Shkoder - foothills of the Accursed Mountains

‘Tungjatjeta’ from Shkoder - a medium sized, attractive city in the northern Albania. It is considered the cultural capital of Albania and boasts the largest Mosque in the country and the biggest Catholic Church in the Balkans. In a region of such ethnic intolerance, Shkoder (Albania in general) could provide a lesson in living together respectfully. Shkoder is also one of the rare cities in the world that have both lakeside and mountain climates side-by-side: The city sits on Lake Shkoder, the largest lake in the Balkans, and is overlooked by the western end of the Accursed Mountains.

Lake Shkoder is divided between Albania and Montenegro with only 1/3 in Albania. Adding to Shkoder’s natural surroundings are three rivers, Kiri, Drini and Buna, which confluence at the southern end of the city. This is all overlooked by the ruins of Kalaja Rozafa (castle), within whose walls a fair maiden, Rozafa, was buried alive during construction in order to fortify the walls (according to local legend).

There are two borders with Montenegro close by: The closest at Muriqan is only 16km / 10m away. This is a small crossing and is not particularly busy (judging from the activity going on when I have cycled there), even though it is on the main road from Albania to the coastal/resort town of Ulcinj in Montenegro. The second, and major, crossing is at Hani i Hoti, 35km/21m North of Shkoder. This is on the main road from Albania to Podgorica, capital of Montenegro and only 56km/35m away, and therefore well used.

When living in Tirana, upon asking a question about Albania I was always greeted with a question preceding the answer: “Are you asking about Tirana or Albania in general?” Prior observations had already confirmed the answers would be different. Despite the stunning natural beauty of the country as a whole and the outstandingly friendly and helpful people, life outside Tirana is significantly different. Gone are the (relatively) bright lights, late night cafes/clubs, hubbub, bridal shops (yes, there are lots of them), wealth, and energy associated with capital cities. Replaced instead with rural landscapes, more obvious signs of poverty, a lethargy and especially in small, rural towns, a ‘look’ of hardship etched on the faces of the inhabitants. Life in many of these small villages I am sure is tough. Trash litters the roadsides and (as in Tirana) to the uninitiated the only two rules of the road are:
Do what you want
Don’t hit anything

That said, many Shkodrans cycle. Far more than in Tirana. Presumably a combination of a) less chance of being prematurely sent to your grave as a result of decreased traffic volumes and b) the lower income levels, making vehicles less affordable. The main road into Shkoder from Tirana is, to put it mildly, appalling. However, to be fair, this appears to be due to a large sewer (I assume) pipe being laid down the middle of it. The questions with unknown answers are:
1. When will the work be finished?
2. Will there be enough money to complete the work and return the road to an acceptable state?

This though does present the intrepid cyclist with the chance to sprint up the inside of cars, leaving them in my dust, weaving in and out of potholes with forward momentum only occasionally thwarted by gravel-traps. All good training.

However, there are many things to enjoy about Albania (whether in Tirana or the ‘country’): Fruit and vegetables that are full of colour, taste and not touched by GM engineering; the people – their generosity and friendliness/helpfulness is sincere (such as the time I and a friend were locked outside a hotel in the city of Berat at night a few weeks ago or last week when, ashamed of how muddy my bike was I broke down and took it to a ‘car wash’ – the Albanian man scrubbed and rinsed my bike twice by hand, sprayed the tires with his car treatments and made the bike look thoroughly brand new again. However, he would accept no payment); the fact that there are no strict rules of the road – ride anywhere, do not hit anything; the ‘honour’ code of conduct - guests in Albania are treated with dignity and respect (see above): there are a few times I could have been ‘swindled’ due to misunderstanding if I was being charged in ‘old’ Leke or ‘new’ Leke, but I have never been taken advantage of (to the best of my knowledge anyway); the rugged, natural beauty of the country;

As for the YMCA in Shkoder: It was founded in 2001 and has been actively serving the local community since. The main program is serving the Roma (gypsy) community that lives predominantly on the outskirts of town across the one lane bridge traversing the Buna River, on the edge of Lake Shkoder. In this part of town, the poverty is desperate. Water is hand-pumped, children in various states of clothing play games in the street or rummage through mounds of trash at the side of the road in the hope of finding something of value. Value is of course relative. I have seen children, wide-grinned with delight to find a plastic ‘scooter’, and carry it home, despite the fact it is cracked, has no wheels and to you and I would be utterly worthless.

It is in this context, the YMCA caters for the needs of 250 Roma children age 5-14 years. Services to this population include the most basic human needs: providing clothing and food. The YMCA also supplies sports equipment, learning materials and occasional day trips/picnics for the children. All this is accomplished with a budget of €5000/$6500 per year.

