A helping hand to 6 families in need in Kosovo

Agimi lives together with his 6 children, his wife and his mother Zijavere, who is 75 years old. Living in a family with 9 members and not having a regular job and not even an aid from the state is really very difficult for Agim.

The hardest part for me is when I see that my children lack something and I can't provide them, it makes me feel very bad and I get very upset - Agimi said while we were talking on the day I visited him.

He only works when someone calls him from time to time to cut wood, carry coal or any other heavy physical work.

His mother Zijaverja has always been the main pillar of this house, where she gave all her efforts for this house, for her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She told me that since her childhood she always had a difficult life, and this difficult life with poor economic conditions continued even after she got married.

The situation had improved a little when Zijaverja had started working as a cooker in a state enterprise for several years, but with the beginning of the war in Kosovo, she had to stop working.

Zijaverja, although at the age of 75, still tries to improve and change in life. She was always an exemplary student even though she lacked basic school supplies. She regularly attends reading and writing activities and is a distinguished student even now.

One day, during the activity, she told me, "Oi Dine, when I was at school, I was best in my class, but I didn't have any  pencil, a notebook, or a pen, all the things I needed were given to me by my friend, in this way i finished 4th grade.", but after 4th grade  I had to interrupt because the school was too far away and I was the only child and I have to walk alone in snow and in sun.

For Zjavera and her son Agim, life has not been easy at all, but they still haven't lost hope.

They are very grateful to the donors who donate for them and thanks to those donors they are helped with food and hygiene packages which are more than necessary for them.

Donors, thank you very much!

With love,

THE IDEAS PARTNERSHIP

On Saturday 7^th May, Coronation day of our new King Charles III, we had the privilege of meeting an incredible young man, Muhamet age 17, who lives in the neighbourhood of Fushe Kosove, near Pristina in Kosovo. He lives with his mother, Luljeta aged 52 years, his father passed away two years ago and as a result Muhamet is described as an orphan.

Muhamet lives in a small, makeshift, dilapidated building, made of corrugated iron and other building materials which have been sourced locally.  Mohammet and his mother have some electricity through a cable connected to their neighbour’s house for which they pay 20-25 euros a month. They have a boiler but because of insufficient water pressure it does not work and therefor, they have no hot water in their home. They do not have a kitchen aa bathroom or a washing machine, they live and sleep in one room.

Muhamet is unable to work due to a lung disease as a result of working with his father for a number of years, collecting rubbish to sell and he never he went school. This caused significant damage to his lungs and he has been instructed by the doctor to not work for a year in that environment so that he may sufficient recovering before working together.

 His mother has type 2 diabetes and is struggling with her health. This is made worse by the fact that the household income is significantly low; Almedina, a community worker at the Ideas Partnership explained that the family receive 14 Euros from GlobalGiving each week towards food. This is not enough, they can only buy essentials such as oil, flour, salt and sugar, to have a healthy diet presently costs around 40-50 euros a week. The only other income the family receive is 110 euros every three months from The Islamic Relief Kosovo charity and this must cover their rent and bills. This is a desperate situation, the family are barely surviving. Families like these need more help, urgently!

When we asked Muhamet if he had anything else he wanted to share about his life he said ‘Thank you, may God reward and protect you, God bless you’. 

Mehmet's family from Fushe Kosova, is one of 3 families who benefit from the donations of the project A helping hand to 6 families in need in Kosovo. He lives together with his wife, their 4 children, his father and sister.

For Mehmet, it is very difficult to ensure the way of life that he wants to have first for his children and for the whole family in general. In his family, no one works and it is very difficult to provide morsels of bread for all members.

A few months ago, Mehmeti had an accident where he was very injured, and now he is being treated with many medications, but his father and sister are also very sick, and apart from the economic difficulties for food, there are more difficult to buy medicines for him, his father and his sister.

