Strengthen Families

Katrina

In 1999, Katrina and her husband Kujtim together with their two boys and two girls moved from the city of Puka, to the capital city Tirana, in search for a better life. In 2014, Kujtim died because he fell from a high building while working as a construction worker. A few months later, Katrina’s daughter, who was 13 years old, passed away because of a severe kidney disease. After losing her husband and her daughter, Katrina got sick. She has been diagnosed with psychological and emotional disorders and many times she has been treated in the psychiatric hospital.

Before

Katrina and her children lived in a house with terrible conditions, in deep poverty. The house didn’t have any windows or doors and it was risking to fall down at any moment while the family of four was living inside. Katrina and her children didn’t have any support by the government or any other source of income, except one cow that they kept inside their house for milk. Many times they had to sleep hungry.

After

We reconstructed their house and provided the necessary furniture for them to live a normal life. We are continuing to help this widow and her children, by providing for her food packages, clothes, and medical care. Her health is much better now and they have hope for the future. She is very thankful for helping her family.

Drita

Drita is a woman, who became a widow in a very young age. She lives in a hut near the river with her 4 children and with her brother. They migrated from Rreshen to Tirana and they live in a small one room, in very difficult conditions. During the winter season, it gets more difficult due to the rainy weather and the cold.

We met Drita while serving in the roma community. Her family is one of the poorest there and what you can notice, is the pure heart that they treasure. We have been near Drita and her children, supporting them and providing for their needs. We visit her family regularly and during this time, we have seen that her life has changed. Albana, one of Drita’s children, is part of our Butterfly Project and also of the School Program.

Nadire

Nadire Tosku is a widow who lives in Tirana, in the area of Selita. She is 81 years old, and lives with her son’s bride and the 14 years old nephew. She has 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls, who are married. Nadire lost her son while he was in emigration and within a short time she also lost her husband. He could not bear the pain of losing his son and passed away, leaving Nadire with 6 children to raise.
Nadire is a strong woman and she has compassion for other people. The first thing that you notice when you meet Nadire, it’s that she is a very hospitable. We have been visiting Nadire and her family. She has a soft heart and she is very grateful.

Marika

Marika is one of the widows who lost her son many years ago because of a heart attack. She has been a widow since 2015 and she felt so lonely. Her heart has been full of pain and she has been depressed.

Through the Albanian Widow Project, we have been taking care of Marika. We have been giving her food packages and hygienic packages and medical care every month. She is so grateful that she is surrounded by people who love her and take care of her. Now she is not alone.

Marika comes regularly to the widow meetings and she is very friendly with other widows.

Lirie

Lirie is one of the widows of our project. She has been a widow for more than 20 years. Her husband died in 1997, when there was a civil war in Albania. He was mistakenly killed by shots fired at someone else. She lives with her son, daughter in law and their little baby and they are very poor. Our volunteers have been visiting Lirie in her home and have been keeping her in contact. We have been giving her food packages and hygienic packages every month. She is grateful for the care that we are offering to her.

Sehare

Sehare lives alone in Tirana. Her husband died many years ago and left her poor and without support. She lives in a small and old house. The earthquake has damaged her house. In some parts of the house the rain enters the house from the rooftop. She has problems with one of her legs so she uses a walking stick. Our volunteers have been visiting Sehare and encouraging her. We have been giving her food packages and hygienic packages every month. She is grateful that we have been near her during this time. She can’t wait for the meetings that we have with all the widows.

Fatmiri

Fatmir is one of the boys who is part of our program since the beginning.

He is 11 years old and lives with his grandparents, father and 2 sisters. His mother has abandoned him when he was a little child.
Fatmir is a very smart boy who likes to attend school, and his favorite subject is math. At first, it was very difficult for him to follow all the classes and succeed in all the subjects. We worked to help him with his lessons and his results in school were significantly improved.

Within 5 months Fatmir from a student who received low grades, was able to solve problems and exercises from books for the School Olympics.

Today, Fatmiri is in the group of the best students in his class.