Recently the YMCA participated in an 'educational walk' as part of the 'Leave no child out campaign'. This was a local activity raising awareness of the children that are being left behind without access to formal education and had significant media coverage and top regional officials present. As mentioned last time, the latest development in this project is that the YMCA and local education authority have partnered to create a school which will allow 300 Roma children to attend school. These children have not had access to formal education for 15 years. The school building is finished, and through the generous support of St. Albans Baptist Church in England, two classrooms have been outfitted with furnishings and teaching/learning supplies and lessons are underway. Since last writing, monies to outfit the remaining 8 classrooms have been secured through the Ministry of Education. The long term goal is that these children will be integrated into the ‘regular’ education system/civil society through YMCA programs.

Having been here two weeks, and with the support of YMCA Europe and YMCA of the USA, all attention and available resources are being focussed on developing YMCA Shkoder (while still serving/helping our YMCA friends in Tirana).

Therefore, the plan of action for my remaining stay is three-fold at this point and is as follows:

· Develop an ‘internationally-recognized’ NGO governance/operating structure for YMCA Shkoder
· Focus YMCA efforts on the completion and sustainability of the new Roma school program and creation of a Youth Center in Shkoder, while taking advantage of other ongoing opportunities (summer camps, etc.)
· Hold the national General Assembly

Specific steps in the Operational Development Plan for YMCA Shkoder include:
1) Creating a YMCA purpose statement and logo
2) Developing Bye-laws and Constitution
3) Developing a local board of advisors
4) Orienting YMCA leaders and volunteers on History/function of YMCA:
5) Creating Program goals
6) Developing goals and timeline/targets for 2007-2009
7) Relationship building with potential partners

With this forming the backdrop of our ongoing work, the next major initiative of YMCA Shkoder is to create the Youth Centre I referred to last time. The plan is to raise 20% (approximately US$15,000/£8,000/€12,000) of necessary funds here within Albania with the rest being secured from international donations (individual/business contributions and grants). While the amount to be generated within Albania does not seem high compared with Western/Northern standards, when you consider that the average salary in Albania is a mere US$190/£100/€150 per month, it will be quite a challenge.

As far as the Balkan-Baltic sponsored bicycle-ride portion of fundraising is concerned, the goal is US$20,000/£12,000/€16,000. The route is finalized, necessary visas applied for, website and links created, training well underway and host YMCAs notified. Promotional materials will be distributed by the end of next week.

Stay tuned for more from the Land of the Eagle. Best wishes to you all and thanks to all of you who reply to these updates and keep me posted on what is happening back ‘home’ – wherever that may be.

Mirupafshim,

Ian Luck

Border Crossings and Cheddar Cheese

“ Next time be more careful Mr. Luck”, “Sorry Mr. Luck, we cannot let you board the plane”, “Your passport is missing information – do you have other forms of ID?”, “Our telephone number only works from land-line not a cell phone”, “THIS time, I forgive you”. These were just some of the phrases directed towards me during recent travels in and out of Albania.

Turns out I was illegal after all in Albania and that the information the police gave me was wrong. Well, sort of. Can I stay in Albania 90 days in a calendar year as told by them? Yes. BUT, only 30 days on any one entry. Therefore when leaving for New Year in Finland at my brothers I was busted as illegal. Despite only having been in Albania for 58 days. After pleading my case and offering to pay the 200Euro/$250 fine (presumably for being lazy and silly enough to trust the police as I had not read the 12 sheets of A4/8.5x11 paper that were posted on ‘billboards’ around the airport for foreigners) I was told I was forgiven this time.

So…having arrived back in the country on Jan 5 and knowing I needed a residence permit (Austrian Airlines had prevented me from boarding in Helsinki as I did not have one or a return ticket within 30 days) else face leaving the country again in 29 days, I got the necessary paperwork in order. All that is except for the UK police background check. This has been the stumbling block all along. Turns out that in the terrorist-ridden age we live in, the only way to apply for such a check is to appear IN PERSON at a UK police station. No giving Power-Of-Attorney to a family member, etc. Nope, in person or it does not happen. This is a little tricky when you have lived outside the UK for 12 years and are now in Albania. Not exactly a day trip to get there and back. Then on top of it, it will take up to 6 weeks from the application date to get a result. SIX WEEKS – this makes Albanian bureaucracy look supremely efficient. What to do? Really could not justify the cost of a trip to UK just to visit a police station. Plan trip for weekend in Montenegro and reset 30 days appeared a good short term solution – and as long as I did not leave the country once my 90 days were up , there would be no problem. No-one would be looking for me.

