I Let It Die...

I did not stay
I walked away
I don't know why
I let it die

The other day I was walking by a garbage dumpster. I heard a tiny little cry in there, so I tried to follow the sound. I had to move some garbage around. I found a tiny little baby puppy maybe just a few hours old. I don't know if the mother had birthed it in the dumpster or if someone had thrown it away. I lean towards the latter. It was a very hot day and it was sweltering in the bin. Babies and heat don't mix.

I touched it's little head and it stopped crying for a second.  In a flash, a hundred concerns passed through my head. I live in a foreign country and don't feel I have the skills yet to even meet all of my own needs. How can I care for this tiny little thing? Where do I buy it special milk, a syringe or nipple to feed it with? I know very little about my surroundings still. Where is a vet? When I travel, who will watch it for me? If I love it, and it dies, will I survive the heart break?

In Albania, as in most developing countries, I see dead dogs in the street or dying in the gutter. Dogs with no hair or crippled or starving. Animals are not taken care of and are disposed of as garbage. They don't spay or neuter. It's a harsh reality, and I've learned to build protection around my heart when I see a suffering animal. Protection of my heart is a survival tool I learned in Africa. It was there I saw so much death, disease, abuse, and torture. Protect my heart or die of sadness.

I cried for a minute, petting its head.  Then I made a decision to let it go. I decided not to prolong its suffering. I walked away. I did not stay. I let it die....
 

Home of Hope Bakery Begins!

"Be A Smile" young ladies from Holland donated 3,000 Euros to the HOH Bakery!

Tony with the children and staff of HOH orphanage.

Monday, July 8^th, 2013. A great friend and representative from Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets, London, arrived in Elbasan to meet the staff of Home of Hope (HOH), assess the unfinished bakery, and to meet the Elbasan Rotarians.  Since April, HOH funding has been severely cut by their major donor CRY, and it is vitally important that (1) HOH becomes sustainable without dependence on donors in order to survive. It was while I was living at HOH in April that I learned of their financial troubles, and with the help of my colleague, we decided that completing the bakery was the best option to help the orphanage become sustainable. (2) The Bakery also brings job experience, business skills and income opportunities to the older children of HOH, who by law, have to leave the orphanage by the young age of 15. This project meets two of USPC COD goals.

Racks and a mixer are already in place. 

We spent Monday morning talking with Alban Nedelko, director of HOH.  We toured the Orphanage, took pictures of the bakery, and discussed all issues and challenges facing the orphanage and the bakery.

 This diesel oven needs to be sold and replaced with an electric oven.

By law, these 15 year old kids need to leave the orphanage. The HOH Bakery will give them business skills, employment opportunities and the income they need to be successfully independent.

That evening we all attended Rotary Club of Elbasan’s meeting.  Because the funds for the bakery will be channeled through Rotary, the Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets will be working closely with Elbasan Rotary Club. In attendance were Hajdar Sejdini, the Current President, Albana Drenogllava, Past President, Edmond Kristo, Treasurer and several other key members. As this is the first international project that Elbasan Rotarians have done with another club, it has taken them awhile to set up an independent Club bank account. It was a successful night with new friendships and plans set into action.

Meeting with the Elbasan Rotarians and their crucial role in the HOH Bakery. 

Tuesday, July 9^th, 2013. We headed to Spille Beach to enjoy the day with the HOH kids and get to know the staff better. Spille Beach was made possible by a group of 8 young ladies from Holland who raised the necessary funds to take HOH on summer vacation for 8 nights.  Their group name is “Be a Smile”. We met these amazing young ladies, and learned how they each became involved with Be a Smile, and what brought them to Albania to do this great act of service.  I had met their leader Anouk Vaarkamp in April while visiting HOH on my first day of practicum during PST. She told us today that they had raised extra money and were donating it HOH for the bakery!  We had a special ceremony and they presented Alban a check for 3,000 Euros.  We now had the start up money we needed to begin! 

