Valentina Korcari Muka
The Life Philosophy of Dr. Tritan Kalo
I have always been drawn to people with deep thinking, and I am curious to know more about what makes them so, what sets them apart, their thoughts, and what is important to them. Today, I will share a special piece that is not about my childhood peers in Kuçova, nor about well-known poets in this close group of creators on Facebook, where we share our creations. I am taking my first steps and learning what true literary poetry is.
To my surprise, I never would have imagined that one day I would write about a renowned Albanian doctor, the infectious disease specialist who left a mark during the most difficult time, the most life-threatening for Albanians. During the time of confronting the Covid-19 virus, which for nearly two years paralyzed everything across the globe, for me and others, this period remains as the time of Dr. Tritan Kalo.
Having lived in Toronto for 20 years, I hadn’t had the chance to hear about him before, let alone know Dr. Tritan personally, or as he calls himself, “mantelbardhi” (the white coat), a term with a deep meaning, just like his personality. He has a heart that is pure and white, which I can say competes with the colour of a doctor’s coat. He is one of the rare individuals in Albania with a unique philosophy about his profession.
In an article I wrote two months ago about the master of the masterpiece watch “Primordial Passion,” my friend Pirro Ruco, Dr. Tritan was the first to leave a congratulatory comment for his friend. I thanked him with great appreciation, and afterward, out of curiosity and respect, I sent him a friend request on Facebook.
Since that day, I have gained one more virtual friend, and I have learned a lot about this strategist of the pandemic era, about this man who sacrificed not only his knowledge and strength but also his personality and countless hours in the battle against the virus. What makes Dr. Tritan unique is that he never left the infectious disease hospital, which he calls “his second home.” He stayed at the forefront of the supreme duty, while his family, his wife, and three daughters, lived in Victoria, BC.
Dr. Tritan was on the front lines, entering and exiting the red zone dozens of times a day. His work involved extraordinary dedication and seriousness in treating patients without exception. At a time when the entire world was paralyzed, and everything was hermetically sealed, doctors were at the forefront of the battle.
No one knew how long the pandemic would last, whether until herd immunity was created or until the infection cycle came to an end. I recall an interview where Dr. Tritan described the symbiosis between life, nature, and viruses. At the beginning of the pandemic, he took a tomato grown in the yard of the infectious disease hospital and placed it in an airtight test tube. That tomato resisted for about two years, slowly shrivelling, a sign that the pandemic curve was decreasing. In an interview, he explained that the evolution of the pandemic lasted around 18 to 24 months, while its “tail” could last 3 or 4 months or more.
After the gradual reopening of life and work in every country around the world, the virus still remained a threat, with new forms emerging. During this time, monitoring continued everywhere: in markets, schools, transportation, and hospitals. Masks and protective measures were present in every aspect of life.
As a kindergarten educator, I had to responsibly fill out a form verifying that I was free from the virus, as did other members of my family. Every morning, someone would take our temperature, and this rule applied to everyone, including parents and children. The hardest part was working with a mask and protective plastic for 8 hours with the children, whose nature is lively and demanding.
But for Dr. Tritan and his staff, how much more difficult and painful was that period! They worked with dedication and absolute responsibility, and for that, he is an extraordinary strategist. If Skanderbeg freed the country from the Ottoman invaders, Dr. Tritan saved the Albanians from the most ferocious virus, a plague of our time.
“The mark of a true leader is not in how many people he commands, but in how many lives they positively impact.” This valuable saying fits Dr. Tritan Kalo perfectly, a leader and protector of Albanian lives during the pandemic.
