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| Albania family back into animal husbandry with sheep |
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GJINAR, Albania — “Life has not been very easy for me and my family, but every time we are near each other we forget the hardness of life”, said 43-year-old father Sotir Topi.
Sotir lives with his wife Margarita, 35, their children Ermira, 17, Eda, 15, and Sandri, 10. His elderly parents, father Naum and mother Fanie, both of them 73, live with them.
Sotir’s family lives in Gjinar village, part of the Elbasan region, situated about two and a half hours southwest of the Albanian capital, Tirana. The area is green and fresh and the amazing nature and climate are enjoyed by local residents and Albanian and overseas visitors alike.
“Being very poor I was obliged to emigrate to Greece, looking for short ways to provide for my family, it is why I wasn’t able to develop my old family tradition of farming even though I always knew its importance”, said Sotir.
But through World Vision’s Gift Catalog in the United States, Sotir’s family was given the chance to slowly ease back into animal husbandry and improve its income when it received sheep from World Vision.
“It is why I was so enthusiastic when World Vision came to me and talked about this possibility”, adds Sotir.
The family’s only regular monthly income includes a $60 pension from the grandfather Naum, which is mostly spent on his medication. Sotir has had little choice but to work abroad in Greece in order to support his family since 1998.
“Maybe it looks strange, but I was not able to buy sheep, because if you are the only source of income for another six family members you don’t know what to do”, said Sotir looking at his family.
This hard-working man is not ashamed to do all kinds of jobs in order to provide for his family.
Even though Gjinar is one of the villages with a farm tradition and a perfect area for animal agriculture, there are now few families who farm.
After the collapse of the communism system, many Albanians were obliged to find work outside of Albania. This was one of the reasons that led to the deterioration of the farming tradition, because most of the people who remained at home were children and women.
“God has given us an amazing area which offers us many possibilities to live here; it’s why it hurts me so much to see our beautiful village abandoned by its inhabitants”, said Sotir’s brother, Kosta Topi who has two sons in Italy and who now lives with his wife in the village.
Sotir said he has had many difficult experiences while working in Greece. He had to do the lowest-paid work available and often suffered discrimination, because he thought he had no other chance in Albania to provide for his family.
Even though he worked hard abroad, four years ago he was obligated to take a large loan from the bank to build a new house, because the old house was uninhabitable. He still owes $8,000 to the bank, while their regular family income is just $60 per month.
“I worked like a slave, but our life has not improved because I invested my life in another place, in the things that weren’t mine”, said Sotir thoughtfully.
“Now I understand our old proverb - the stone was created to stay in its own place”, added Sotir.
World Vision Albania - through U.S. Gift Catalog Funds - has distributed 21 sheep to 17 families in Gjinar (21 sheep for each family; 20 ewes and 1 ram). This project aims to promote the old tradition of farming and support the families to generate incomes locally.
“This is a great opportunity for me, because for a long time I was looking for the possibilities to stay and work here”, said Sotir.
“I’m planning to have a big herd of sheep and definitely stay here in my village near my dear family.”
Sotir’s family has enjoyed the sheep during the past eight months. The children love to take care of them and have named each one.
“Sandri every day looks forward to finish his homework and then to help his older sisters with the sheep”, said Sotir, proud of his youngest child.
“I like the sheep; because they are great, they give us milk, cheese and yogurt”, said Sandri happily.
The grandmother shares that the best moment for Sandri was the birth of the lambs. He enjoyed that time so much.
“The lambs are growing up faster than me and now I can’t hug them easily, but my dad said that we are going to have other small lambs soon”, said Sandri.
Sheep provided through the project have given birth twice in one year – much to the joy of the families.
“This shows the perfect care for these sheep”, said Kristaq Shahu, the specialist contracted by World Vision Albania to help and monitor the families as part of the project.
“Sotir is a very good example, because he is not only a hard-working person, but he puts his passion into farming”, added Shahu, presenting the lambs that already look like grown sheep.
In the framework of the Economic Development Programme, World Vision Albania is supporting and facilitating farmers to develop farming as a small business. The farmers in this project are provided with a series of training on farming and caring for the sheep. The training also encourages farmers to sell their bio-natural products in the markets.
Even though the families have only had the sheep for under a year some, including Sotir’s family, are already selling milk, cheese, yogurt and meat.
“World Vision Albania, in the framework of this project, is looking forward to providing sheep to even more families in Gjinar. This will give them many possibilities to generate incomes and to improve their economical situation”, said Alsida Myrtaj, World Vision Albania Economic Development Coordinator.
“I have no words to thank World Vision, not for the reason that is helping my brother, but because it is inspiring and supporting the people of Gjinar to turn back to their beautiful tradition”, said Kosta.
Like all parents Sotir, who came from a very poor family and couldn’t go to highschool, has many dreams for the future of his children. Today Sotir is determined to ensure his children receive an education.
“My biggest dream is to see all my children going to university”, said Sotir with tears in his eyes.
Ermira, Eda and Sandri are very smart children and good students. They also understand their parents and enjoy helping them with the sheep because they realise their importance to the wellbeing of the family.
“The milk, cheese and yogurt are not only very tasty for us, but by selling them we will have a better economic condition and a better life”, said Ermira, 17, who is in the second year of high school.
“I’m very, very happy, because now my father is planning to stay home now and won’t go far away from us anymore”, she added. |
| 9/1/2010 |
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