Hope arrives in Moisi’s eyes
It took a burning bush to motivate the biblical Moses to decide to lead his people out of poverty and desperation, but for 16-year-old Moisi Shimcani of Cetush, a remote village outside of rural Peshkopi in the mountains of northeastern Albania, hope arrived when World Vision entered his home.
“My father wanted me to emigrate to Greece to try to find work to support our family like so many other young men have done before,” said Moisi. “I had to think of my younger siblings; we didn’t have any other hope.” Emigrating means dropping out of school after the 9th grade and taking one’s chances to eke out some way to earn money in a foreign world far from home. This is risky business for young teens because it can lead to a lot of trouble. Such is the dilemma of poverty and hopelessness that so many of the oldest boys in poor struggling families face in rural Albania.
“Emigration because of hopelessness drains these villages of their best and brightest young people,” said World Vision’s Dibra area manager, Gentjana Belilaj. “When we first went into Moisi’s home we were shocked at his situation; all of us on the staff wanted to help however we could.”
Moisi is the oldest son of a very poor family of five children with two sick parents. “When I first met them, I couldn’t believe that a family would have to live in the animal’s shelter,” said Festime Shehu who is volunteering to help World Vision in this village. Moisi’s father suffers from alchoholism and a physical disability (he has lost a hand). His mother struggles with a mental disability. Moisi’s younger siblings are Hasan 15, Rexhap 14, Olsi 8, and Megi, the littlest, 7. Moisi feels it is his responsibility to be their provider and protector even though he is only 16 himself.
“Our biggest concern for Moisi was that his family needed him to be the provider even though he is still a teenager. We wanted to help Moisi and his father see a better future for himself besides the very risky future that emigration offers,” said Belilaj. “We visited his home and talked with his family several times, but the father still wanted Moisi to emigrate; and we hoped he would stay in school to get the education that would provide a much better future for him and his family in the long run.”
“We wanted to help Moisi and his father, break the cycle of poverty,” said Jason Evans World Vision’s National Director for Albania & Kosovo when he visited the family. “But it would have to be their decision, not ours.” As World Vision provided some food for the family, employees had many conversations with Moisi about the importance of staying in school. Bu it was still a very tough choice for him and his father to make.
As is often the case, the seeds for a change in direction were planted in a temporary change in location. “This summer Moisi was asked to attend a World Vision sponsored summer camp in another city, Erseke south of his home village of Cetush,” said Lulzime Pilafi World Vision’s Child Protection coordinator.
Thankfully, his father consented to Moisi’s attendance. “This was the first time I have ever been outside of the Dibra area,” Moisi said with a smile. “I was very happy to see so many cities at the same time, including our capital city of Tirana.”
Getting out of his bleak environment and going to summer camp showed Moisi another alternative to emigration. “Perhaps for the first time in his life, Moisi had a chance to make new friends his age and feel the camaraderie of peers his age,“ said Pilafi. “When he came back, he seemed to be a different young man. You could see the hope in his eyes.”
Since then Moisi has joined the Peer Educator group in the Dibra area where youth in the area work on World Vision projects to promote child rights.
The biggest news is, however, that that this fall, instead of dropping out of school and emigrating to help the family survive, Moisi’s father chose to allow him to stay in school and build on his new found hope for their family’s future. “We are all very pleased Moisi and his family has turned around in this way,” said Belilaj. World Vision is helping with registration and book expenses.
“Many of us have also volunteered our time to work in and around Moisi’s home in Cetush to improve their living conditions,” said Belilaj. “But the best thing for us is the fact that Moisi himself is now in high school studying economics and is very cheerful and enthusiastic about it.”
“I now know I have many friends who want to help me and my family,” said Moisi. “I really want to learn more and to move in my life so we can get out of the bad conditions in which we live.” Moisi now hopes to study law later on so he can help other families cope with the injustice of poverty like his family has experienced.
Like his biblical namesake, one day Moisi may indeed lead them to the Promised Land.
*** Malvina Martini, Sector Team Leader for Dibra Area Development Programme