Dr. Tritan retired in 2023, after reaching retirement age. Here’s what he said shortly before that time:
“Since September 1996, we had in our hands the immigration documents for Canada, but we hesitated greatly to leave the ‘Land where we were born’…. We were very well settled in Paris, France, where I also studied, but together with my wife and our two daughters, born in Albania, we decided to return at the beginning of 1993, with the idea and desire to contribute to the development and democratisation of our country, emerging from 45 years of dictatorship… ‘The heavy stone lies best in its place’ was something our parents instilled in us every day with love for MOTHER ALBANIA… The professional position I earned through competition in Paris, I never managed to obtain in my own country, even though I graduated with a ‘Gold Medal’ from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana, and was the only doctor at that time to have graduated from one of the top 100 universities in the world, University of Paris 7, Faculty of Medicine ‘Xavier Bichat,’ in two important fields of clinical medicine: 1- Infectious and Tropical Diseases, and 2- Medical Resuscitation.”
I am certain that a personality like Dr. Tritan Kalo could not have found it easy to leave behind, and so quickly, all that wealth of knowledge, not only at the Faculty of Medicine in Tirana but also as the only doctor to have graduated from one of the top 100 universities in the world, University of Paris 7, Faculty of Medicine “Xavier Bichat,” in two important fields of clinical medicine: 1- Infectious and Tropical Diseases, and 2- Medical Resuscitation.
I believe that it was also very difficult and heavy for the patients, imagining the moment they waited for him to enter the room for an examination or check-up. They clung not only to every word he said but also followed his gaze, his tone of voice, to catch any sign of what he might have been thinking about their condition. And when Dr. Tritan would explain their situation, it may have seemed to them that their life depended on it, and perhaps it truly did. Many of his patients expressed that he knew his profession very well, and they had so much trust in him that, with just the touch of his hand, improvement or healing could occur.
Another part of what he expressed that day:
“The difficult year of 1997 created anxiety about the continuation of life in Albania… Professionalism, dedication, and work were barely valued at that time, and again, they were barely appreciated after my return from Canada in July 2009, when I ‘enjoyed the status of unemployment’ for a year, as well as not returning to the halls of knowledge to this day… IF you are not a conformist, a militant, or a blind follower of the political forces that emerged after the declaration of pluralism in Albania on December 15, 1990, few or no opportunities are offered to give your best as a spotless White-Coat… This is something the politicians in Albania do not want to admit, so I completely understand why many of my colleagues leave the ‘Land of their ancestors’… The date that will mark my final return after retirement to Albania, here from Victoria, BC, Canada… Nevertheless, in every cell of mine, Albania and my Albanian identity are eternally etched… Together forever!!!”
Upon reading this part, I am reminded of my own sad story, which happened to my family before I emigrated to Canada with my two children. Perhaps Albanians are forced, in one way or another, to emigrate in order to find themselves and their families in a safer place, where they feel equal among equals. I lost a great deal in the five years before I emigrated to Canada, to Toronto, due to the corruption that began; my right to emigrate to America was denied, and another person went in my name. Later, in broad daylight, my husband was robbed while exchanging currency from Berat to Tirana, 40 million leke as a money changer, and two years later, I lost my husband due to the traumas and stress he endured, from a massive heart attack.
Well, I was forced to leave, and at that age, 46 years old, I emigrated to Canada to raise and educate my two children. But for Professor Tritani, who had the highest specialisation in the field of infection at one of the best universities in the world, in Paris, and with his 41 years of experience, his civic ethics, a humane doctor who never saw his patients only as medical cases—why should he have had to emigrate when his country needed him more than ever?
And, in parentheses, all those working today in the Infectious Disease Hospital are former students of Professor Tritan Kalo. Even though he now lives in Canada, he has left behind all his rich experience, the gratitude of his patients, colleagues, friends, and honourable people. He has left behind an army of doctors who were once his students in the lecture halls, and undoubtedly, just as he was their mentor, they now work following the best example and knowledge he instilled in them.
