Roma youth strive to improve their communities and future

Rodolf, 17, lives with his family in Bregu i Lumit area, one of the poorest in Tirana, the capital of Albania. His family is comprised of his father Gezim, 38, and his mother Dhurata, 37, and two younger brothers Arber, 13 and Robert, 11. His father works in construction whenever he can find a job.

Just two years ago, Rodolf was a hidden boy like many other Albanian children who work on the streets here. Thousands of people pass by them on a daily basis, but still they remain invisible to the human eye. They are never even considered by the community.

Rodolf started to work in the street when he was a little child, collecting cans and metal. For this reason he dropped out of school before he finished the seventh grade.

Now Rodolf helps his father to provide for the family in construction work or with other jobs he can find.

“Now that I’m grown up I feel ashamed to collect cans, so I try to find other jobs to help my parents and my younger brothers,” says Rodolf.

Now that I’m grown up I feel ashamed to collect cans, so I try to find other jobs Rodolf found himself on a road that many children like him are forced to take – but thanks to a World Vision project, Rodolf was given the option to change direction and head towards a much brighter destination.

Last year, Rodolf and his family became involved in World Vision’s Children in Crisis LIFE project, which is part of World Vision’s Tirana Area Development Programme (ADP).

This project targets children and youth who are engaged in various work activities, and it has been operating in “Bregu i Lumit” neighbourhood for the past two years. Approximately 50 families and 120 children are involved in this project.

“Unfortunately the children that are part of this project have demonstrated a very low level of self-respect,” says Robert Stoli, World Vision’s Community Development Facilitator.

“This project gave us the opportunity to establish a youth group for them, in which they will carry out simple activities,” adds Stoli.

The LIFE project is all about giving children and youth the chance to make their neighbourhoods and communities a better place in which to live. It is also about helping children and youth understand their own value and worth and ability to continue on the road of change by themselves.

Rodolf was among a group of children in Bregu i Lumit area who joined forces to clean their neighbourhood. They could have chosen anything else; instead they chose to help the same community that had never valued them before.

“We made a couple of litter bins and we put them throughout our neighbourhood to make sure that waste is not being put everywhere as usual,” says Rodolf proudly.

So they started working. Children and even the youngest members were very enthusiastic about it. Their determination and hard work paid off and they saw good results.

“Probably it is not a perfect litter bin, maybe not the same as the one produced in a factory, but still it is a bin created by the children themselves”, says Stoli.

In the frame of the LIFE project, children and youth have been involved in other activities like creating ‘green’ murals that show the beauty of the environment. They have painted trees with flowers and children have expressed their rights.

“With murals we tried to do something for the environment,” says Rodolf. “We are trying to do a lot of things, so that we can define our direction for the future.”

“We could also do a lot of beautiful things such as widening our roads, planting fruit trees, so that this neighbourhood starts to look like other beautiful parts of Tirana,” he adds.

Rodolf continues, “I decided to become part of this project because I sensed something could change and open a new perspective for me. We have forgotten a lot of past things. We’ve done great stuff together.”

Recently Rodolf was part of an Anti-Trafficking Photography Workshop for vulnerable children in Tirana that enabled them to take photos of what they saw as trafficking in their communities accompanied by a powerful caption to explain what they saw in each photo. In December 2010, their photos were displayed as an exhibit in Albania’s national museum in order to raise the public’s awareness about internal child trafficking.

“For trafficked people the sight of their future is limited. But there is hope, since we know that in a dark room even a small window can shed light to cast away this darkness,” written Rodolf in one of photos taken by him.

For trafficked people the sight of their future is limitedThis project that was implemented in partnership with the UK-based organisation PhotoVoice taught children how to use photography as a means of expressing themselves. This is one of the ways these children have been empowered to exercise their rights.

Also Rodolf was part of the much-loved Summer Camp in Erseka, and also participated in a three-day youth conference, which brought together more than 150 youth from all over Albania.

“There were a lot of places to which I could never go, but World Vision has made this possible,” says Rodolf. “We visited a lot of places and had a great time together.” says Rodolf happily.

Rodolf says that these activities helped him understand that he should be tolerant and respect the rights of others.

“The best thing that has happened in my life was during the Summer Camp in Erseka, where for the first time in my life I came to know God, who has changed my life forever,” says Rodolf with tears in his eyes.

This is the hope that changed the lives of Rodolf and his peers. This is the hope that can break the poverty cycle for all Roma who are struggling with discrimination, marginalisation and poverty.

“I only hope to become a good musician, so that everyone knows me. Music is my dream”, says Rodolf making an enchanting sound with his clarinet.

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