Big birthday

Ola had a birthday in May, a big one, as she moved into a new decade!! The date coincided with a planned visit to the seaside town of Vlore where we needed to finalise arrangements for 3 projects!!

Overlooking the bay of Vlora and the Adriatic sea.

We love our mission because with our humanitarian work we get the chance to see new places and have fun (a lot of)!

 After 6 months spent mainly in Tirana, the sight and sound of the sea was just magnificent...

These are views just outside our window where we stayed......

And the luxury was almost too much to handle!!

On the day of my birthday Elder and Sr Volz who are the couple serving  in Vlore, took us on a trip over the mountains south of Vlore towards Himare. We were heading for Porto Polermo and the castle of Ali Pasha!!

We met this goatherd  jingling their way along, all with bells round their necks.....

And we discovered the 3 billygoats gruff!!!

We were heading for the Ionian Sea

 After a spectacular drive we reached the voast and arrived at Ali Pasha's castle. It's in a little cove, all intact and original.

 The door was open and we just went in.....if it's locked you find the man who lives in a little caravan nearby and he lets you have the

key for 100lek($1)!!

They are discussing how they could buy the castle and make it a tourist attraction!!

Early education

This is a Roma kindergarten in a village outside Tirana. Its a modest little school which aims to improve the chances of these children who come from the poorest families to enter mainstream education.

The government provides a teacher and a budget for supplies but there is a lack of essentials such as heating, suitable furniture, floor covering.

This is the class for 6 and 7yr olds. Our visit was unannounced! They were delighted to see us and respectfully stood up when  we entered the little classroom.

Here are the 8-9yr olds. These children really want to learn and have a better life. They and their parents understand that education is the key to getting out of poverty.

 Every child deserves the chance to learn. The alternative is begging or collecting recycling from the bins. We will be supporting 3 schools like this. We have commissioned a local carpenter to make the little tables and chairs and we will buy the rest of the items.

Fushe-Kruje

 This is the little town of Kruje; we found it accidentally as we were looking for a place that sold furniture for kindergartens! The town is built into the side of a hill. It has a castle and lovely views right out to the coast. It is one of the few 'touristy' places in Albania, but still very quaint and well worth a visit.

                              Dave found a bear to wrestle (in a restaurant)!

 When I said 'touristy' I meant that there were little stores that sold souvenirs, where you can see women weaving rugs etc. Otherwise, life goes on as normal and you never know what you're going to meet as you walk down the street............

Sheep tied to a lampost!!

Scenes in and around Tirana

This is our neighbour and alarm clock!!

 Fruit veg and fresh chickens for sale!

 You never know who will be parked outside when you go out!!

 Or who will try very hard to sell you something you really don't want!

 Waiting for work, often in vain.....

 Maybe he has the right idea.

 Recycling is a big activity mainly for the Roma

These industrious women have picked various 'weeds' from the grass to sell as well as olives, nuts and veg. 

 Three lanes of traffic! Much nicer than driving in Tirana........

 Careful weighing of the carrots, every leke counts!

 This is what you get when you order fruit salad for dessert!

 Typical scene at the end of our street

Carrying cans to recycle, passing our front door!

Tranquil and content.....one of my favourite pics!

Vision project Mother Teresa hospital

Donation of laser and slit lamp to treat diabetic retinopathy which can cause blindness within 5 years if left untreated

Dr Mehr came from U.S. to train staff how to use it. They know the theory but lacked  the equipment.

These are the some of the residents who received training and the expectation is that they will train others and so vision care for people in Albania will greatly improve

'Gezuar'! (Cheers)

On his last night the docs took Dr Mehr, his Dad and us out to dinner, to say thank you 

Dr Mehr was interviewed on Albanian TV by Flamur Topi who is the brother of the President of Albania

We shared some Albanian culture with our guests such as crepes, and a traditonal way to serve lamb.

And he brought some English crackers for us from the U.S.!

Journey to the centre of Albania

If you look closely you can see a line going across the mountain just above the cloud? This is the road to the town of Elbasan. In parts, there is no barrier on the side of road! Ola has never seen the spectacular views due to eyes wide shut!!

These children belong to one big family, 15 in all aged 4-17yrs old. All are orphans, some biological and some for social reasons.

There was great excitement when 2 new washing machines a fridge and hoover arrived!

Warm blankets for everyone, footballs for the boys, and beads for the girls.                                          Are those for us?

Of course they are!

As you can see this home is well-run and the children are delightful and well cared for.Included in this pic are the director,social worker, teacher and driver.

Trip to Frankfurt

In March all the humanitarian couples serving in Eastern Europe went to Frankfurt for training.

Ola had a fall five days before we left badly injuring her ankle and ended up with a cast and crutches!

We stayed at the Frankfurt temple which is in a lovely village called Friedrichsdorf. Dave got good exercise pushing me along the cobbled streets, and we had a great conference with all the others.