Give young women a lifetime of opportunity through professional cooking classes and personal development.

Why we care: With no education and proper training, young women from Lezhe, Albania are at risk of being extremely marginalized, sexually exploited, or underground immigration.

How we’re solving this: We’re giving young women in Lezhe shelter and protection, teaching them how to cook through professional training, and hosting sports activities for their all-around development.

Northern Albania, and in particular the district of Lezhe, is the poorest region of Albania. Public schools in the area have strong educational deficiencies, and students don’t get proper training opportunities. Because finding a job is difficult without adequate training, women are often subject to underground immigration, early marriage, and human trafficking for prostitution.

With your support, we’ll help to solve these problems. We’ll provide room and board for 10 at-risk young women (16-25 years old) for 12 months. Also, we’ll organize professional cooking courses, totaling 400 hours, for 15 women who are staying at the shelter home. Finally, we’ll host sports activities for 30 girls from the Youth Centre to help them make the most of their leisure time.

With 23 years of experience in Albania, the Salesian Sisters have tested and implemented successful cooking course and sports activities, but they require financial support to reach more girls. The Salesian Sisters have already obtained financing for the shelter home, however they need support to provide room and board to girls.

Our goal is simple – we want to give more women the opportunity to have a better future. After professional training, these young women will obtain a certificate recognized by the Ministry of Labor, which helps them find a job or even start a business. For example, Florina, a young mother we empowered, opened a small fast food restaurant to pay for the education of her three children.

Help us empower more women like Florina in Albania.