One amazing week with 25 roma children from Fushe Kruja - 24.06-28.06.201

This year ADRA staff decided to move step further and invite the children of the Fushe Kruja Roma community to Tirana. This was a big step for the staff and for the community itself because it was the first time ADRA took the initiative to take 35 Roma children and organize a weekly camp for them.

We planed and organized a jungle camp to prepare Roma children for the coming school year and to motivate them by giving a nice experience together with ADRA staff.

The camp with the jungle theme presented to the children the wide world of animals, and through this issue ADRA staff prepared different kind of stories related to school, healthy life style and hygiene. Each day, the program had a special theme such as: what the jungle is, why we should eat healthy food, hygiene, excursion day in the zoo and park and relationship between friends and in the family. 

Our goal was to combine interesting stories about the jungle with educational issues for the children. So we had every day a special time table. It started with morning gym, after that breakfast and then washing teeth and themselves.  We created for every day special games with the daily theme and organized some role play games to explain the children for example how they have to clean their hands and teeth. Our ADRA health team supported our camp team with these activities. Every day we had school time that means we repeated with the children numbers, letters and songs.

At the beginning of the camp the children were very nervous and full of energy and it was a challenge for our team to follow the organized plan. It was nice to recognize how the children got used and improved with these activities, listening and concentrating more and more each day.

 It was very nice to notice this positive process.  It was amazing to sit down with them and to do every day some creative activities for example producing soap. They enjoyed working with their own imagination. It was special to see how they looked to the animals in the zoo or how they play in the park and in the free time at the ADRA compound.

Not only our special medical man who explained and talk with the kids also our team with 3 community women supported the ADRA team very well. The goal to give to the children a special time and to prepare them for the new starting first school year was our  main goal and even though for a short period of time, 1 week, we realized our goal. Now, September will be a challenge for us all as we have to work hard with the parents and the Roma community in order to take Roma children to school.

 A warm THANK YOU to ADRA Germany that financed the summer camp and to the amazing ADRA Albania staff which worked really hard to give these children a great experience!

Summer camp June 2013