In Albania, Changing Lives Through Education

Dear friend,

NG’s private Nehemia School is one of the top K-12 schools in Albania, and is largely self-sustaining through tuition fees. So why is it part of our GlobalGiving education campaign?

Nehemia School is an academic powerhouse, with 98% of graduates going on to university and 30% of those studying abroad. Not all academically gifted students in the Pogradec area come from families that can afford to pay tuition.  Making it possible for those students to join our school benefits us at least as much as it benefits them!

We also take in students who have a particular need for the nurturing atmosphere of the school. Nehemia School has small classes and faculty who mentor and genuinely care about each student. The services of NG’s clinic, including social workers and therapists and a robust program of free humanitarian and medical aid, are readily available in the building next door. This supportive environment goes well beyond what Albanian public schools typically provide.

For young teens in crisis, access to this environment makes all the difference. Dea (not her real name) is a sixth grader whose mother was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and was subsequently abandoned by Dea’s father. With almost no resources, her mother asked if Dea could go to Nehemia School, so that she would have support at school in dealing with what looks to be an inevitable tragedy.

Aron (not his real name) is in fifth grade, and lives with a single mother with a chronic medical condition. They live in poverty. Aron is a smart, entrepreneurial boy, and sells wildcrafted nuts and teas in town to supplement their meager income. He has tremendous potential—and is also tremendously at risk of being recruited to criminal activity in the absence of mentors and role models.

In cases like these, the nurturing environment at Nehemia School is truly life-saving. And that is why we include these scholarships in our fundraising.

This campaign is ongoing, and you can support it here.

Gratefully yours,

Sarah Pita

Development Director

NG USA

PS: All of the pictures accompanying this report were taken in 2019 at Nehemia School. This is what our students, teachers, and classrooms look like-- although now the students wear face masks and sit farther apart.