Widows Fund Fushe Kosova

Besime is the mother of six children, three daughters and three sons. Six years ago her husband passed away, leaving her desperate.

‘My husband used to work as a courier for a private company, he managed to make enough money to provide for us’ – says Besime. ‘Though, ever since he passed away, we could barely manage to feed ourselves. Some days we would eat, but there were days that we didn’t have anything on our table.’

Besime’s daughters are all married now and she lives with her three sons. All three of them started waste picking after losing their father, it was the only way for them to provide for the family and bring food home. They all dropped out of school too.

But thanks to your support and your donations, through our Widows Fund project we are able to support women like Besime and their families, by providing them with groceries every month and wood for the cold winter days, which get as low as -20 degrees. We also provide these families with clothing, thanks to the donations of goods we receive from good- hearted people.

A condition for the widowed women to be a part of our project is that their children attend school. Since the boys dropped out of school a few years ago, they need to attend the ‘intensive classes’ to be able to catch up with their peers and then be able to attend regular classes at the public school. Due to what the municipality says is a lack of funds these classes were interrupted, but are set to start again very soon with our lobbying efforts and Emran, 17, and Hasan, 15, will be able to join. With a school diploma they’ll be in a better position to get a decent job and provide for their mother.

‘May God bless them for their help’ – says Besime to all of those who donate for this project. Indeed thank you, it is because of you that we can manage to bring hope in these families and help these women to get their children through education.