I have seen a lot, but no one sees me.
The courses in Lezha and Gjadër are slowly coming to an end. We have now completed four out of five course days at both locations. For the young people in Lezha, this means that we have finished HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and that they will take their final exam for the course tomorrow, Friday. If they pass, they will all receive a certificate and the grades will be included in their computer science grades at school. For the children in Gjadër, there was a little variety today, as Olivia and Michelle were back in Gjadër and everyone took their first playful steps in programming together. Tomorrow, on their last day of the course, they will deepen their Excel skills.
12.04.2024
In addition to the courses, we also make interesting acquaintances. For example, we met Pedro. He is a slightly older waiter at the Lalanu restaurant who is actually a trained bartender. We got talking because he speaks perfect German. He told us a lot, including that he speaks six languages fluently. He has lived in several places in Europe, but ultimately returned to Albania. He likes it here, he says. Thanks to his experiences, he has a very clear idea of what tourism can look like. He thinks there is still room for improvement in Albania. Most of the people who come here are Albanian expats visiting their families. The country's official tourism figures are greatly embellished, and what you see on TV does not correspond to his experience. You see lots of beautiful pictures, but you don't see people like him there. “I've seen a lot, but no one sees me.”
During this hospital visit, I met a young woman (in her second year of high school) who was also visiting someone with her parents. She was very interested in the iSTEP program and listened attentively as I told her our story.
Nun ist der Moment gekommen, allen Einsatzteilnehmern für das absolut geniale Engagement ganz herzlich zu danken. Ich danke aber auch dem ganzen iSTEP-Team und all denen, die für iSTEP gespendet haben. So konnten wir die Kursausrüstung besorgen (Laptop und Zubehör, Memory-Sticks, Kabel, Verteiler, Transportkisten usw.) Durch all diese Unterstützung ist ein solcher Hilfs-Einsatz überhaupt möglich.
So, Pink Floyd is slowly fading away on TV... and as with all my volunteer work, I can say: yes, I'm tired, but very happy, and it was once again worth it. I'm proud of you ALL. Warm regards, Adrian
