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Frankth, North Albania

A reward for their exemplary commitment

The school in Frankth for year 1-9 thrives due to the big personal commitment of its female teachers. IPA has solved the first problems of their school and has so rewarded them for their efforts.

October 2019: A woman is climbing the steep dirt road towards the village of Frankth. The representatives of IPA and Vizion O.J.F. our Albanian partner organisation in this region, decides to give her a lift in their car. Suela Koçibellinj asks her where she is going. "To the meeting of the Parent Teacher Association at the school.""What is the situation like in the school?""Oh, it is fantastic. There have been so many improvements. Above all the new woodburning heaters, I have never seen anything like it. Super! Whoever has carried out this project must have invested a lot of money.'' She could hardly stop raving about the new school and she does not even ask who is giving her a lift. However when the headmistress welcomes IPA and Vizion to the PTA meeting she finally knows.

We all enjoyed listening to this spontaneous feedback. The school and the kindergarten in Frankth were facing enormous problems. The smallest children at the kindergarten had to share a few square metres in a room which was supposed to be the staffroom. There were no functioning toilets, the teachers had created teaching materials themselves, heating and blackboards had to be urgently replaced, and the floor was full of holes. There were problems everywhere, but the 14 female teachers and the sports teacher constantly did their best to give their pupils the best possible education.

Tears of helplessness

The discussions with the headmistress and the teachers at the beginning of the project were not easy. With tears in their eyes and gesticulating wildly they told us about their daily struggles. The director of education who had no financial means to alter their situation silently listened. She had taken the trouble to come to Frankth to ask the guests from Switzerland for help, and so it was these women who finally convinced us to start this project. They taught their children enthusiastcally, organised activities, cleaned the surroundings together with them and paid for small excursions and small acquisitions out of their own modest salaries. ''Those who work here share our values and make financial contributions as well", is how the headmistress described this extraordinary commitment. So far she has been rewarded with two phases of support. In 2019 proper toilets were installed. This was followed by the purchase of chairs and desks, woodburning heaters, blackboards and teaching materials. A year later a new kindergarten was built. "It's as nice as those in Germany" said a woman who had returned to the village after some time abroad. The mayor's office offered to contribute to the costs and enlarged the base area of the building. The TV station MAT reported the opening ceremony extensively. Maybe other part-projects will follow in 2022. They are certainly necessary and by then parents will definitely know who has initiated the changes.

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