Visit to Albanian Villiage

Today was a Macedonian Reality Check.

The building we work in is beautiful, my apartment would be bearable by american standards, but is nice here, but mostly the biggest difference until today has been like ehh-- the roads aren't as nice, there are some run down deserted houses, etc. It looks like a really run down American city-- kind of what I assume Detroit to resemble these days. Today, however, we drove to this little Albanian village (but still in macedonia) and went to one of the schools labeled as a "green schools". I had spent so much time researching american green schools in the U.S., which are easily the most beautiful, state of the art, like oh heyo, this piece of wood was hand carved by my mother and now it has given itself to us for the children of the world-- kind of mentality. I know I wasn't expecting that, but I certainly wasn't expecting to go in the school and see that what made it a "green school" -- or environmentally friendly, were the very EXISTENCE of trash cans (not abundance, just a few tiny trash cans), florescent lighting, a bike rack, and new windows. It was insane. This school needs a new (central) heating system because currently they use wood stoves in each classroom and the floor tiles are all broken because half of the school hasn't been updated since it was originally built in the 1930's. And here's the thing. Even if they did something, i.e. not throw their trash off the side of the mountain, the entire village is covered in trash anyway because the government doesn't have a garbage system. The school would have no where to put any waste they were responsibly disposing of.
These are not problems I was prepared to face. We discussed in our IDIP class - I think with Ian - the differences between disaster, recovery and development work. I see why people gravitate toward disaster relief- there are very tangible, attainable goals that deal with the very basics. And afterward, you are released from thinking about the quality of life of the victims prior to the disaster (natural or not). As if Katrina victims were all living in mansions and just happened to get caught in a flood. Development work is different. It's not depressing in the way the pictures of Haiti are. It's not urgent like a tsunami and the deliverables may not be nearly as large or as rewarding for those signing checks. But I feel almost sadder. Because development projects slowly trek along. With school directors with no teeth and teachers in misfit blazers, carefully unfolding his plans for the first central heating system that would improve the lives of all the children in this small village.

When we were driving into the small town, Ilir pointed our an old graveyard that was jutting off the side of a small cliff rising about us on the right side. You could tell from the looks of it, that over years of erosion and lack of upkeep, layers and layers of dirt had disappeared: leaving human bones exposed to not only the presumed disrespect of the open air, but to the likes of small children and dogs.

Yesterday and this morning i had all of these great ideas about what we could do... how i could bring in a new perspective. and they were excited about it too... but now i'm feeling very helpless. Ilir and i were driving back from the school and I said, "they know what they need," the school director had pulled out this folder that he was very proud of and was showing me the plans for a central heating system, "but they just don't have the money for any of it. what can i do?" He kind of laughed sadly at my naive frustration and said, "we ask ourselves that everyday. what can any of us do?"

Well, unless you happen to have 50,000 euros, in which case you can heat a small primary school in Western Macedonia.