Poverty “attacks” poor children in Albania, preventing them from getting even a basic education

Going to school is one of the basic rights every child should enjoy. Unfortunately, many poor children do not. For most of the children in the world, getting an education sounds quite normal. But, for many others, especially those living in poverty, who often don’t even know what or if they will eat during the day, education is certainly a luxury. Jonuz, 11, is one of those kids.

Jonuz is a normal boy. Like other children, he enjoyed going to school and liked learning. Although he is a bit shy, he is faithful and smart. But, his family is very poor.  Not long ago, he started to miss school on a daily basis.

With no stable job and no land of their own, survival is a daily struggle for his family. His parents lacked a means of providing for his everyday physical needs, let alone his educational ones—buying the school supplies and books he needed to study was out of the question. 

“I started to feel unequal and undesirable when I looked at my friends school bags,” remembers Jonus.  “They had everything they needed to learn normally: books, notebooks, and pencils.  The first days of school I used to go with no homework prepared. This was causing me to feel like I was not competent enough to be like a normal student.”

Jonuz’s case was a bit difficult to get him in school. Poverty and economic problems on the family built a wall that even this determined child is unable to climb. And, as if physical poverty was not a barrier enough, Jonuz lacked the emotional support and communications channels to share his feelings with his parents. Many parents, especially those living in poverty in Albania, know little about their children’s emotional status and lack basic skills to listen to, understand and encourage them.

As his teacher confirms, “Jonuz is one of these children closed inside himself because of his introverted character and home problems.”

Jonuz, however, understands his family’s difficult situation, “I don’t blame my parents. I know they don’t have what [they need] to help me. They don’t have a job and other sources to earn money.”

Aware of Jonuz’s situation, and knowing that there were more than 20 other students in the commune facing similar situations, World Vision in Albania set out to get these underprivileged children back in school.  “We started to dig into the problems to find the way to provide the needed books for these children,” says Anxhela Collaku, World Vision’s Elbasan Child Protection Coordinator, who worked together with the local child protection unit, other local partners and the school director to come up with a solution. “We at World Vision held several meetings with our partners to help these children to not give up [on] education only because of not having the needed materials. We started [working with] our partners [to] plan how to address the issue and together started to find the way to help these children.”

After lots of awareness-raising meetings, World Vision and their partners managed to raise the issue on the matter within the community. Eventually 30 people from the Shushica commune offered their own financial support to help 22 children buy the books .  

“This was a bit hard to make people reflect [on], care [about], and give for other people because it is very challenging in our culture to raise funds,” said Anxhela.

The amount gathered was not enough to meet all the needs of the 22 identified children.  So, World Vision and the local partners also decided to help to those children who do not receive sufficient financial support from the ministry of education to purchase their basic school supplies.  

“It was a great pleasure to me to help these children who were in need,” said Mrs. Flutura, a community member who contributed to the cause. “They are our future and this way we, community members, wanted to clearly show to them that they are not alone, but equal like us. Apart from [this] I think this was a lesson learned for them, so when they grow bigger they can do the same thing for other children who may be in similar circumstances like they were today,” she added.

Today, all of them, including Jonuz have the school materials they need to learn normally. Starting from the day the children received their books, Jonuz started to smile and attend school regularly. “He comes regularly to school, is very concentrated during the school classes, more open with his friends and always completes his home exercises,” says his teacher, Mrs. Rudina Hodaj. “I am happy that students, like Jonuz, even with lots of family problems, have the spirit of caring and can raise up when somebody gives a hand like we all did with him,” she concludes.

“I want to continue in school and ‘be someone’ in this world,” says Jonuz. “I want to have a job and an honest life, like normal people,” he added.
---the end ---