Genta

Genta is one of the first child who came to our meetings and now she comes regularly to Butterfly project. She is a smart girl. At first, her parents did not want to let Genta and her sister to go to the summer camp because of the mindset that they have in this community. Girls do not have much freedom. After they turn 9 years old, they are supposed to get married. After insisting and showing great results, her parents allowed her to come to the summer camp. She enjoyed a lot being at the camp and she was filled with love and joy. Now Genta is a teenager girl who attends school regularly and she is a big support for our team in serving the community.

Albana

Albana is a teenager girl from Roma community. She lives with her uncle, 2 brothers, a younger sister and her mother. Her father died some years ago. Her brothers and her mother have mental disorders. Her uncle is alcoholic and violent. They live in terrible conditions in a barrack by the riverside. So Albana and all her family beg every day on the streets to provide food. Albana comes regularly in the Butterfly meeting. We have been helping her family with food and clothes.

Landi

Landi is one of the children of the community. His family live in terrible conditions by the riverside. Since he was a little child he always came to our meetings and invited also his brothers and his mother. His father has passed away years ago and Landi misses him a lot.

We have seen Landi grow up and become a strong boy, taking care of his family. He collects cans of the street and sells them to provide for his family.

Dafina

Dafina is a teenage girl from Roma community. She lives with her parents and two younger sisters. They came regularly to our Butterfly meetings.

At the beginning, she decided to come to Butterfly just to see what her sisters were doing and to spend her free time. Dafina was impressed by the love that people had for each other. From that day, she has been part of our program every week. Many things have changed in her life. Her parents have a job now. Her behave has changed and her friends tell her that this is obvious.

Kristian

Kristian is a little boy from Roma community. He is a teenage now and he lives with his grandmother in terrible conditions, in a barrack by the riverside. Kristian is part of the Butterfly program since 2018.

There is hope in his eyes. We have been taking care of his emotional health. His mother was in jail and for Kristian it was very difficult to grow without his parents.

He is very smart and has good results at school. Kristian loves to play football and he has joined the team of championships.

Eva

Eva is a teenage girl from Roma community. Eva is one of the first girls that became part of our program.

She lives with her mother and her brothers, in a barrack by the riverside. Her mother works and provides for their family. She is studying to be a nurse, because she wants to help others and serve them.

She is very active and very friendly with the other kids.

We are so glad to support Eva and her dream to became a nurse.

Ernest

Ernest is a little boy years old boy from Roma Community. His family is very poor. When Ernest first came in our program, he was shy and didn’t talk to anyone or play with other kids. His mother told us that when he was 3 years old, he was diagnosed with a heart disease and because of the disease he has this attitude. Our team took care of him, to help Ernest get involved in what we were doing. Now Ernest is more friendly, active, plays with other kids, answers when we ask him questions. Sometimes he takes care for the younger kids. His mother has noticed the change in his attitude and is so happy and thankful to us.

Almiri

Almir is a teenage boy part of the Butterfly project. He likes to go to school. He lives with his parents and five brothers. His family is very poor and they live in very difficult conditions. In his home, only his father works and provides for the family. He lives in a house which it is not very comfortable for many children.
Almir often has to work collecting bars and plastic materials to provide for his family. He is a very smart boy, he jokes and often likes to tease his friends during games. He loves music and football and it is involved in the activities we do with children.

Entela

Entela is a girl from the Roma community. Her mother abandoned her family when she was a little girl. So, her father married another woman and now she lives with them and her brothers and sisters. They are extremely poor. Entela has to collect cans from the garbage bins every day and she begs on the streets to provide money for her family. She loves to go to school and to learn how to read and write. Because of the poverty and since she is the oldest sister in her family and doesn’t have her own mother, she never had the privilege to go to school.

Entela is coming regularly in our Butterfly program. She is helping us by helping and taking care of the little children in our program.

Marjeta

Marjeta is a little girl from Roma community. She is 9 years old and she lives with her family in a barrack near the river. Her family is one of the poorest family of Roma community. Marjeta loves Jesus with all her heart. She comes regularly to our Butterfly program. Marjeta has been encouraging her brothers and sisters to pray together. We can testify for a transformation in the life of Marjeta and her family. The behave of her father has totally changed after he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He has found a stable job and he is providing for his family. We see joy and hope in the eyes of Marjeta. They are thankful to the Lord and to us for standing near them in their hard times. Praise God for working in marvelous ways in Marjeta and her family life.

