In Albania, Food and Medicine for the Poor

Qani is 78 years old. He comes from the village of Velçan, located in the Mokra region of Pogradec, together with his brother, who has since passed away. His mother died when they were little and his father married again and started a new family, in which Qani wasn't accepted, and he was left alone.  

He left his village and migrated to Pogradec, where he worked for 17 years on the railroads until the 1990s, when everything was destroyed in Albania. It was around this time when Qani was first introduced to Nehemiah Gateway. When asked if he remembers this, he replies, "Ohh I’ve known Nehemiah Gateway since 1990. I have always found a home here, when no one loved me, also when I was left on the street, alone.” 

For over 30 years now Qani has visited us every day, he belongs to the elderly group that Amaro Tan school takes care of, as part of the soup kitchen program. You can find him most of the time there, eating a warm meal, playing dominos and chess with his friends. We can gladly say that Qani is home, and he belongs somewhere he is loved and appreciated.

Over the last three decades, we have helped many people with similar stories to Qani. With warm meals from our soup kitchen, food packages a few times per year, and more. I specifically remember a visit to one client's house (which was only a small room) where we helped clean up a bit, and were making plans to renovate the roof of the house to stop it from leaking.

These stories are common in Albania and throughout Nehemiah Gateway's history we have been able to help countless people - with the partnership and generosity of donors. If you would like to donate to help the continuation of projects like this, you can donate here.

James Leithart

Communications Director, NG USA

It was a wet, foggy morning as we climbed into the two Mercedes G-Class and began our trek. Many years ago, these SUVs were brought to Albania in order to help the Social and Medical Improvement (SMI) project of Nehemiah Gateway reach distant villages. Roads in Albania still aren't always great, especially to the remote villages, and the Mercedes have been instrumental in allowing the delivery of food and other items for people in extreme poverty.

Our end destincation was Niçë (pronounced Nee-cha), a village tucked back into the mountains surrounding Lake Ohrid, about a 2 hour journey from the Nehemiah Gateway center. As we slowly made our way down the one lane roads that had turned to mud, courtesy of multiple days of rain, we stopped a handful of times to pass out a few food packages to clients. One man, accompanied by his dog, rode on horseback to meet us at the main road; the way to his house was so muddy that even in the 4-wheel drive G-Class we weren't sure we would be able to make it.

The reason for this trip was two-fold: First, it was one of the scheduled food package deliveries that our SMI project does every few months. The second reason was for a specific family in Niçë. Ten people living in a house, five children, their two parents, their uncle, and their grandparents. Due to mental health problems in the parents, the grandmother takes care of the family. We intended to talk with them and find out what more specific needs they have. While receiving packages some food and higeine basics is helpful, there is so much more needed.

We arrived to the village, but the cars couldn't get up the narrow road leading to the house. Anything that we brought had to be carried by hand up a pathway that was a mixture of mud and manure. Thankfully, there were a number of us to help - along with the uncle in the family - carrying food, some matresses, and other various things to help make winter life in a secluded village a bit more comfortable.

Unfortunately, this story is not uncommon in Albania, and is almost the norm in the more isolated areas of the country. Large families in small spaces using whatever they can to live. Nehemiah Gateway has been working in the area for over 30 years and while things may look bleak now, they were far worse in the 1990s. The last three decades have been instrumental in making changes for families just like this.

It is through the kindness of people like you that has allowed us to help so many families over the years, and to hopefully help many more.

This project is ongoing, if you'd like to continue to help families just like this please consider making another donation here.

James Leithart

Communications Director, NG USA