We had an exciting evening on Monday, June 24th. We were waiting at the airport to greet Sr Josette Zammit Mangion IBVM who was to visit the Mary Ward Loreto mission and Jess Templeman. Jess works at ARISE in the UK and came as a trainer for the Albanian RENATE members and a consultant for some of the NGOs in Tirana. We were so happy to welcome them to Tirana.
By the next day Jess had begun her work in Tirana, (pictures to follow), whilst Pjeter, Josette and Imelda set off early, heading for Tropoje, where we had four meetings related to the mission past, present and future. These included many topics: The development of an advisory team in the region, the women’s group developments in many villages, the future summer camp in Bajram Curri, listening to the issues and successes of the women’s group in Raja and visiting the wonderful family of Lindita. Later, in the valley of Valbona, we visited Dalvina who was working at the MWL Craft kiosk which is becoming so successful and was very impressive. Finally, in the evening, we joined the Sisters of Dushaj and shared a delicious meal in their house discussing our future collaboration. We had a wonderful day. Many thanks to Lule ( Mary Ward Loreto), PJ, and Neda (Peace Corps) and to Pjeter for steering us safely everywhere. Many thanks to our wonderful hosts.