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10274777.stm

Though James recently arrived in Pristina, he has been extremely busy meeting with local media and several other people – though he promised to update us again soon.

In the meantime, I’ve added some posts from the second phase of the mission (Mexico to Chile), though you may have to go back a few pages to find them.

Finally, Mr. Nester Phillip from The Chronicle in Dominica has been kind enough to share an audio interview that he did with James while he was visiting that country.  I have added the audio links within the Dominica post.

Stay tuned for further updates…

By far the best organized welcoming has been here Lausanne, Switzerland.  I guess it is fitting since this is the place where I first started down my path as a pilot.  Aside from my young life in Kosovo, it is Lausanne that I consider as the place that has made me who I am today.

Our great friend Tom Duhani from Detroit had organized a wonderful homecoming with our Ambassador Naim Malaj and all the diaspora. More than thirty people were present and I am very grateful that the airport officials in Switzerland were understanding and kind enough to allow us the freedom to gather and celebrate this very important milestone.

As I was approaching the Swiss border, tears of joys began flowing from my eyes.  Many, many times during the mission I thought this day would never arrive.  All of the struggling that has happened over the past year seemed to disappear as I hugged all of the family and friends that welcomed me home.  Having my nieces and nephew beside me again was priceless – the powerful emotions of the moment will be engrained in my mind for many years to come.

It is a joy to know that our mission has touched many lives and has become part of their lives as well. Thanks to everybody for the great dinner.What a joy this has been despite the year long struggle. Next stop is Kosova with a technical stop in between.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all.

PILOT TO FLY THROUGHOUT ALL CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA IN SUPPORT OF KOSOVO’S INDEPENDENCE

James Berisha behind the controls of a Learjet which he flies for Sierra West Airlines

El Paso, Texas, USA, 02/19/2009 – An El Paso resident and native Kosovo pilot is planning to fly throughout all of Central and South America in order to encourage recognition of Kosovo’s newfound independence from Serbia in a trip planned for late March.
James Berisha, 37, of Pristina, Kosovo, (www.flyingforkosovo.com) is planning to depart in his single engine plane from El Paso, TX in late March to more than 30 countries to rally support for newly independent Kosovo which officially became an independent country in February of 2008. Berisha, now an accomplished airline pilot, has made similar flights after graduating Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach, Florida.

To gain flight hours, Berisha made a more than seventy hour flight from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Skopje, Macedonia. This time he is not in need of flight hours, instead he is funding his journey out of pocket so that he may talk to the people of South America and encourage them to recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

“I will thank those countries who have already recognized us, I will tell the others how important it is for Kosovo to be recognized worldwide, and I will try to end racial stereotypes that belittle our people,” said Berisha about his upcoming journey.

Kosovo has been recognized by 55 out of the 192 UN member states as of the date of this publication.

Flying for Kosovo

Flying for Kosovo from Fatmir Jusufi on Vimeo.