Albanian mothers, fathers and grandparents crowd the back of a van, eager to collect a box of gifts from Norwegian Kiwanians. For many families, the clothes, toys and housewares make the difference between struggling and getting by.
A storm is stirring in Shkrel. Not the mountainous clouds that charcoal the bolder-strewn heights of the encircling Albanian Alps. There are umbrellas to fend off such wet threats. Rather, as eight Norwegian Kiwanians approach the community center, the atmosphere is turbulent with emotions. People press in along the narrow path. An elderly lady, her head swathed in a black scarf, opens her work-stained palms. A toddler, swarmed by the crowd’s feet, clutches to the pleats of her mother’s faded skirt. Her mother’s eyes express despair. Or is it anger?
The Kiwanians are familiar with scenes like this. For nearly 20 years, they’ve been traveling to Albania to deliver boxes filled with clothing, toys and housewares to some of Europe’s poorest families. During their original visit, their driver was beaten and most of their care packages stolen.
But these people are not thieves. Their needs make them desperate. They’ve dared the threat of stormy weather to pick up a box packed tight with clothes, shoes, toys and a few household items. Their voices carry tones of frustration.
“Originally, the community leaders had requested 100 boxes,” whispers Shkodër, Albania, Kiwanian Yasmin Bushaj, the Albanian-to-English translator. “But there are 112 families here.”
And each family seems fearful it will be one of the unlucky dozen. The number soon swells to 130.
It doesn’t seem to bother Øivind Strømnes. A member of Norway’s Sarpsborg Kiwanis Club, he’s in charge of inventory. He knows how many boxes already have been distributed, how many remain promised elsewhere and how many are held in reserve for such emergencies. He calmly leafs through his spreadsheet, calculates and nods with a smile as quiet as his words: “We’re OK.”
One by one, boxes of Norwegian gifts are carried away by Shkodër parents. Each container’s supply of clothing, toys and housewares will help a family get through the coming winter.
There are enough boxes for everyone.
Outside, the sun has chased away the clouds. While the Kiwanians—their umbrellas at their sides—stand aside, community leaders take over the distribution. Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and children form a semicircle around the back of a van. A name is called. A man steps forward and shoulders one of the boxes. There’s no telling what’s inside. He turns, and the crowd opens a generously wide path. A smile underscores his beaming eyes.
“When you consider the population of 250,000 people here, what we’ve done is just a drop in the ocean,” says Horten, Norway, Kiwanian Oddvar Danbolt, who serves as the project’s president. “But for the people who receive our boxes, it’s proof someone cares—with no strings attached.”
The drops keep adding up.
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