Denisa

Denisa is a little girl from Roma community. She lives with her parents and 5 siblings in a barrack by the riverside. They are very poor, so they have to bag or collect iron and cans from the garbage bin, to provide food for their family.

Denisa is a lovely girl who comes regularly in our program. One day, as she was bagging on the street, the police took her from the street and sent Denisa in an orphanage. We have been near her family in this situation, believing to receive any news from her. Denisa surprised us one day when she came in the meeting. Other children were jumping and hugging her.

We are happy to see her come back again.

Erjona

Erjona is a little girl who lives with her family in the Roma community. She is 10 years old. Her family lives in deep poverty. Her father collects cans on the street to provide food for his family. The living conditions in their hut are terrible.

Erjona comes with joy in the Butterfly program. She is so lovely and kind with the kids and is very willing to help with the cleaning and preparing the class for the lesson.

One day she burned her legs with boiling water. When we learned from her friends what had happened, we visited her family. The little girl was suffering in pain. She had a severe burn and she had been lying in bed for one day and night without any medical care. We immediately took Erjona to the hospital and took care of her.

We are so happy to have Erjona in our program.

Denis

Denis is one of our Butterfly kids. He is the oldest son in his family and even though he is just 11 years old, he has to work together with his father to collect plastic and metal materials in the garbage bins. The little boy is sacrificing his childhood to provide food for his family. This heavy responsibility that he is holding on his shoulder made him a rebel child with an aggressive attitude. The love of God has touched him and with time passing, his attitude is changing. One day, while he was selecting the materials that he collected in the garbage bins, an explosive substance exploded in front of his face. His parents took him to the hospital, where he had a difficult surgery in his left eye.

Small metal pieces covered all of his body and one of this piece entered his left eye. The surgeons couldn’t take out of his eye this piece of metal because it was hard and the medical devices were missing. The doctors said that there was no hope for the little boy to see with that eye anymore. We prayed a lot and waited for a miracle to happen. Boys and girls from the church visited him and took care of him every day while he was in the hospital and when he went back home. We provided for the medical care he needed. Denis recovered very fast and now he can see with both of his eyes. The doctors are surprised and can’t explain what happened. Our God is a God of miracles.

Sindi

Sindi is one of the most faithful girls in Butterfly. She is a teenager and she lives in a very small hut together with her parents and 4 siblings. She is the oldest girl in her family and for this reason she has to look after the housework and her little sisters and brother. She is always a loving and smiling girl. One day, a few months ago, as we made a visit to her home, we realised that the girl was lying in the corner of the room and she had fever. She was very sick for a week, with severe kidney pain and fever. Her parents did not care for her and did not even take her to the hospital but forced her to stay home and take care of the house.

Her mother has been hospitalised because she has mental problems. Her situation was very critic and the doctors said that her life was in big danger. Her parents neglected her illness and did not take care of her. Immediately we took Sindi and went to the hospital. She had a general checkup, and the doctors diagnosed her with severe urinary infection. After that, she was hospitalised and stayed under medical care for more than a week. Ancora Int. took care of everything that she needed by covering the medical bills, bringing food to the hospital and at home to the other children. We also provided all the medications she needed.

Sibela

Sibela is a little girl from the Roma community. She is 9 years old and she lives with her family in a hut by the riverside. Her parents have been in jail for a long time. During that time, her oldest sister was taking care of her brothers and sisters.

Her father is a violent and an alcoholic man. He forces his children to beg on the streets and to collect cans and scrap in the garbage bins, to provide for the family. Sibela and her siblings come regularly in the Butterfly project.

When she started to come to our project, Sibela was very sick. She had a severe infection all over her body, due to the unsanitary environment and because she would go every day to the dirty river to collect cans. Her body was covered by infected open wounds. Nobody could take care of her. The little girl was risking her life. When our team learned about the situation, our doctors took care of Sibela by treating her desease.

We are glad to see joy and hope in her little face again.

Strengthen Families

What We Do:

Emotional & Spiritual Care

Trainings for the families

Parental Advisory Support

Social Development

Strengthen Families

About This Project

Before

After