Summer time in Fushe Kruja city- 17 July 2013

Summer time in Fushe Kruja city- 17 July 2013

In summer time Fushe Kruja is emerged in a very hot weather and polluted environment. When you get out of the bus you feel like you have just been dropped near a metallurgic factory. The air is hot and very hard to breathe; it smells of gas, oil and polluted water.

In summer, Fushe Kruja has very high temperatures and a few places where people can find fresh shadows. Parks are inexistent, trees are rare and the river that passes by is polluted by garbage and city sewage water. The Roma children of Fushe Kruja find a way to fresh up by going to the river and play there with each other.

This activity gives them a lot of infections and that is why ADRA medical staff goes there often and talk with children and parents to avoid the river water as much as they can. In two years, ADRA staff has managed to convince many families of the community not to use the river water but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in this aspect.

Reflect project is closing the first phase of “Social training for Roma men, women and children in Fushe Kruja”. It has been a really good year in terms of activities, relations, community collaboration and positive results. For ADRA staff this is just the beginning because now it is the moment when problems, challenges and solutions are better identified. Now, it is the moment to start working more intensively with the community, involving it in public activities, engage community leaders in raising awareness on common issues, and be persistent in the integration of Roma children in the public schools of Fushe Kruja.

During these two months, May - June 2013, ADRA staff has worked closely with the Roma parents to make them aware about the importance of taking children to school.

It has been difficult to make them listen because of their urge to go to work as it is summer time. As our readers already know, Roma people start their journey at the beginning of April and they try to work as much as they can to collect money for the winter.

Summer is the most lucrative time of the year because of the enhanced commerce of second-hand clothes and collection of plastics and metal scrubs. Another way of earning money in summer is the fortunetelling at the beach. Many Roma women, wearing suggestive clothes, go in touristic areas, especially at the beach and practice the hand reading to tourists.

 In Albania it is not allowed to practice such thing but for the Roma women this represents the most lucrative job they can ever have. So, during summer season, there are Roma women who earn considerable amounts of money going mostly at the beaches of Durres and Vlora.

It has been a real challenge to take women to the ADRA centre these two months because of their summer and house work. That is why ADRA staff tried to reach them by going house to house and paying visits which were very much appreciated.

In June, ADRA staff organized the first Roma children’s camp in order to motivate and prepare them for the next schooling year. 25 children of 5-8 years old and 8 girls of 11-14 years old were present to the camp together with 3 women from the Roma community, 1 woman from the nearest neighborhood and ADRA staff who managed the camp activities. It was great to see how women got along together, working and collaborating in everything. Children were so happy to have this opportunity that couldn’t stay on their feet. They were very energetic, full of positive emotions and motivated to learn and listen.

 This was a great first experience and ADRA staff hopes Roma children understand the aim of this camp: motivate children to go to school because together with it comes friendship, education and many other good experiences, just like the ADRA summer camp.