( Above) The HOH group with the girls from Holland. (Below) Me with the girls.

We sat down with Alban and made a plan of action, discussed necessary start up costs, and set up a time frame for action:

Step one:  Sell the old diesel oven

Step two:  Find and price a new electric oven

Step three:  Get electricity operating

Step four:  Buy pie machine

Step five:  Begin producing pies while waiting for oven 

When the oven is ready to be bought, the money will be sent through Elbasan Rotary. I will be the main accountant for all the funds. Working closely with the accountant of HOH and the Treasurer of the Elbasan Rotary Club, I will record the transfers, the deposits and all of the expenditures for the bakery into Quickbooks accounting program. I will maintain accountability in every way and send regular reports to Rotarians, HOH, Be A Smile, and USPC. The journey to sustainability for HOH has begun!

Foundation "Home of Hope" Elbasan, Albania

 

Summer Vacation with Home of Hope Children

 

Ten days at a beautiful beach in Albania surrounded by 15 children and wonderful staff is my idea of a perfect vacation!  Yes, this is my Albanian Peace Corps experience this summer.  And it just keeps getting better and better. This blog will be dedicated to the actual camp experience; the activities, the schedule and the people.  The next blog will update everyone on my bakery project at Home of Hope.

WHO? Thirteen children of HOH and some of their friends and children of staff members made the total children head count up to 21. Staff members came with some of their family members and we invited a talented musician to come with us for entertainment every night. Eight beautiful young ladies came from Holland to spend the week with us. They are the ones that raised the funds to pay for this summer holiday, but I will get to their story in a bit. We were a group of about 50 people.

WHERE?  We stayed at a fantastic seaside hotel in beautiful Spille Beach on the Albanian coast.

WHEN?  July 9 to July 17th

WHY?  For fun, activities, relaxing, building relationships, boosting our energy, sharing laughs, circle dancing, eating great food, and spending time with the kids.

WHAT? The list of activities planned by the Holland girls was incredible.  They planned an activity every morning and every late afternoon.  Here is a list of things we did:

Tuesday PM:  Arrival day- Free play at beach.

Wednesday AM: Decorate picture frames for memento of beach. PM: Face painting/photos.

Thursday AM: Build sand pyramid. PM: Carnival games, beach volleyball.

Friday AM: Beach Games, relays, water balloons. PM: Capture the flag (in the forest).

Saturday: A Day in Durres.  Rode fair rides, played games, 6D cinema, ate at restaurant.

Sunday AM: Relax at Beach.  PM: Game stations.

Monday AM: Beach Play or long walk to General Beach). PM: Treasure hunt in forest for games.

Tuesday AM: Slippery slide at beach. PM: Bomb fire on beach with singing.

Wednesday- Leave for Elbasan.

Some of the rules of camp included:
Respect time for activities.
Drink lots of water and wear a hat.
NEVER go to the beach without staff.
Take care in the sea and don't go out far.
Speak quietly in the corridors.
Don't use offensive words with each other.
Keep personal hygiene.
Keep you room clean.
Don't fight or yell in public.

These rules and our daily schedule was posted on the door where every child and adult could see them.  The camp was so well done and we had so much fun.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Back to the young ladies from Holland.  Eight young ladies from Holland came together for one purpose; to raise money to fund the summer vacation of an orphanage in Albania.  They raised even more money than expected and gave in many other ways!  No expense was shared as they paid for staff drinks at night, added a day out in the city for the kids, took the kids to a restaurant and let them order ANYTHING they wanted to eat, and even donated $4,000 to the completion of the bakery (more on that later). I have never been so impressed with a group of youth such as these girls. It was such a great blessing to my life to meet them, get to know and love them.

To sum it all up, the last two weeks have been full of such adventure and excitement. I am being placed in the path of amazing people who are improving my life and making it better and better. For this, I am grateful.