Together with Don Bosco, the H. Stepic CEE Charity developed a project with the purpose of giving Albanian street children access to education and thus reintegrating them into society. Due to the country’s poor economic and social conditions, problems like prostitution and crime, as well as a lack of education, training, infrastructure and jobs are unfortunately part of many lives of adolescent Albanians. Especially the Roma and Egyptian minorities are affected. Children often do not have access to education, because their families cannot afford basic prerequisites for school attendance. To assure their families’ survival, many children – instead of learning at school – have to beg on the streets or work to support the family.
The joint project counteracts this injustice by offering educational programs for approximately 180 street children aged between 6 and 17. The children are taught in 5 classes. Furthermore, individual curricula that are tailored to the children’s special needs are developed with the aim of reintegrating the children into the educational system. Participants over15 years receive vocational training. The initiative reduces the risk of social exclusion and the threat of slipping into the abysses of crime. The Charity contributes significantly to the reduction of poverty in Tirana.
