SHKODRA, Albania (AP) — Where most people and even police fear to set foot, Liljana Luani takes books, household supplies, and a lifetime of experience on how to help families marked for murder. The 56-year-old school teacher from Shkodra in northern Albania uses her spare time to travel to remote hillside villages where children are trapped in a centuries-old tradition of blood feuds and hidden by their families. The guard dogs recognize her and villagers barely react as she opens the metal gate and steps into a protected house. If I slip somewhere my family will pay for it, Luani told The Associated Press, speaking in the home of a young boy hidden away to protect him from a vendetta after giving him a lesson in math, grammar and the ancient Greek tale of The Odyssey. A cycle of reciprocal killings may be started from a number of causes, including murder, causing accidental death, land disputes, and making a grave false accusation. [...] post-communist revenge killings have occasionally strayed from traditional rules and the male blood-line to include women, minors, multiple killings and the use of assassins. On a typical weekday, she finishes classes, cooks at home for her family, and then sets off into what locals call the "Accursed Mountains," steep and inhospitable, traveling by taxi van for up to an hour to reach the stranded children. Several years ago, she helped start and support a pioneer shelter school in southern Albania, in some cases taking additional risks to persuade parents to let their kids travel.
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