As fate would have it my Green Card renewal appointment came up. I got 10 days notice to be in Charlotte, NC, USA on Jan 24. The proverbial two birds with one stone. My return ticket to US went through London. After more than trouble than it should have been (amazingly British Airway’s number in Albania cannot be reached by using a Vodafone cell-phone) my tickets were changed and I had a day in London to take care of background check business. Green card interview went well and consisted of sitting in a room with about 60 other people before being called to have my photo and fingerprints taken. That was that. Done and dusted for another ten years I guess.

Despite delays getting in and out of US due to weather in Chicago, then Charlotte, an acute attack of gout preventing me from walking, then a supposed airline strike by BA on the way back, I made it back to Albania following my brief stint across the Atlantic. Now, time to do some real work.

Though I had been working on budgets and business plans, plus volunteer job descriptions while away I was looking forward to getting moved to Shkodra and getting immersed in YMCA Albania work. Since I last wrote, the school for Roma children in Shkodra has opened. For the last 15 years, a significant number of children have not had access to education. Through a partnership between the YMCA and the Ministry of Education a new school has been built with both parties contributing resources. Most of the funds generated by the Y have come from St. Albans Baptist Church in England. Two classrooms are currently equipped and the YMCA is working on raising the rest. The Prime Minister was present and it was a bells and whistles event. Shame I was sitting in a room ran by the Department of Homeland Security in the USA while this was going on. Two classrooms have been completely furnished due to the generous efforts of St. Albans church and it is my understanding that the relevant government ministry will furnish the remaining classrooms, allowing up to 300 Roma children to attend school. For the majority this will be there first time in a classroom setting. After school hours the YMCA will have use of some portion of the facility and is also the agency of choice in organizing and running the re-integration programs for the Roma community.

In Tirana, YMCA Albania has a new group of volunteers that have been active since the start of the new year. They are currently involved in creating a vision/plan for the Y through 2010. So far they seem to be making good progress. We are also working on holding the General Assembly and creating a new, autonomous NGO structure for YMCA Shkodra. This will allow them to work independently of the National board and hopefully make them more efficient in some of their endeavors. Additionally, new YMCA office space has been secured in Tirana. This was an important step as the current office lease expired at the end of February and there is not money to cover a new lease. However, the new office is free and has the distinction of being placed, along with many other NGOs in the ‘Pyramid’ – the building which served as the mausoleum for the late communist dictator, Enver Hoxha (Hoja)

The ‘big’ project during my remaining time here will be helping YMCA Shkodra develop their Youth Activity Center. This will provide: a library, study center, internet and computer resource center complete with training classes, leadership development program, camping opportunities for youth, language courses, sports programs, coffee shop and regional YMCA office. Through the sale of memberships and revenue from internet usage and the coffee shop this operation will be self-sustaining. Thus we will shortly begin a fundraising campaign to raise the necessary $75,000 required to make this project a reality. Part of the plan is for a sponsored trans-European bicycle ride from Albania to Finland. You will of course be hearing more about this as plans progress.

Last week I secured an apartment in Shkodra and had planned to begin the moving process earlier this week However, due to a family emergency on part of the landlord that has had to be delayed.

At present I am sitting in Vienna airport – no passport, exit/entry issues so far – en route to Norway. Following that I return to Albania for about 18 hours before boarding the overnight bus to Skopje, Macedonia. While there I will attend the YMCA Field Group meeting for that country which consists of YMCA partners, from various European countries, meeting with our Macedonian counterparts to strategize and plan how to strengthen the YMCA in Macedonia.

OK – I did not get this posted as soon as I had hoped. The bus ride was easier than expected and the only issue was returning when a lady in her 50’s was ejected from the bus at the border crossing for having incorrect papers (I believe). I was treated with the usual cursory look and commanded to pay €10 entry tax.

The meeting in Macedonia was a success with the major decision being that the two YMCA organizations existing there (YCS and YMCA) reached an agreement allowing YCS to take on the role of the National organizational (recognized by YMCA Europe and YUSA) with the local YMCA being a member organization of National. IT is a complicated story of how two YMCA’s came to co-exist but the result now is that there will be one internationally recognized organization which will open up new opportunities for the youth in that country.

Back in Albania I have moved one load of stuff to Shkoder, having staggered to the bus station, during this last week. This weekend I will have the help of an American co-student from my Albanian class to help me move the rest of my belongings in his newly purchased VW van. This conjures up images of ‘bodge-it and son’ removals, but I have nothing really to break except crockery, so should not be too much trouble. Apparently payment is expected in the form of English Cheddar next time I am back there. Definitely will need to issue an IOU on that one.

On that note, I will sign off. More from Southern Europe later this month. Mirupafshim.

Ian