By James Leithart | Communication Director
Imagine a young Roma boy or girl trying to attend school for the first time.
At the beginning, attendance is often inconsistent. Families are cautious. Trust comes slowly. Many children arrive unsure of what to expect, unsure whether they belong in a place centered on learning. School has not always been a place where they feel confident.
Progress, at first, looks small.
It looks like showing up one more afternoon than the week before.
It looks like finishing homework.
It looks like making eye contact with a teacher.
Like asking a question.
Like believing - just a little - that learning might be something they are capable of.
And this is exactly where our after-school program at NG Gjirokaster comes in. Every day, our staff and volunteers dedicate their time to work with the children to help them see the value in school.
Each afternoon, children come to a safe and structured environment where they receive help with homework, tutoring, and encouragement from staff who know them by name. For many of them, this is the first place where someone consistently sits beside them and helps them work through a math problem, read a paragraph again, or finish an assignment that once felt impossible.
Week after week, our staff keeps showing up.
Not lowering the bar, but not giving up either.
And slowly, something begins to change.
The confidence children begin to build in the program starts to carry over into their time at school. A child who once felt overwhelmed by an assignment walks into the classroom knowing they have already practiced it the afternoon before. A student who might have been timid about attending school begins to go more regularly, because they know someone will help them understand the work later that day.
Afternoon by afternoon, our staff guides them through the challenges of school; reviewing lessons, explaining difficult concepts, and helping them complete their assignments. The classroom becomes less intimidating. School begins to feel more manageable.
Not overnight. But steadily.
And that’s been true again and again.
Not because we found the perfect formula, but because small efforts, repeated day after day, begin to compound. Homework gets finished. Understanding grows. Confidence follows.
And little by little, children who once wondered whether school was a place for them begin to believe that it is. And that they are capable of succeeding there.
Thank you for helping make this possible. Your support allows us to keep showing up each afternoon, walking alongside these children as they grow in confidence and take meaningful steps forward in their education.
Best,
James Leithart
Communication Director, NG USA
By James Leithart | Communication Director
By James Leithart | Communication Director
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
