On 29th
of November ADRA staff paid a friendly visit to the Roma community of
Fushe Kruja, just to have a chat and visit all the families that live there.
For two months we have been going almost every day to the community to talk with the
parents about their children’s progress at school, health, work and many other
topics related to the Reflect project. The work in the community has been very intense and all
families have been very kind and open towards us. This is why, on 29th
of November, while everybody in Albania was celebrating the Independence Day, we decided to go and spend some hours in
the community.
Mira and
Marsela are waiting for us at the ADRA center, and together we walk
towards the community. We are pretty lucky today, even though it is very
cold, there is an amazingly warm sun. As soon as we arrive at the entrance of the neighborhood, two girls, Kristina 6 and Sonja 7, come running towards us
totally barefoot and only with one blouse on. When we ask them if they are cold they answer smiling “No teacher, we are not cold because we are working”.
We continue our journey entering in the first house of one of our women, Nila (31). Nila has 4 children, the oldest one 13 years old. Nila is
washing the clothes outside in her yard and stops a little while to talk with
us. She is happy to see us because she wants to express how happy she is that
her son, Orgito, is going to school regularly and doing his homework without anybody’s
help. Orgito is one of the youngest pupils registered at the public school in
the first grade and he is an
example for the other children. We ask Nila if the water she is using is warm
and she replies "Yes, the water is warm but only because I am lucky to have a
stove and some pieces of wood."
After Nila’s
house we stop at Kristina’s house. Kristina is a
12 year old girl that was obliged to get engaged to a young boy, Berti, aged
14. Kristina has decided to break the engagement after 4 months because she
didn’t like her new family. As soon as she entered their house, which is
situated in the same community, her future mother in law started to treat her
badly and to make her work all day long. Kristina went away after four months
and went back to her parents’ house. Kristina’s parents tell us that they feel
very sad and embarrassed because their daughter’s reputation is ruined and they
don’t know if any other Roma boy will choose her as a bride. In most of the
Roma communities, also in Fushe Kruja, girls get married at a very young age,
and if they don’t get married until they are 16, this represents a problem for
the girl’s family. We ask to see
Kristina, and she comes out of the house, ashamed and keeping her eyes at the
ground. We hug her, tell we miss her at the school and that it would be
wonderful to start school again after
four months of absence. Her eyes look at her mother who has nothing to say but
she accepts to let Kristina come to school again.
We continue
our walk in the community, meeting all the children who come out of their
houses, smiling and asking us “Are you coming again tomorrow?”
We stop and play with them, spending time with
each of them because they need to tell us about school and holidays. It is so
amazing to see how the same timid children that two years ago couldn’t even say
a word in Albanian have become so alive, speaking Albanian language, hugging
and expressing so many feelings without any fear or shyness.
We stop at
Suela’s house, one of our best students at the ADRA centre. Suela is 16 and she
got engaged last week. After getting engaged, Suela’s new family decided not to
let her attend our centre anymore; according to the Roma tradition, young
brides should stay home and work as much as they can to earn the respect of the
new family. Suela got engaged to a boy of her age who lives in the same
community, so we have big hopes to work with her husband too and invite them
both to attend ADRA’s activities.
We
continue to visit many other houses asking families what their planes are for
the winter but, as always, they tell us that their plans change whenever there
is need for money. If they have to go and buy second hand clothes or shoes,
they travel to Tirana, Durres, Shkoder
or even Kosovo or Greece.
Anyway, in general, at least during winter, women and children stay home, in
the community.
In November we
see how the community awakes and we are so happy to see women, men and children
we haven’t seen for months, to re-open their houses and adapt themselves again
to the community life.
