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1. Establish lending libraries in all eleven schools of the Shkreli School District.
In 2002 when the Albanian Alps Institute was established, there were essentially no library books in any of the 11 schools in the Shkreli School District in Malesia e Madhe. Steve first took books to Boga in the winter of 2001. When Steve and Terri returned to Boga in the fall of 2002, they took more, In the US we take lending libraries for granted. But in Albania the very idea of "loaning" a book to someone and trusting them to bring it back, is a concept that is new since Communism collapsed. In our Shkreli School District students have about 250 books in each library to choose from. We continually buy books as funds become available.
In 2005 three kindergartens were established--in Reci, Zagora, and Dedaj. Since then we have provided over 200 heavy board books appropriate for this age group.
Volunteer to transcribe or translate books.
2. Basic school supplies.
Albania is the poorest country in Europe. The schools are frequently just building shells, simply partitioned into classrooms with cheap chalkboards on one wall and very basic, decrepit desks. The children on the other hand are very bright and eager to learn.
By providing such basics as better chalk boards and chalk; art supplies including paper, colored pencils and crayons, scissors, etc.; microscopes, and other science laboratory equipment we can make a big difference in the children's education. There is also a shortage of reference books and dictionaries and we help alleviate that shortage.
3. Scholarships.
There are no secondary schools in the Shkreli School District. To stay away from home while attending high school costs about $500/year, and many village families can't afford even this. AAI gives $500/year high school scholarships to qualified students, $250/year scholarships for correspondence courses for girls in the village who are not allowed to attend high school, and $200/year stipends the Early Intervention Program.
AAI is particularly interested in seeing girls go on to high school. It has concerned Steve from the inception that girls in Shkrel do not have an equal chance as boys to attend high school. Sending girls to high school flies in the face of tradition as the girls are kept at home after the ninth grade (highest grade in the village schools) and then are married at around age 18. This tradition ignores that the world changing under the mountaineers. So we instituted an "Early Intervention" program through which we provide a small stipend for promising girls to buy educational supplies and books. The idea behind this program is that the parents, will then be more likely to see their daughter as high school material. With donor support, we hope to offer high school scholarships to the most talented of these girls.
4. English Teachers.
We hired our first English teacher in Boga in 2001, and now provide English classes in three villages. These programs have been so successful that in 2007 two students that came up through this program are in the US attending high school.
5. Pay for school repairs.
Since the school buildings in Shkreli are in very poor condition, we have paid for physical repairs on some of them. We have installed toilets in Vrithi and Razma; new blackboards and electrical system in Vrithi; and provided blackboards, fixed the windows, floors, porches, and toilets in Boga. Reci has a biology/chemistry lab that has no equipment. Bzheta needs desks, a toilet, new windows and a door.
©2003 Albanian Alps Institute