The Zalli Twins

“The spirit inside kept their dream alive.”

Good Morning, Hope is the inspiring true story of the Zalli family, forced by war to flee their beloved homeland. As refugees, they faced some of the most important issues of our times, including poverty, bullying, graft, and greed. Yet, through their mutual support, the beautiful twin sisters Detina and Argita Zalli worked together to achieve great success as PhD scientists, honored by Harvard University.

In 1997, Albania experienced a financial crisis far worse than the global financial crisis that would come a decade later. Monetary Armageddon crashed into this naive free market economy with enough force to wipe out over 60 percent of the country’s wealth—overnight. The government toppled, and pandemonium broke out in the streets.

Tons of munitions were looted from Soviet-era armories, and every man age twelve and older was forced to carry a gun to survive. A monetary implosion of this magnitude set into motion a series of escalating events that propelled the Zalli family down a rabbit hole, rocketing them from bad to worse.

It took over two years for them to escape the madness. They wanted desperately to go to the United States, but their attempts were thwarted by the Albanian mafia. When the Zallis finally made it to England, smuggled out by truck, the thirteen-year-old twins believed life would be much better—but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Now refugees, the girls were mercilessly bullied by their peers and constantly afraid that they would be sent back to Albania and their parents would be sent to jail. To make matters worse, their father struggled to find work.

But not only did the twins survive, they thrived. Their sense of humor, coupled with their inherent genius, charm, and near-psychic ability to work together, helped them overcome their many challenges. Together, they outsmarted the bullies, sidestepped MI6 and the SAS, disposed of a kidnapping pimp, and went on to become highly accomplished PhD research scientists.

Influenced by Barack Obama and eager to help others, they founded We Speak Science, a nonprofit organization that supports disadvantaged students throughout the world, particularly immigrants, whose circumstances hinder their ability to learn at school.

In Good Morning, Hope, Detina and Argita share their remarkable, action-packed journey, as well as their mysterious, unique bond as twins, which nurtured and sustained them throughout their perilous ordeal.