Recently, I was struck by a post by Dr. Tritan Kalo on Facebook. Almost every day, he posts photos and writings about moments from his family life in Victoria, BC, where he lives with his three daughters. During his 41 years in the field of medicine, especially in his later specializations after completing his medical degree at the University of Tirana, Dr. Tritan worked with passion, and now, in the peaceful years of his retirement, he looks at his past as if through a mirror, while the present flows so calmly, like the waves of a sea under a gentle breeze. I am convinced that Dr. Tritan feels the satisfaction of all his work and lives fully in the present, which is supported by the past and is thousands of times deeper.
What has impressed me the most is that he, as a passionate patriot, often expresses how much his heart aches for every injustice he encounters in Albania, the homeland of many emigrants who have ventured out into the world, including himself. I am amazed at how an infectious disease doctor, like Dr. Tritan, finds the time to also conduct online consultations for patients in Albania, and for others, always ready to help. He also takes the time to offer in-depth analyses of every political situation or the problems faced by ordinary people in Albania.
In one post, I saw that his daughter, during their vacation in the homeland, which for her is the first time she has visited, had issues with allergies caused by the smoke and polluted air in Tirana. Rightfully so, as he himself expressed, this is a problem for all children, adults, and retirees, who in their free time, without work-related concerns, need and deserve to get some sunlight or fresh air in the few parks or green spaces that may have survived the skyscrapers in the centre of Tirana.
In another post in recent days, I read that in the capital, where Albanian emigrants or tourists come in the summer or autumn, smoking is still allowed in relaxation areas such as bars or cafes. These are vital norms that everyone should adhere to; they are basic rules of conduct with ethics and civic education. In the country where I live, Canada, whether in Toronto like me or in Victoria, British Columbia like Dr. Tritani, smoking is categorically prohibited at bus stations, on buses or trains, in bars, cinemas, and stadiums—in all public spaces where there are people, it is banned and can even result in a hefty fine of up to $10,000.
What prevents some Albanians from making it a rule, habit, or routine not to smoke at home or in public spaces? All these regulations are in favour of protecting the health of their family members and of strangers who may be in the same train or bus.
It is a privilege to know such a personality, and for what Dr. Tritan has given and continues to give to his people, he is like a comet with a long, bright tail that passes very rarely and tangentially touches the Earth. In every one of his posts, where he writes and analyses Albanian politics, which is a significant problem to be solved in our country, for a radical change in the mentality and political leadership of the nation, every effort of his seems to graze the reality there, but the light of this comet shines brightly. As an emigrant, I join Dr. Tritan’s desire, as a patriot, whose heart longs for this situation to change for the better.
While Mother Teresa dedicated her whole life, her strength, and her time to the poor, orphans, and those suffering from leprosy in Kolkata, India, Professor and Dr. Tritan Kalo has dedicated and continues to dedicate his entire wealth of knowledge gained at the University of Tirana, in France, and other countries, with his commitment to the medical profession in need, to his homeland, both as a citizen there before and now as a passionate patriot in exile. And not infrequently, for all his rich activity as an infectious disease doctor, not only in following up with his patients but also with a high civic ethic, Dr. Tritan Kalo is also referred to as the “Mother Teresa” of QSUT (University Hospital Center of Tirana).
If I were to make a simple comparison for all the emigrants who have spent over 25 or 20 years in exile in the USA or Canada, they have managed to pay off a home in their name through their work and income, while Dr. Tritan was called to his duty as a physician in need, in his homeland. If since 1999 Dr. Tritan had worked and lived in Victoria, British Columbia, he would undoubtedly have a house in his name there today, thanks to his work as a doctor. However, the priority of Professor and Dr. Tritan Kalo has been his holy and noble duty as a physician.
Nevertheless, with his long experience as a doctor, which he has carried out and continues to fulfil diligently, I can say that Professor and Dr. Tritan Kalo has gained more than a home—he has won the hearts of all Albanians. Just as Princess Diana was the “people’s princess,” Dr. Tritan Kalo is the doctor and friend of all Albanians, and this is written in the history of his country.
Wishing you peaceful years in retirement, Dr. Tritan.
With great respect,
- Korcari Muka
Toronto, October 3, 2024