Under the shadow of a mountain

The 41 families (200 inhabitants) living in Lukan village eke out a living solely on subsistence farming. The terrain is rough but the willingness to work hard toiling on the land is evident. Crops grow along steep slopes where normally only a donkey would venture.

Shaqir Hadi, a father of seven children has received from World Vision, 72 saplings to plant fruit trees on this land. “Projects similar to this one are needed to keep the children here in the village, or it could become a dying village – just full of old people,” commented Hadi.

“The children have to walk four kilometers to school and this is the first assistance bought to this village except from a little bit of food the Catholic Nuns once provided. When World Vision was building a Health Center in the village last year I was able to earn some money by doing some of the labor. But other than that I grow vegetables in the garden to keep my family alive. We very rarely eat meat because we cannot afford it.”

World Vision started a sponsorship project last year in this village. Of the 41 families, 30 are part of the program. Twenty-five children are sponsored by people in America.

This month, 36 of the families who had some arable land were given fruit trees to plant for income generation. Fruit trees take a few years before the first fruit is ready for harvest and money is earned from the products, but by assisting these families we are planting hope for the village future. If a secure source of income is possible, the farmers will be better able to support their families and are less likely to migrate to the cities looking for work.

World Vision Albania is assisting rural communities with income generation projects to provide a better quality of life and to help alleviate the migration and emigration problems that are robbing Albania of its manpower and skill base.