“Providing food, clothes, shoes. People in North America are helping Words of Hope Albania amplify our efforts and bring a helping hand to these hurting people,” says Erion Prendi.
Erion is the director of Words of Hope Albania. In August of last year, the Albanian government agreed to take in thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, locating many of them indefinitely inside a compound near Words of Hope’s offices.
“We were immediately involved,” says Erion. “We found out what it would take for us to have access to these people.”
Now the Words of Hope team is interacting with the refugees, forming relationships, and engaging in spiritual conversations with them.
One young woman told her story to Words of Hope. She was in the first class of girls to go to school after 9/11 and the fall of the Taliban. She excelled at her studies and became the first female prosecutor in her region.
At the time of the Taliban invasion last year, she was working on a team that sought to end harassment of women. The Taliban let prisoners out of the jails, and soon she received threats from people that she had helped to put behind bars.
She was able to escape the country, but her family is still in Afghanistan, and still in hiding. What heartbreak! And yet, she is one of the people who began organizing efforts to make Afghan food available to her fellow refugees in order to encourage those around her.
“Everyone was missing the food from Afghanistan,” she says. “We want to bring a smile for the people here. The food gives them hope and happiness.”
With support from Words of Hope donors, the Afghan women are now cooking meals in a nearby restaurant kitchen three days per week. The Albanian team helps refugees receive the meals for a very small price, or at no cost at all, depending on their situation.
“We know many of the refugees will be here for at least a couple years,” says Words of Hope Albania director Erion Prendi. “You can help Words of Hope Albania amplify our efforts and bring a helping hand to these hurting people.”
