Breaking the chains in the cycle of poverty through education
ALBANIA- Imagine you are an outcast beggar battling to survive on the streets; and then imagine that you have no hope that tomorrow will be any better than today. If you can imagine this kind of life, you’re one step closer to children like Etleva from Shkodra, Albania.
Thirteen-year-old Etleva begs on the street everyday after school until late at night – something she has done since she was six-months old. This is the life her mother lives and is a legacy passed down to Etleva and her 12-year-old sister Armanda.
Etleva shows a lot of natural intelligence but is quiet and shy. Armanda is withdrawn and keeps her head down as though she is ashamed. But extreme poverty has not yet killed their dreams for the future. “My dream is to be a good doctor and help people with health problems like my sister Armanda who suffer from asthma,” says Etleva looking out the window.
Having enough food, secure shelter, health and access to education are the most basic needs that every child should enjoy, but these are well out of reach for Etleva and Armanda. Both girls beg and work to buy the food they need everyday. Proper medications, clothes and school books are luxuries they cannot afford.
Etleva and Armanda live with their parents; Daut 42 and Diamanta 29, though Diamanta looks much older. They live in Iliria neighbourhood, the poorest area in Shkodra, located a two-hour drive from the Albanian capital, Tirana. Iliria neighbourhood is located on a small hill with stone houses crammed together. Each of these “houses” has only one or at most two small rooms, where more than 8 people compete for space. Their neighbours are all “Egyptians”, meaning members of a minority group of mostly migrants who originated in Egypt many years ago. Almost all of them live by begging and working in the streets or selling old clothes in the markets.
A cold existence
Etleva’s house has two small rooms but the family lives in only one. The other is used for storage because it is too cold. There is no toilet either inside or outside their home. Their “living” room contains a few odd pieces of very old donated furniture. They have two small sofas and a cabinet containing a TV which does not work. Neither does their heater. Now, during the winter months, the old roof leaks and rainwater often puddles up on the floor.
“My younger daughter suffers from asthma very badly whenever it rains or is cold because of the mould inside the house,” says Diamanta. “It’s the same story every winter; we cannot do anything about this”.
As awful as it is, the physical cold is not as bad as the inner struggle that shows on the faces of the two girls. For many years their father has not been able to work and provide for his family. His wife says that after he had surgery he is not able to do physical jobs, yet these are the only ones he can find due to his lack of education. Like so many men in this neighbourhood, his only comfort for many years has been to drink to numb the pain of his existence. But living with an alcoholic father creates another set of even worse problems for the girls and their mother.
Tough love
Every single day, after they finish school, Etleva and Armanda and their mother start the toughest part of the day; they go to beg on the streets of Shkodra. They also collect plastic in the rubbish to sell for “only 2 cents for a kilo of plastic”. They return to their cold home late at night exhausted, hungry and without any desire to keep going day after day after day.
“Most of the time I feel ashamed when I put out my hand to beg, especially when my teachers or other classmates see me,” says Etleva. “When we go to the school some of our classmates don’t hang around us, only our teacher loves and cares for us.”
Last year both of the girls dropped out of school because their parents said they had to work and beg to provide for themselves and the family. They also did not have books, clothes or other necessary school supplies. Moreover their parents’ attitude towards education has prevented them from attending school regularly. Diamanta, the mother, has never been to school, while Daut, the father, has finished only two years of primary education. Both of them are illiterate as are the majority of people in this community.
“I cried a lot when I left school, but at the same time I understood the situation and I accepted it as many other children do here,” says Etleva with tears in her eyes. “What else could I do?”
Etleva and Armanda love school and they are very good students. Etleva shines above her classmates and is one of the best of her class. But she is three years behind her peers since she started school late and also because she dropped out for a whole year. She is in the fourth grade of primary school but she should be in the seventh grade of secondary school. Sadly, the story is all too common among children in this community and elsewhere in Albania.
Vulnerable to abuse and exploitation
Children like Etleva and Armanda who work in the street are the world’s most vulnerable children.
