Man from Chair recalls Tose Proeski’s quiet, cross‑community generosity
Ariton Rama recounts a personal meeting and an €8,000 donation that supported children in Chair; the singer’s link to the Holy Transfiguration monastery near Kruševo is also highlighted.
A personal account published on social media by Ariton Rama has resurfaced memories of Toše Proeski’s quiet humanitarian work, describing a direct meeting at the Red Cross centre in Chair and a later donation that funded care for children without parents.
The text also recalls Proeski’s long connection to the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration near Kruševo. In a church statement released after the monastery’s consecration, the local eparchy wrote: "The name most responsible for the raising of the entire monastery complex is that of the late Toše Proeski." The consecration took place on 24 September 2023, attended by many faithful and by His Beatitude, Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia Stefan.
Proeski himself spoke often about the monastery and its meaning for him. He said, "I admit and feel that my life, and that of my whole family, changed after the monastery began to be built. And I will never forget Macedonia, nor Kruševo, nor the monastery, because all my fame, health and the happy situations that happen to me every day I owe to that feast — St. Transfiguration."
Rama explains that he had been engaged in humanitarian work in the neighbourhood of Chair during years of intense interethnic tension, helping children who were mostly Albanian, as well as Bosniak and Turkish. After failing to get support from the channels he expected, Rama and his colleagues reached out to a number of public figures — and Proeski responded promptly.
According to Rama, Proeski visited the Red Cross premises in Chair, greeted those present and spoke directly to him using a few words in Albanian: "I know a few words in Albanian: thank you, good day, I love you." Rama says that after talking with Red Cross officials, Proeski arranged financial support: roughly two weeks later he contacted Rama personally and donated €8,000 to the Red Cross in Chair, asking that the funds be used specifically for children without parents of Albanian nationality.
Rama recalls that Proeski later returned unexpectedly to meet the children, greeting each in their mother tongue and embracing them. The singer told the youngsters, in Rama’s account, "I LOVE YOU ALL." Rama closes his post by calling Proeski "the best human being I have ever met" and saying that, in his memory, "no one can replace him."
The account underlines how Proeski’s public fame coexisted with private acts of solidarity across ethnic lines, and how those gestures are still remembered by people who witnessed them firsthand.
Photo: Fejsbuk/ Toshe Proeski
