For our interlocutor Mladen Rakčević, a former professional athlete, the village of Smokovci has always represented something special.
"The essence and foundation of my family, my parents, instilled in me a great love for this fairytale place even as a child. Our arrivals here, every Sunday, for me represented a return to my roots, and that's why, although much later due to my obligations in sports, I still wanted to return to my great-grandfather's roots", Mladen tells us emotionally, adding that he primarily wanted to fulfill his personal vow to return to his roots , and then try to modernize and revive your rural household and valorize its resources in such a way that you can really live and work there.
"Of course, it takes a lot of work, a lot of financial investment, patience, sometimes even risk, especially when it comes to agricultural work and always possible weather disasters, which, all together, can be exhausting and very tiring, but if we take peace into account, tranquility, love, fulfillment of the soul that this same nature offers us, then there is no doubt that the countryside is of inestimable importance, both for the individual who dedicates himself to it, and for our entire society, which, and how, can benefit from investing in agriculture and rural farms", claims our native Mladen.
According to Rakčević, the way of life in the countryside today is the same, or very similar, in almost all rural areas in our country, and the differences generally refer to the types of farms and the fact whether someone is engaged in animal husbandry, vegetable growing, farming, viticulture...
"Be that as it may, the whole day is full, from morning to evening there are many jobs and obligations that cannot wait for tomorrow and that need to be done today, because tomorrow new jobs and new obligations will already appear", says Rakčević, jokingly concluding that boring surely it cannot be.
When it comes to living conditions in the countryside, for Mladen, the biggest lack, as in almost all rural areas in Montenegro, is infrastructure, whether it's road infrastructure, irregular electricity supply, especially in winter, water supply...
And if we add to everything the issue of displacement and the departure of people from the village, then, as Rakčević said, we realize that we have a huge problem.
"Additionally, if we add to all these problems a poor mobile phone signal, poor TV signal, lack of internet connections, it is clear that we are in a problem for the potential development of the tourist product, because in the 21st century it is hardly possible to function without these resources. Especially not in the field of tourism and competitive tourist offers, not to mention permanent life in the village", Rakčević is determined.
Solving these issues, or at least remediating them, would, in his opinion, create a lot of opportunities for much different communication between the village and the city, starting with the sale of items produced in the village, through the purchase of groceries in the city, faster and easier traffic functioning on this route, extending the average length of stay of an individual from the city to the countryside...
For Mladen Rakčević, the village of Smokovci is a place of perfect acres of silence, walks in the calm of the day on the ancestral estate, a place under the brightest stars and the most beautiful rains, but also a place that is ideal for raising children and pointing out essential values.
That's why Rakčević is of the opinion that every upbringing of a child must be based on essential values, stressing the value of the village not only because of its geographical location, or the possibility of picking different kinds of fruits, raising livestock, engaging in different activities... tourism... but because of everything that is that village, as an essence, cultivated for centuries.
"Family, honest and sincere relationship between people, neighbors, friends, godfathers... fundamental, real essential values. In such an upbringing, the child understands all this in the right way, and thus we make him a good person. The family gets closer and becomes a family again in the true sense of the word, and the village becomes a base that, together with the city, participates in the creation of a healthy and stable society", our host is clear.
Likewise, for a better quality of life in the village, according to our host Mladen, its institutionalization is necessary, both through the opening of local offices, the formation of appropriate committees, the delegation of quality representatives to municipal bodies, as well as through the implementation of certain projects in our villages and better animation of local residents. only for participating in them, but also for acquiring certain benefits due to the decision to stay in the village and fight for its preservation.
And this story about the returnee to the village Mladen Rakčević and his village Smokovci, our host emotionally ends with the words of the famous writer Meša Selimović:
"Where I have become, where I will disappear." Then I saw the infinity of heaven and the open sea where my eye rests, and I wouldn't exchange this for any part of the world. There may be more beautiful ones, but there are no dearer ones. This place, it is me, it is my life and my love, it is my cradle and my tomb, my beginning and my ending..."
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