Most of the children in the Iliria neighbourhood work in the streets all day staying far into the night. They beg, collect cans and metal, and sell whatever they can. Every pedestrian sees them, but they learn to look the other way.
These children face a greater risk of abuse, neglect and marginalisation. By being in the street, they are also at risk of being sexually exploited, kidnapped and involved in prostitution.
“Now that they are growing up I’m afraid that other people can do something bad to them because they are girls,” says the mother. “I’m afraid because I have heard a lot of stories about young girls being kidnapped and sent to Italy or Greece never to be heard from again.” Diamanta doesn’t know it, but she’s describing trafficking – modern-day slavery.
Children who beg or work in the street are often insulted and beaten. Parents, adults, and peers often beat and insult them. But the risks aren’t just physical, but also mental and emotional.
Etleva and especially her sister Armanda are extremely closed and don’t speak much. The only way that they communicate is to reach out their hands and beg silently on the street.
“It is very difficult to get an answer from Armanda,” says Mirela, a World Vision monitor in Iliria neighbourhood. “She stays all day alone and does not like to speak to anyone”.
She continues, “It’s really challenging to engage both of them to participate in World Vision activities because they are not used to being with other children.”
Sponsorship helps Etleva and Armanda to return to school
Armanda became registered in World Vision’s sponsorship project three years ago and she and Etleva have been part of several activities organised by the Shkodra Area Development Programme (ADP). Their mother has also participated in training about education and child rights, organised for the families of children who have dropped out of school or who are at risk of dropping out. World Vision staff in Shkodra ADP has been working with these children and their families on an individual basis to address their struggles and reach solutions.
“When we heard that Etleva and Armanda dropped out of school I felt really sad because they were good students,” says Mirela. “We as World Vision visited the family many times and spoke to their parents about the importance of education. We tried to figure out what would motivate their parents to send them back to school.”
World Vision not only advocated for these girls to go back to school, but also provided free books and other educational materials for both of them. World Vision did the same for several other children in the same situation. At the same time other World Vision partners provided a meal for all the students at Etleva and Armanda’s school; most of whom are also very poor children who beg or work in the street.
One year later, after many conversations with their parents, involving them in different activities and visits, the family decided to allow Etleva and Armanda to go back to school.
“When we stopped the girls from going to school I didn’t know that we were doing something wrong,” says Diamanta. “Now I have realised the importance of school and I think that this is the only thing that can change my daughter’s life. I really hope that someday they can have a different life than mine,” says Diamanta crying. She continues, “I really hope that their father and I can find jobs so my daughters don’t need to go on the street to beg and work.”
Dreams to pursue
“Even though this seems extremely impossible, my hope is to finish high school and go to university,” says Etleva joyfully. “My dream is that one day I can be a doctor and heal people”.
Last summer Etleva and Armanda and their mother broke out of their every day grind. They participated in the Summer Camp organised by the ADP. For the girls this was the first time in their lives away from the Shkodra area. They went to the beach together with other children and parents from different communities of Shkodra- just like a ‘normal’ family, for once.
“I had a lot of fun there,” says Armanda, speaking to World Vision communications staff for the first time. “We had very good food there; we played with other children and learned a lot of things about our rights”.
Though this family has seen a little light at the end of their tunnel there is still so much more that needs to be done to improve their lives. Breaking the chains of the cycle of poverty takes time, a lot of energy and prayer and of course many helpers who care.
Etleva and Armanda also recognise that education is a key to a brighter future.
”The only thing that gives me joy and drives me home happy after I finish a tiring day is the idea of reading and preparing for school,” says Etleva joyfully. “School is the only thing that can change our life… this is my only hope for the future,” concludes Etleva.
Additional information: There are approximately 750,000 children under the age of 14 in Albania which has a population of 3.2. million (INSTAT 2010), making Albania the 'youngest' country in Europe.
According to some narratives, the Egyptians were migrants who came from Egypt and some others from Egyptian slaves who arrived in Albania in the nineteenth century. The Albanian government maintains that the Egyptians did not meet some criteria, such as a distinct language and traditions, and instead considered them a community – rather than a distinct minority.