Temperatures falling in Albania stave off rain, but not IDP challenges

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Stabilizing weather and low temperatures have significantly improved the flood situation in northwest Albania, in the Shkodra region. Although the water level has decreased in some areas, other areas continue to suffer with high water levels due to their proximity to river and lake embankments that have been destroyed due to the floodwaters. These areas remain isolated and are only reachable by government helicopters, military cars and small boats. Families in Shkodra who faced surviving the worst flooding in the last century, are now struggling with surviving an icy cold winter that has embraced all of Europe. Temperatures in northern Albania have decreased to an average -10 degrees Celsius at night and remain below zero during the day, and the mountains and hills around Shkodra, and all over Albania, are covered from the year's first snowfall. The Albanian government, World Vision (WV) and other NGOs, churches and other actors are providing the most basic needs to those displaced, including food, water, clothes and blankets. However, recent, rapid temperature changes have brought on other needs, including warmer clothes, more blankets, and heating in the shelters. 'I still have the same clothes from when I came here days ago,' says Lediona, an 11-year-old girl who now lives in one of the local university dorms. 'I am cold as these clothes are not that warm.' Often in emergency situations there is a great need for psychosocial and spiritual care, as well as places where children can interact with other children to restore some normalcy to their displaced lives. Over and above living in emergency shelters, away from their homes, the cold is also disrupting the lives of children. 'We stay in our rooms all the time and we don't have the opportunity to go out and play because it's so cold,' said Denisa, a 9-year-old girl. To respond to these needs, WV has opened two Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) in two of the dorms where there are more than 160 displaced children. WV is also collaborating with other partners, including churches and other NGOs, to support children in other dorms and shelters with psychosocial support and child-friendly activities. 'I like so much being here together with other kids, playing and have fun' said Gerta, a 5-year-old girl who has been attending one of the CFS. Through these CFS activities, WV's Shkodra Area Development Programme (ADP) is also raising the awareness of children and their parents in education and health issues, such as hygiene matters related to floods as well as other issues related to general healthy lifestyle choices. 'I liked the activities because I learned about hygiene, how to wash my teeth, and how to wash my hands before and after I eat,' said Silva, a 7-year-old girl. And Pranvera, a 17-year-old girl who also attends the CFS, said, 'what I liked mostly about being together is that we talked about smoking and how it can damage our health.' The current flooding in Shkodra has left in its wake 12,000 displaced people, 4,600 houses underwater, and major damage to 14,400 hectares of arable land, leaving all the crops destroyed. In addition to the cold, many in the flooded communities do not have access to drinking water due to serious damage to the water supply system, and reports warn of potential damage to sewage systems as well, which could lead to potential epidemics in the area. WV has joined forces with the government and other partners to determine how to best coordinate and respond to the flooding. In the long-term, WV will focus on helping some 5,000 inhabitants in Shkodra, working in schools, kindergartens, emergency shelters, and in the two most-affected neighbourhoods of WV's Shkodra ADP. WV plans to continue to support affected families with their basic necessities, including providing hygiene kits, heaters, clothing, and food. WV will also continue to operate CFS to provide children with a friendly, supervised environment in which they can play and learn with a group of their peers, as well as receive psychosocial support. World Vision started its programmes in Albania in April 1999 in response to the Kosovo refugee crisis, working in the capital, Tirana, as well as in the cities of Saranda, Elbasan, and Vlora. Today World Vision Albania assists children, their families and communities through ten Area Development Programmes (ADPs) in Lezha, Vlora, two in Elbasan, Kurbin, Tirana, Shkodra, Dibra, Korca, and Librazhd, as well as through its microfinance organisation, VisionFund Albania, which took over the former microfinance institution, 'Building Futures' in January 2010.