He said, "The burden of family expenses is very large, but it has become even more difficult for me after my accident, where, in addition to the great physical pain I am experiencing, my emotional state has become even more difficult."

He and his wife are trying hard so that their children do not have a life like now, they want their children to go to school, learn a lot and become independent.

Although it is very difficult to provide the children with the necessary materials for school, they are doing their best so that their children do not lack anything and attend school.

Mehmeti and his whole family are very grateful to all the donors who are helping them to overcome economic difficulties and they really want their children to one day help others in need.

Thank you very much donors

With love,

THE IDEAS PARTNERSHIP

Charlotte is a British volunteer who has, together with her family in London, supported The Ideas Partnership's work for many years. This summer she came to visit in person the families she's read about. This is her account of visiting families supported through GlobalGiving.

"I visited Janjevo (its Serbian name - Janjeva in Albanian) on one of the hottest days of the year. While picturesque, this village also faces a multitude of issues, Steady jobs are extremely hard to come by in this rural economy, and the area suffers from an irregular water supply. The only way to be sure of water supply for your family is to drill a well - an option only realistic for those with money. 

In the village, I met Faton and his family. Using your donations on GlobalGiving, The Ideas Partnership (TIP) has provided the family with clothes, food and other supplies to raise the children with. As I talked with Faton, his children stood with us outside their house with the flies swarming. Arun, the eldest, attended TIP’s kindergarten and is excited to go back to school when it restarts in September. He can already read and write, 'and I'm getting top grades,' he told me proudly. As well as facilitating Arun’s access to school, TIP’s help has meant Faton and his wife have been able to meet doctors, and take the medication they needed. While this family receives social benefits of 130 euros a month, this will end once all of their children are over 5 years old, and even this sum is not sufficient to provide for a family with five people in it. Faton hopes to find a regular job one day, as at the moment he can only find irregular work that dries up completely in the winter.

Next we visited his brother’s family, who were staying on the upstairs floor. Here I met Halima, and her four children. Her eldest son had dropped out of school in order to help his father with work. Halima told me 'I hope that the rest of my children will stay in school, but it will depend on whether the family can afford to live without the money that the children can bring in from working'. TIP has given them clothes in the winter, as well as other supplies, and Halime has benefited from the doctor who visits TIP's centre regularly.

When I asked her about the dreams she had for her family, Halime explained how her daughter wanted to be a teacher, and would not marry before 21. The challenges to having such dreams in Janjevo/a are considerable, but I was left feeling inspired by the hope and pride that both of these families held for their children and the future."

Our thanks to Charlotte and all the volunteers and supporters who make The Ideas Partnership's work possible. As one of our valued donors, we extend to you the same invitation we extended to Charlotte and her family, and would love to have you in Kosovo and give you a chance to see the impact of your support. Tempted? Get in touch!

The sun was shining the day that we went to visit Janjevo, and the warmth of spring it was everywhere. We were excited to visit Janjeva, which is close to Prishtina, but it looks very different. The people there were so friendly and the old houses I think are the specialty of this place. With a lot of history inside and cultural heritage, Janjeva tempts you on the first visit. But to see the people living in poverty makes you feel not good.

I got the chance to meet one of the families that The Ideas Partnership is helping with food packages.

Ramona is 26 years old and lives with Faton (her husband) in Janjevo. They have four children in total, three sons and one daughter, and they live together with parents of Faton in the same house.

Her 8-year-old son is the oldest and currently goes to school her other children used to also attend the kindergarten hosted by The Ideas Partnership. Faton is 27 years old and currently works in forestry cutting trees for a living making about ten euros a day doing this. This makes it difficult to support a big family with this kind of money, additionally, to that, there is also often no work available for Faton. Because of this, the family relies on Food packages from The Ideas Partnership to get by.

There are five more families that are being supported by this project. Sometimes life knows to be hard, but thanks to good people like you, these families made them believe that there is still goodness in people.

Thank you donors for your kindness and continued support for these families in need.