Dodona & Benni

On April 25, 2024, Dodona was in Kosovo, Benni in Amsterdam. She had installed dua.com just one day earlier, he had it for a few days. A simple match turned into 7-hour conversations, a proposal in the middle of a snowstorm in Brezovica, and a little girl who today carries the name of the platform that brought them together.

Two cultures, one shared search

Dodona was born and raised in Switzerland, but her roots are in Pristina. At 29, she knows well what it means to live between two worlds – the Swiss and the Albanian. For her, a partner had to understand this interweaving, not just the culture, but also the systemic challenges couples face when one of them is not integrated in language and system.

Benni, 33, was born in Aargau. His father is Swiss, his mother Albanian from Gjakova. Even though he grew up in Switzerland, he always knew: he wanted to find an Albanian woman for a wife. Just as his father had done. He had seen it in his own parents – the care, the way Albanian women love, how they create and maintain a family. Family values were the main reason.

A message that started with “Do – Dona?”

Dodona had heard about dua.com on social media for a long time. Her friends had told her several times to install it, and she knew people who had met through the platform, but somehow the moment hadn’t come. Until April 24, 2024, when she found herself with nothing to do at the office and decided: why not?

It was the day when women had free Premium. She had set her name simply as “Do” – she didn’t want to be found by her real name. When she saw that someone had liked her and wrote to her, the first message was: “Do – Dona?” That’s how their conversation began.

Benni had tried Bumble before, but there he only found fake profiles and no Albanians. When he saw the ad for dua.com, he installed it immediately. After 4 days, came the match with Dodona.

After one day of chatting on the platform, they moved to Instagram, and from there immediately to WhatsApp. After one week, they both deleted the app together. They didn’t need other matches.

7 hours like 1 hour

The first meeting happened immediately after Dodona returned from Kosovo – at the first opportunity. Two weeks after they had started talking, they met in Zurich after work. Benni waited 1 hour, because Dodona was a bit late in traffic, a bit getting ready. Now they remember laughing how valuable that wait was – it made them even more curious about each other.

They went to eat sushi, walked from Hauptbahnhof to the lake. 7 hours passed like 1 hour. The conversation never stopped, the topics never ended. They immediately decided on the next meeting, in 2-3 days.

For Benni, what caught his eye was Dodona’s smile and her nature of talking a lot. She constantly created the chance to discuss different topics, without complicating anything. When Dodona told him that for her the most important thing is to be a good person and Albanian, she completely won his heart.

For Dodona it was important that Benni was the same person in messages as he was live. There are many people who pretend to be someone else online, and when you meet them live they turn out to be completely different. In Benni she found an authentic person – exactly the one she had been writing with. She could talk and laugh with him, feel open and have the same humor.

Escape Room, family and an Albanian jersey

The second date was at an Escape Room – as they say themselves, “to see if we have something in our brains.” Then they went to a Mexican restaurant to eat and walked again. Another 8 hours that felt like nothing. They couldn’t be without each other.

At the beginning of July, after 3 months together, came the big moment: Benni wore the Albanian jersey when Albania played against Spain and went to meet Dodona’s parents. He was nervous, stressed, but in the end the day went very well.

Another moment that Benni remembers with pride: when Dodona’s parents met his parents. Benni’s father started speaking German directly with them, they accepted each other as if they had known each other for a long time.

The snow, the stress and the proposal in Brezovica

In November 2024, Benni had already decided: he would buy the ring. At 32, he had never been more sure about something. When you find a woman you truly like, there’s no reason to wait.

He asked Dodona’s parents for her hand. They gave him their blessing: “You are making Dodona happy, and that is the most important thing for us.”

At the end of December, he organized a trip to Kosovo. They went to meet Dodona’s grandfather, then to Gjakova to meet Benni’s grandmother, and then headed to Brezovica. Benni had reserved a private dinner with a surprise and music.

But fate wanted something else. In Prizren they stopped to eat, and Benni said “hurry, we have a reservation at 18:00.” But heavy snow had fallen. Taxis weren’t running. The roads were blocked. Benni had to get out and push cars on roads that couldn’t move, to arrive in time for the reservation and the prepared proposal.

Super stress that turned into the greatest joy. When Benni proposed, Dodona accepted. A story they will never forget, that bonded them even more than ever. One of the best days of their lives.

A girl named Dua

In 2025 they had the engagement party with family – a traditional Albanian engagement, where the hand was asked, the proposal was made, rings were exchanged and tears were shed.

In February they found out that Dodona was pregnant. She surprised Benni with a small gift: some baby socks. When he saw them, Benni understood immediately. It was one of the best moments of his life.

They got married on April 25 – exactly one year after they matched on dua.com. Only 30 people, because it was the fourth month of pregnancy. Then they went to Venice for a photo shoot as a honeymoon, together with their families.

When they found out it would be a girl, they decided between two names: Elvana and Dua. But Elvana wasn’t an Albanian name, it was Arabic. While Dua – it was a symbol for them. There’s nothing greater than love. An Albanian name. And the platform that brought them together. It was the right name.

Their daughter was born in October 2025. Today they live near their families in the canton of Aargau.

“Everything happens in its own time”

There’s a detail that makes this story even more special. 20 years ago, Dodona’s father and Benni’s uncle were good friends and worked together. Dodona’s father was also friends with Benni’s aunt’s husband. Dodona as a child had met Benni’s aunt.

“This shows how small the world is,” they both say. “Everything happens in its own time. Dua.com was the reason we came together, and without it we would never have found each other – and we wouldn’t have our Dua now.”

Dodona says: “I never thought I could be this happy. That I could find a person like Benni, who cares so much for me, who looks after me non-stop, who brings me gifts.”

An intense and beautiful story. Two people who found each other at the right time, who built their love with patience and authenticity, and who now live it every day – together with their little girl.