When Sister Imelda Poole IBVM (Loreto) moved to Tirana in 2005 (after 16 years working in grassroots ministry at Port Clarence on Teesside) she soon encountered families of Roma communities living in shanty towns near the railway station, close by to where she lives.

Roma communities originated in India many hundreds of years ago and are considered the poorest of the poor and the most abandoned peoples in eastern Europe. Nearly all Roma communities in Albania live in shanty-like situations in the towns and especially Tirana.Tirana now has a third of the population of Albania, and is still growing.

The Roma families are mostly illiterate, having never been to school. No one will employ them. Their only means of surviving is by begging, washing car windows when cars stop at traffic lights, or reclaiming tins and other metals from the rubbish bins.

Their homes are built on waste ground. They are made of discarded materials they find, such as wood, corrugated iron, tarpaulin, carpets, or plastic sheets.  The garbage is strewn all around their living areas.

Loreto Albania has started a project to provide medical care, psychological support for staff and families and children, education for children, a feeding programme of two meals a day and practical advice. A street team work with the families helping them to deal with government forms and other administrative matters relating to registering the families in Tirana. This helps them to be integrated into the society in which they have now lived for up to ten years without any former support.

Little Angels school

Through the fund-raising that Sister Imelda has managed to do, there is now a rented building near to the train station which provides a small school/centre called Little Angels. A team of professional Albanian people work in the centre. The street team visit the Roma families where they live.

They invite and encourage them to send their children to the school. There are three classes, kindergarten, then one for 5-8 year olds, and a third for children aged 8-14. The children are given breakfast and lunch five days a week.

The kindergarten class, with 15 children in it, learn the basics of social graces: to be clean, to use a knife, fork and spoon, to use a pencil and discover books, and to learn to play together. They also learn the Albanian language Shqip: their first language is Roma.

The 5-8 year olds, (ten in the class) are taught the basics of reading and writing, and learning about the world around them. This is to prepare them for entry to the state school. They also learn social values, and something of the life of faith.

Alongside this, the team at Little Angels help families to register with the local authority in Tirana. Almost all of them are registered in the town where they were born. That is where they are entitled to go to school, and are able to claim a tiny amount of money in social support.

Families are usually reluctant for a variety of reasons to change their place of registration. Only if they do so, can their children go to a state school in Tirana.

The class of  8-14 year olds (ten of them) are children who are now too old to begin school. They are still learning the basics that children normally learn at the beginning of school, and their families are probably not registered locally.

Twice a week a doctor is at the centre. Any family member can consult the doctor. Everything is free, whether help with health, legal or other matters.

The founding charism of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto) is that of Mary Ward.  Her work was both in education, and in ministry to people who were poor. This Christ-like ministry is being continued today amongst those people, who like the lepers in the gospels, are outcasts from society.

The love of Christ is shown in service. The lives of those who care and work for them shows the inspiration of the gospel message.

Michael Wright

teesvoice.me.uk

The funding required to maintain these three projects of the English Province of IBVM (Loreto) is £100,000 a year. Donations can be sent to:

The Loreto Albania Donation Account
Sister Jacinta Davenport IBVM(Loreto)
Loreto Community, 28 Hartley Road
Altrincham, Cheshire. WA14 4AY 0161 928 1440