“Candle’s Elegy” (According to a national poem’s title)

Era* has been trying hard for the last months not to truant school to go and sell candles. She has started her secondary education whereas her mother is looking for a job so that she can meet the needs of the family.

"Since the 6th grade I got out to sell candles at the Church Street here in Laç. After my dad passed away, I truanted school every Tuesday to help the family. Our household economy was dismal, but mom gave was very affectionate towards us and tried to support us as much as possible. She never asked us to go out with her to sell, rather she repeatedly rebuked me for truanting school"- says a teenager who insisted in playing an active role in alleviating her family issues.

Although he did not know we would go to meet him that Tuesday, his mother announced that he was at school. It was the last class session and immediately after it, when she got to go home, we meet her a few meters from the main entrance of the school. She is one of the best students of her group, but dressed simply, a pair of jeans and a thin jacket. She tries to tells us that she feels proud that assisted her mother, even though when she was still a kid, she did not think that one day she would have to work to secure some additional income. To her it feels like all that she has experienced in the past, has drifted far way by now and she only watches from a distance as an observer the virtual footage that she has saved deep down in her memories, and whispers to us: "When I looked at my peers or teachers I was felt blue [due to her poverty] and just wanted to hide somewhere where they would not be able to look at me anymore. Like myself there were and still are many other kids and young people."

She had considered going to seek help but did not know any institutions or people to rely on to claim her rights, or those of other children like her. Finding herself in the middle of many unanswered questions, in addition to her desire not to truant classes, but also due to the prejudices of her peers, about two years ago she became part of World Vision Child Protection Group. "I used to be very timid, but now I have friends and acquaintances in these groups and over time I learned to communicate more with others, to share my thoughts, to collaborate with other children and young people, so that we could improve our lives but also to minimize the problems of our city. World Vison has not helped only me, but all the kids. I have received many trainings and now I know not only my and my friends’ rights, but I also know the authorities that I should turn to, in order to refer a case of violation of children's rights. If I were to witness such a case, I would be the first to report and provide my help to get out of the situation in which the person is in," - Era explains.

She hopes that one day she will not have to return to the place she once sold candles in, but not because she is ashamed, but because she would not miss a single day in class because only by full participation in school she will end up not with just a paper certificate from school in her drawer, but acquire the knowledge that will help her stand up for her and her community’s rights, continue tertiary education, find a job, and provide herself with a decent livelihood.

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*Era is not the real name of the girl