Solidarites - Our Programmes in Albania

Our Action in Albania
Supporting the Albanians during and after the Kosovar refugee crisis *Our action today:* Providing access to drinking water, Reconstructing schools and Supporting healthcare Our action yesterday: Rehabilitation, Water supply Emergency relief to Kosovar refugees *Notes from the field ...* ... from Arnaud, Field Officer

Notes from the field ...
" ... one must then pay hommage to the friend met in Kukes at the beginning of April, a man of evident righteousness, who stands out, who agrees to come back and help you the next day and who thereafter never leaves you, from the camps in the North to the camps in the South, a discreet man whose suffering is only betrayed by the deep furrows on his brow, who is sent reeling one day by the announcement of the horror, he is the survivor, but picks himself up again ... place-names cannot tell the lifestory of the camps, the sheer boredom, the distress of those that live there, the waiting and impatience, as well as tea shared under the tent, a friend Zazel, his serious face during distributions, a twelve year old kid who has become head of the family, or the beauty of the mothers' faces during a distribution of cuddly toys for toddlers and the visit of an Albanian maternity clinic with Kosovar doctors to greet the birth of this child whose name will be that of this city of exile: Berat; finally the excitement, departure, the return home, a new flight but this time happy, accompanied by the humanitarian volunteers, agitated men and women, completely taken by this new urgency to achieve the daily miracle of distributing a month's worth of food to all the children returning to Kosovo, and stock it into lorries, a long stream on dismaying roads … " Arnaud, Field Officer

2000-2001 : Providing access to drinking water,
Reconstructing schools and Supporting healthcare

Completion of the water supply network rehabilitation programme in Kozare, 120 km south of the capital city Tirana, in January 2001:
This large-scale programme is a real technical feat. Overall, this rehabilitated network includes 41 km of pipes, with a gravity system and a 250 m3 reservoir. It now serves 640 houses, and benefits 700 families (nearly 4000 people) throughout the 6 villages of the Kozare municipality.

Full rehabilitation of 5 schools in the Berat and Kucove regions, in southern Albania, and implementation of health education activities:
These schools were rehabilitated according to their state of repair, which included rehabilitation of their foundations, roofs, walls, windows, water and electricity networks, sanitary facilities and fences.
In collaboration with Albanian doctors, health education activities were set up in each of these schools.

Alongside the new Kozare water supply network, rehabilitated by SOLIDARITES

June 1999-2000 : Rehabilitation, Water supply
*Since the departure of the Kosovo Refugees:* Rehabilitation of 14 schools in the Fier and Berat municipalities in the south of the country; Cleaning of 150 public wells in 7 villages in the Kozare municipality, benefiting 5,000 villagers; Installation of a water supply network in the Kozare municipality.

April-June 1999 : Emergency Relief

Emergency Relief for the Kosovo refugees:

Distribution of 13 tons of emergency relief (food, clothing) at the Kukes transit camp;

Distribution of food parcels (every 15 days) and hygiene parcels (every month) to 9,000 children under the age of 3 at the refugee camps around Fier, Berat and Vlore;

Setting up and running mobile kitchens in the areas of Kukes, Fier, Berat and Vlore, which served 14,000 meals per day.