The journey of a hard-working Roma woman providing for her son who was born with a disability

Many people from the Western Balkans go abroad for work opportunities, but the Roma face particular challenges reintegrating when they return. The most common challenge reported by returnees in the region, including Albania, is employment, followed by lack of decent housing and access to education. In Albania, there was no social protection programme targeting returnees specifically. Back in Elbasan, Blerta was without a home or work, and now had two children to support. Lack of formal education made it difficult for her to find profitable work, and posed challenges for the paperwork needed for a stable life. “Life was harder. I couldn’t feed my children. Homeless, I was moving between relatives: one week at one person’s house and the next one at another’s,” says Blerta.

Despite all the challenges, Blerta was still full of the positive energy which is apparent in the warmth of care for her family: her main goal was to fulfil all her children’s needs. She joined many NGO activities developed for women and their integration in society, and was particularly involved with a vocational training programme for women returnees. The project was called “Strengthening national and local systems to support the effective socio-economic integration of returnees in the Western Balkans”, funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP. Mirjeta Ramizi from UNDP Albania explains that Blerta has been actively involved in many project activities. One of the activities was a business idea for production and marketing of natural handmade soap. Along with other women, Blerta was trained in this craft and provided with raw material and marketing assistance. This income-generating activity is in its initial stages and is running well but, according to Mirjeta, the ladies have higher ambitions, and their newly founded company is looking to expand their market.

As an ambitious and hardworking woman, Blerta also joined another programme, focused on the development of individual business ideas. Since she returned to Albania, she had been making a living through the repair and resale of second-hand goods. Now, with the support of the project, she is planning to turn this part-time activity into a fully developed business. The project is helping her to develop a business plan for opening premises or a trailer-like mobile shop to sell the second-hand goods.

In Albania the project is providing support in the municipalities of Berat, Devoll, and Fier, where the number of returnees is higher than in other municipalities. Apart from direct assistance to the returnees, which is implemented in cooperation with partner NGOs, the project also provides support to Albania’s local and central government in developing strategies and action plans to address the needs of returnees. Mirjeta from UNDP explains that the economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and earlier crises caused by the COVID 19 pandemic have shifted the attention of government into these immediate issues. “Through this project we established effective local and national partnerships and drew attention to the needs and challenges of vulnerable communities and returnees,”she says.

Blerta’s son, now 17, is doing much better. He receives regular physiotherapy at home and at a local centre, supported through a UNDP project with EU and Sustainable Development Goal Fund financing. He has access to better medical care and is still surrounded by a loving family who give attention to his development and care. Blerta’s daughter Leje, now ten, has interest in languages, has won several running medals and loves spending time with her brother. The family still faces struggles with housing though, looking for a home with basic facilities that they can afford. Blerta says, “The biggest dream is to have a house for my two children, so that even when I’m not with them, they will be organised and live a decent life.”