I am a Social Worker, holding a MA in Human Rights and Democracy in SEE. At the moment I am working for the Albanian Head of Network, which is part of Anna Lindh Foundation Network and part of an international network of over 40 countries - Albanian Forum for the Alliance of Civilizations. The main focus is intercultural and interfaith dialogue and coexistence. My working contract, however, ends in two months. After that the plan is to work full time for another NGO, YMCA-Young Man Christian Association, which has started functioning in Albania in the last 2 years and where I have been volunteering in the last year. I am a board member as well. For now there are only two people leading and working, me and a colleague, and friend of mine and we do not have an office either. YMCA has a lot of branches worldwide and quit powerful but in Albania we are still young and on our first steps. The entire work and activities that we implement are on volunteer bases but hopefully soon things will change for the best. The main focus of YMCA is youth empowerment and everything that it implies and covers: not limited only to young people, and of course not limited only to man and/or Christian. Its philosophy is a healthy body-mind-soul. This is what makes us believe and hope to have even some positive result when engaging with the community and the young people.
It is important to mention that in Albania corruption is a big problem and what is worse is that it has 'concurred' the civil society as well. This makes it difficult and sometimes even impossible for new and young organizations or centers to survive especially without the right connections. For this reason we struggle but also hope!