Family and Community Education
The Problem
The breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s left the eastern European region bankrupt financially and morally, with people across the Balkans looking for deeper spiritual answers.
Albania is a small, mountainous country in the Balkan peninsula. With a Muslim majority, almost 20 percent of the population are Christians, divided mainly between the Orthodox and smaller Catholic denominations. Albania’s 1992 elections ended 47 years of communist rule, but the latter half of the decade saw a quick turnover of presidents and prime ministers, and many Albanians left the country in search of work.
Meanwhile, nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina is still recovering from a devastating three-year war which accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. The 1992-1995 conflict centered on whether Bosnia should stay in the Yugoslav Federation or become independent. Now an independent state, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three main ethnic groups are Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims: 51%), Croats (Catholic Christians: 15%) and Serbs (Eastern Orthodox Christian: 31%). The war left the country’s infrastructure and economy in tatters. Around two million people — about half the population — were displaced.
WHI's Solution
Through the Education Resource Center (ERC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, World Hope International (WHI) is empowering change by resourcing local educators and organizations. The ERC offers all local teachers and educators access to classroom space, printers, computers, projectors, and books, which promoting affordable access to education and learning resources for educators and students alike. Seminars have also been held on developing better communication in the family.
In Albania, working together with other NGOs and the mayor's office, WHI gathers families together once a month for a seminar/discussion. Over a period of nine months, the classes discuss topics such as parenting, domestic violence, communication, family budgeting, health, hygiene, and community involvement.
WHI Albania also has a program where they provide people with education and assistance about the wide-range of problems that impact their communities. Focus areas include health-care, employment, welfare from the local government, disability/handicapped services, and support to help integrate those who have recently moved from villages to the city into the services available to them.
In addition, parents are taught how to provide for their families through vocational and community trainings, helping them to be better farmers or small business owners, improved community members, and stronger parents. WHI also has a day care center for children of widows. Originally founded in 2008, this center now also offers after-school help and biblical education.
WHI's impact is opening doors in communities. Our staff are known as people who care for their communities by training teachers, providing a space for special education students and at-risk teens, and offering support for the whole family. WHI has seen great impact on families and is very excited about continuing our programming in the Balkans, as ours are some of very few programs offered in the area that engage entire families, including men.