By Geni Johnson | O Mekembjes Team
We are enjoying a busy summer at O. Mëkëmbjes, with lots of different activities going on for the ladies in the program as well as the kids in their summer holidays.
Merita is a mum of five grown-up kids, who came to our program from an abusive family where she was very rarely allowed to leave the house, and never alone. Even though she is nearly 50 years old, when she first arrived she didn't have the confidence to leave the house or speak to people other than the staff. But with lots of encouragement and learning new skills through our program, Merita is feeling much more confident. She says, “I already know a little bit more than before, and now I have more courage. Before I used to be afraid to go out, to see this or that person, thinking “how can I do it?” but now I can go and I am not so worried. I just want to walk forwards in my life.”
The children that come to our program from a violent family past often have difficulties in school and at home because of the trauma that they have experienced. Agim is 8 years old, and earlier this year his behaviour was becoming worse and worse - he was so stressed about not understanding lessons in school that he was fighting with other children and having tantrums. Our psychologist realised that he is struggling with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and started giving intensive one-on-one help to Agim and his mum. Within a few weeks, his behaviour has improved so much that we are amazed with his progress! Our teacher says, "Agim's behaviour has changed a lot through working with the psychologist. He's no longer aggressive and has more desire to learn and to help the other kids in the class."
It is so encouraging to see progress in the lives of families damaged by violence. Sometimes the progress is slow, but in each family, we can see new hope for a good future as they grow in healing, skills and confidence.
O. Mëkëmbjes has applied to take part in the September Accelerator Campaign which will allow us to join GlobalGiving in in our own right. We will post another update nearer the time but we will be running a fundraising campaign for this project where we will need to see $5000 rasied from at least 30 different donors over a 4 week period. That would be a great time to support this project and encourage others to do so.
Thank you again for your support of our work in Kosovo. It is very much appreciated.
By Geni Johnson | O Mekembjes Team
By Alice Whaley | O Mekembjes Team
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