By Eri Geiger
I have had many challenges in my life – like most of us – but the greatest challenge of them all has been, and still is, parenthood. Very often I find myself challenged by my children, my consciousness, marriage, friendship, work and so many other roles that I have chosen to play. But the most challenging and inspirational is parenthood! And let me tell you that there is nothing wrong or challenging about my children, they are as normal as a child their age could be, and still, I find myself struggling from sunrise to sunset.
These days I have been introduced to another reality of a mother similar to myself. She has four children. One of them, a girl, is diagnosed with epilepsy and behavioral disorder. It may not immediately sound severe but believe me it is a difficult medical case. She doesn’t have to take care only of her child with special needs, but also of the other three; one of whom is a teenager who wants nothing more than to stay away from this problem, and from the shame and confusion that her sister makes her feel. This mom is responsible for the financial wellbeing of the family, by working three different jobs (and not the best ones you can find). On the top of everything, she also must find a way to manage her husband’s addiction to alcohol.
Both stories are realities of modern-day motherhood, but mothers like her are, in my opinion, “heroes” of today. I can find my support and inner peace through my marriage, through my children, through family trips, through professional achievements, through friendship.
“She doesn’t have our life, the luxury to have what we have, to appreciate it, to feel understood and loved, to seek her inner achievements, she has “buried” them deep down. For her, priority number one is her daughter’s therapy, her daughter’s treatment, that she already receives through our speech therapy program in Buçimas. She gets her inner peace, her support, understanding and often help from the social workers,” explains Nikoleta, the head of the Social and Medical Improvement (SMI) project in Buçimas.
For more than 31 years the speech therapy program has been one of the most vital parts of the SMI program. Every day the waiting list of children that need treatment grows longer. Every day we see confused, tired, and hurt parents inside the “Xhemil Zgjani” building doors. And every day we must give these “silent heroes” comfort, support, and solution to their problem.
This is the reason why I want you to join me and NG Albania to further support this program, which has the power to change lives, which has the power to comfort and support these tired souls – emotionally burdened parents, sick children, families, sisters, brothers and so on. If we work together, we can decrease the number of the children on the waiting list even more.
