My family has lived in this valley for more than a century. Brave men have always ruled here. The only way to survive was to become a man. I see myself completely as a man. A woman is one thing, a sworn virgin is another. We were very poor growing up. Here in the village, during the communist era, people held on to their traditions. A woman was isolated with no freedom. A man had to accompany her wherever she went, while men could do as they pleased. You were not considered equal. When my father died I decided to become a burrnesha - a sworn virgin. It was impossible for my mother to work and to take care of her children. When I made this decision I gained more rights, I gained more respect. Being a sworn virgin is more than being unmarried. The sworn virgin is dedicated to her family. To work, to live. To preserve herself pure. Sworn virgins are free. They could smoke, women couldn't smoke. They could drink, women couldn't drink. When I decided to become a sworn virgin, I made the decision to remain celibate for the rest of my life. I have always compared myself to men and socialised only with men. So I decided to become a sworn virgin. Alcohol and tobacco have always been for men. I smoke 15 cigarettes a day. Wherever I went, I received special respect. It felt good. I was respected as a man, not as a woman. I felt more free this way. It was the 13th of June 1963. I was in the mountains. I found something. I didn't know what it was, it was a big thing. Like a grenade with a belt. I was a child, I picked it up, removed the fuse, it cracked in my hands. In the beginning, when it first happened, my life was very difficult. It was hard to eat, to dress myself. I had many problems until I adapted. It was a very difficult decision for me to become a burrnesha. I was feeling sad. I was very sick and no-one was there to help me. I had to crawl. I thought for a moment that I would be like everybody else and have a child who could look after me. It was just for a moment, A split second. But I came to my senses. I thought of God and said to myself 'What are you thinking?' Thirty years ago, people thought differently about sworn virgins. We were respected. Now they don't care. I'm glad to be a female. I can do the work of 10 men. It's the life I have chosen. Sworn virgins have been around for many years, centuries even. Women were not treated properly in the past. Women used to do housework, raise children, wash dishes. cook, everything really. This is because it was written in the Kanun. A very, very cruel set of customary laws. I used to play football. When people saw me with long hair they'd say 'Who is he?' because boys weren't allowed long hair. But I enjoyed both being a girl with long hair and playing football. Women didn't play football back then. People were surprised. Doubts? I'll have no doubts until the day I die. Historically in Northern Albania the role of women was very limited, very closed. They didn't have the right to determine their own destiny. A girl's engagement was arranged without her consent. The decision to become a sworn virigin was a way to gain equal rights to men. It was a protest disguised as sacrifice. Becoming a burrnesha has nothing to do with sexuality it was a choice to claim another role, another position in the family. Becoming a burrnesha allowed a woman to refuse marriage. She could represent her family if there were no male heirs. She could go out and participate in different social activities. The difference between the classic burrnesha and today's burrnesha is quite fundamental. Traditional burrneshat must be approved by the village elders, while today it is a completely personal decision. I collect tea, 'schlep' and the herbs I need. They are all very important. I use them to prepare healing treatments. I prepare oils with balsam flower, to cure marks and burns. I learned about medicinal herbs from my father. When I was little I used to follow him. He showed me thousands of medicinal plants. He taught me about them. I was little so I don't remember everything. I don't know all the herbs but I think I know enough. When I decided to dedicate myself to my family, my mother told me her thoughts on the burrneshat. 'You know monks and nuns,' she said. 'Do you want to become a burrnesha and waste your life? Do you know what a sworn virgin is? You will always be alone.' I haven't wasted my life. On the contrary, I'm helping people. Helping my family to not suffer will be my achievement. Having the values of a burrnesha doesn't make me less of a person. Collecting gives me pleasure. I really enjoy it. When I don't have work to do I often come here and just touch them. It's my passion, it makes me feel good. Medicinal herbs were my fathers passion, and I care about them too. Now I want my niece Valerjana to inherit the skills, but she has chosen a different path. Young women are not choosing to become burrneshat, they don't even think about it. Like me for example. I grew up in a village where women's rights were often violated. In the capital Tirana, women and girls have more advantages and more freedoms. Even today, the situation in our village is a catastrophe. I am someone who connects to the past, and the best way to preserve memories is photography. There are few historical photos of the sworn virgins. I want to use my photography to document the last of the burrneshat. And to understand my aunt's choice. In Albanian, when we want to say a woman is strong, we say she is a 'burrnesha'. The root of the word 'burre' means 'man'. Being a burrnesha was a reflection of the patriarchal culture. Women, effectively, had to turn into men to gain minimal rights. To this day in Albania, there are villages where giving birth to a girl is considered a sin. They have a saying: 'When a girl is born, even the pillars of the house cry.' The sums up the entire history of femininity in Albania. Today's feminism wants to change that mentality as well as promoting the rights of women to decide their sexuality, their lives, their desires and their ways of expressing themselves. I think that Albanian society is opening up, and has taken many steps forward in a short period of time. I'm sure it would have been difficult for many women my aunt's age. For them it would have been easier to become a burrnesha to gain freedom. My aunt and I have never discussed my decision. We silently agree not to talk about it. We don't even think about it. You've collected a lot! I have. Should I put them here? Yes, put them here. There is a question I've always wanted to ask. Today, no one tries to become a burrnesha. Young girls are not even thinking about becoming burrneshat. I'm a real example of that. Are you upset that the tradition is disappearing? It does upset me but I think that nowadays many women have the power and capacity to make their own decisions. Would you ever want to become a burrnesha, like me? If I had grown up when you did, maybe I would have, in order to gain more rights, because I'm obsessed with the idea of women's rights being equal to men's rights, and I wouldn't be able to go on without equality and justice. If only for that reason, I would have become a burrnesha. But today, never. Would you even want me to? No, never. I respect the fact that you are a burrnesha and the decision you made. I am so proud of the person you are today and I don't want you to change. I'm glad we have finally discussed these things. To be a burrnesha you must do the work of 10 men. That's how you earn the name burrnesha. I didn't name myself. It was given to me. For my appearance the work I've done and many other reasons. Those of us still alive hold on to tradition. The youth will never follow our path. They're busy with computers and the internet. They don't care at all about our sacrifice. Do you think that girls shouldn't become burrneshat these days? They have no reason to. Aren't you happy about that? Yes, of course. But who dedicates themselves to work the way we did? Nobody. Technology has arrived, times have changed. We are in another century, it's completely different. Then, apart from the few of us still left, the tradition will disappear, but history will remember us. Yes, the burrneshat will always be remembered but there will still be successful women. We are who we are, and will be until we die. I took an oath. When the last of us goes it will mean the end of the burrneshat. I will be the last one... me. I think this tradition dying is a good thing. Today we women don't have to choose to become men. We have to fight for equal rights. I'll be the last one. There will be no more burrneshat. I've never had any doubts. I've no regrets. Always and forever burrneshat will always be part of our history. Never forgotten.