Since the
last days the Roma community in Fushë-Kruja has been affected by an unexpected
disease. Some children have been infected with Hepatitis A. The people of the
Roma Community use the water from the polluted river which crosses Fushë-Kruja,
as well this river serves as garbage dump. Probably the bad hygienic
circumstances and the consumption of this water are the reasons for the
infection. Currently 10 Roma children are at the public hospital in Kruja, the
others are sick but their parents are not sending them at the hospital.
After
being informed about this emergency situation, the ADRA Reflect team has
visited the community in order to raise awareness about the importance of not
consuming the polluted water from the river.
Until now, the Roma community in Fushë Kruja has refused to pay and
consume the water from the tab because they don’t want to pay their water bill.
After a lively discussion with the Roma community members on Monday, ADRA Reflect
Team and the chief of the public water administration has convinced the
majority of the Roma people to collect money in order to pay and to consume the
tab water for now on. In the end, the
Roma community in Fushë Kruja is more
aware about the risks and dangers of polluted water and importance of hygiene.
At
the same time, due to the emergency situation created in this community, a team
of doctors of the public health department visited the Community to take blood analyses of the children. The infection with Hepatitis
A of many of the Roma children during these days will not allow them to attend
the public school for the next three weeks. This is a big problem because the
children are not able to make up the lessons by themselves and their parents
cannot help them. ADRA Reflect Team tried to find a solution in cooperation
with the public school. Soon ADRA Albania will conduct an awareness campaign in
order re-explain the importance of vaccination.
Two weeks are passed since the Roma Community in Fushe Kruja has been
affected by Hepatitis A. Ten children had to be hospitalized and
treated for some days at the local public hospital in Kruja. In the
last two weeks, the children of the Roma community could not attend
the public school because the risk of infection was too high. But
after conducting the medical test and receiving the confirmation from
the doctors that the risk of infection was eliminated, it is very
important that the children continue going to school. Therefore, on
Monday, the 27th of January ADRA staff went to Fushe Kruja
to visit the Roma Community. ADRA staff of the Reflect project spoke
with the parents to convince them to sending their children to
school. In the same time, ADRA staff also visited the public school,
and spoke and informed the teachers, that the children of the Roma
community will continue to attend the school in the upcoming days and
that there is no risk of infection anymore. During the lessons with
the Roma women at ADRA centre, a team of journalists from the
Albanian public television (TVSH) came to make a short report of the
health situation of the Roma Community in Fushe Kruja. Rezarta
Prence, a member of ADRA staff and social worker of the Reflect
Project gave an interview to TVSH in which she described the actual
health situation and also the work of ADRA Albania in Fushe Kruja.
