The ADRA global network campaign for helping children access education has been going on since 2019 and also ADRA Albania country office has been actively advocating for more children in schools in their vicinity.

In Albania, different minority groups not only have a challenge to be accepted into society but also have challenges in access to basic education. 

ADRA Albania has been working with young girls in areas where they normally traditionally are married off at a very tender age and are supporting other migrant groups that are not even aware of how they should register to be able to access both health and education facilities in a country they have lived in for generations.

Ekebyholmsskolan, the Adventist Church School, has started a new profile called International Development and two students plus a teacher have traveled with one representative from ADRA Sweden to study the work that has been done.

On one of the days ADRA Albania held a symposium about the work that has been done through a study that they did on the effects in the communities they have worked in. It was encouraging to hear some of the words of the local leaders “ADRA has been our number one NGO helping some of the most disadvantaged to be able to access health and education”. 

Educational leaders were also present and they witnessed the increase of children from minority groups in their schools thanks to the work that ADRA has been doing.

On the picture you see two of our students from Ekebyholmsskolan (Sweden) and two youth activists, a group of youth that are Albanians (not minority group) but still have traditions that marry them off very early. They are fighting for their own right to education! They are very motivated and for both the groups the work that ADRA has done is very positive, things are changing, the young people (even the boys as they are also included in some groups) are changing and the new generation will see very positive change.

Many times we have challenges seeing the results of our work, but we may just need to be patient and to hear from others about the results that even for every ADRA worker is not clear. It was an inspiring symposium with many positive results from ADRA Albanias work.

Text and pictures: Siri Bjerkan Karlsson, ADRA Sweden