Task Time!

It’s Saturday. Again. How can it be that I’ve reached my second weekend here already? Time is indeed passing quickly, so it’s time to buckle down and work on the grant proposal that you might remember me mentioning before I left the U.S. Let me give you a little background and info on my project…

The region in which I’m serving is called the Keneta, which means “swamp” in Albanian. Prior to the fall of Communism in 1991 the region was all farmland. Afterward, the farmers divided up the land and sold it to people from the villages who swarmed into the city looking for work. This was all done without any sort of legal process or zoning procedures. Now the region is full of illegal homes and buildings, and because of this there are no records for the buildings. People of the Kenet are generally looked down upon by the people of the city who were already living here, and the city government generally places the Kenet at the bottom of its priority list. Paved roads are nonexistent, making travel very difficult. The most common form of transportation into the city is walking, but you also see a great number of motorbikes. The roads are dirt which turns to slippery mud when it rains. Recently though, more stone has been brought into the “main” roads which makes them a little more usable during rain. No organized disposal system exists, so garbage is thrown in large piles in the streets or in the sewage canals.

About 50,000 people live in the Keneta region (all of whom have moved here since the early 90s). As a result of this rapid migration into the city and consequent overcrowding, the education system in this area suffers severely. Schools function way over capacity. Some Keneta students attend the schools which exist in other Durres districts, but most must attend the single school in the Kenet because of travel restrictions. These schools also struggle with overcrowding, but none struggle as much as the Kenet. It was build with a grant from the Soros Foundation ten years ago, but the city channels no money into it for maintenance except for staff wages. One single school is inadequate to meet the educational needs of this population. In order to serve as many children as possible, the school day is broken into three shifts, and children go to school in shifts. Classes are as large as 50 students in rooms meant for 30. Rooms are sparsely furnished with desks and chairs that students must share. Supplies must be purchased by families because there is no extra money available to the school.

Another school is desperately needed to serve this area. It is the dream of World Hope Albania (and Ken Bishop) to get another school built here, and as an international community development student, I get to help work on this project by researching and writing a grant proposal to fund the new school and find an organization who will consider funding us.

I was taken to the school yesterday to observe the facilities. Since it was the last day of school, no academic activities were going on, and I was unable to meet with the principal or a teacher. Another thing about Albania is that meetings are rarely scheduled in advance; you simply have to hope you run into the person you want to talk to or get a last-minute “Hey, do you wanna get a coffee right now?” J

Getting meetings with the right people could be a difficult task. Knowing the right people is very important. Ken has been hoping for a while to somehow get a meeting with the mayor of Durres because knowing someone as influential as he is could help us bring his attention to the needs of the Kenet. Here’s a really cool story about how God’s working on this dream for a new school: on Thursday night our team met for prayer. We prayed over Ken at the very beginning because he has been dealing with a great deal of discouragement and setbacks. We prayed that he would find the people he needs to know to make this school happen. About ten minutes later, his cell phone rang. He ignored it, but it went off four or five more times. He finally answered it, and it was a friend of his who knows the mayor and had agreed to meet with the two of them… right away. TEN MINUTES AFTER WE PRAYED FOR THIS!! It ended up that the mayor didn’t show up that night, but Ken was able to meet with him the next day and discuss his hopes for this school.

There is a field already in mind on which to build the school, and the mayor actually said that the city will buy it for us if we can secure the grant money! There are a few kinks to this promise, but it is a huge deal for us if the city follows through. PLUS… next week, if things go as hoped, I will meet with the mayor and some leaders from the Albanian Ministry of Education! When Ken told me this morning, my mouth dropped. Durres is one of the largest cities in the country, so it’s a pretty big deal to get a meeting with the mayor, especially since the elections recently took place.

This week, we are going to need your prayers. Now that I understand why this school is so important, I am starting to see the seriousness of the task I’ve been given, and it’s a little overwhelming, especially when I’ve never done anything like this before, and it’s probably even more overwhelming for Ken (my supervisor and World Hope Albania director) who carries the burden of many other development issues plus a huge heart to see an Albanian church planted in the Kenet. But between Ken and his wife, Dawn, I’ve never seen any two people so in love with Jesus and so hopeful to see Christ glorified in the community in which they live, a community of people whose hope hangs by a thread. I am incredibly honored to be working under them. I could write pages and pages about some of the things they’ve endured in order to be here which would and has caused many others to give up and leave. They have a very strong hope, so please pray God’s blessings and protection over them!