Every day when we are out and about, we see people who are very poor, who struggle to be able to have the basic neccessities of life, who are marginalised from society. Albania is an unequal society. There is very little in the way of 'welfare' assistance to help the poor, disabled, handicapped, orphans. At present we are involved with helping a centre in Tirana which offers support for vulnerable children and youth, many of whom live in conditions of extreme poverty on the streets of Tirana.
Children living and working on the street are particularly vulnerable to the risk of abuse and exploitation by adults, even their own family.
When we first visited the centre, the doctor took us out into the community to show us how these street families live. The pinch on the cheek for the child is a token of affection in Albania.
This was in the summer so at least there isn't the problem of trying to keep warm.
This is in October and life is a bit more difficult when the weather isn't so good.....
.....but the children love having their picture taken and seeing it afterwards on the camera.
The families live in little shacks made from anything salvaged such as wood, cardboard, metal, but it's very grim as you can see.
The mother is making a meal for her children which is very meagre; mothers and children begging on the street are a common sight in Albania.
The centre we are working with is called 'House of Colours'.
We first went there on 2nd August and saw the sign on the outside wall of the centre with the picture underneath. It was painted by volunteers some time ago, as well as the little decorations in the room below but the children don't connect with the 'Christmas' theme.
The centre offers the children an alternative to the street such as art activities
This little girl is colouring in fairies, the picture is upside down
as she shows off her work with great pride.
There is an open door here for any child, youth, or mothers with their babies.
The sports court was provided by Terres des hommes and is a great tool for teaching important life skills to the kids as well as being fun. The kids are always supervised by a teacher.
This new Mum arrived at the centre with her 10 day old baby. They arrived in a little cart which is powered by a bike. She can see a doctor here and get whatever medical attention she needs for free.
Dr Besa is very dedicated to providing the best healthcare she can on a very limited budget. We were able to provide a baby scales, nebuliser, medical gloves, couch roll +. 50 bottles of nit shampoo!
The women receive education about good health practises in pregnancy and afterwards with their baby such as good hygiene, not smoking and bringing their baby for immunisation. These women were fascinated with the video illustrations of the various stages of pregnancy and childbirth.
The single 6kg washing machine at the centre had a lot of laundry to do every day but at least clothes got clean and dry (if it was summer), but were hung all around the building to dry if it was winter......
....so humanitarian services provided a second larger washing machine and a large dryer!
The psychologist sees the children in groups or individually to help them deal with emotional issues such as handling feelings, interacting with others, or to counsel in cases of abuse or to assist with family mediation. We recognised this service as being vital to the welfare of the children. We were able to get her tools to help her with her job such as dolls for roleplay, puzzles and art stuff.
Often, a little bit of attention is all that's needed, that's for grandmothers as well!!
The centre provides a hot meal every day which is a lot of potatoes to peel! Usually it will be soup, pasta or rice and they always have bread.
One of the best things that the centre does for these kids is to get them into school. They provide the neccessary items so they can be like their peers. After school the kids come back to the centre for after school classes with a teacher.
The kids are taken to school by the staff and picked up again at the end
This little one was very excited and desperate to have his picture taken, I think he was a new starter.
These are children who are very poor but this organisation is giving them the opportunity to have a better life through education and all the other services it's provides.
So it's back home for these two little girls.........
......and the reality of living in a shack at the side of the street
Some street children are very nervous to leave the familiarity of their environment and come to the centre, so this mobile classroom is taken out to them. So teaching takes place where they are most comfortable, which includes health education as well.
This is Dino and Croc and we used them to teach the children about dental hygiene. The young elders operated the puppets and also did a puppet show about not smoking.
There was a large audience of about 90 including the staff at the centre.
It was fun singing "This is the way we brush our teeth" in Albanian!!
We distributed toothbrushes and toothpaste afterwards but didn't have enough unfortunately
These two pictures show why we love working with 'House of Colours'
