Greenhouse for children with disabilities

My name is Mamica and I am from Albania, but living in Sweden with my little family for about 10 years now. Before coming to Sweden, I was volunteering with Beyond Barriers Association (BBA), a local youth CSO that supports and promotes education of youth in Albania and beyond. As a volunteer I was working with the special school Luigj Gurakuqi which at present hosts 127children with intellectual disabilities. The association I volunteered with continues working with the school and supports them in different ways.
I learned from BBA that COVID-19 has taken a toll on these kids may be more than on other target group, by isolating them and creating several post reactions, such a loneliness, anger, dis-association, social anxiety etc.
I would be so thankful if we gather the support and help these children in need to have something new in their environment, more precisely a Greenhouse.

 
Through the donations of this campaign Beyond Barriers Association wants to re-build a greenhouse for 127 pupils at Luigj Gurakuqi School. The greenhouse will serve as an educational space where children with special needs can gain skills in horticulture and floriculture, can practice daily life skills of care and interaction, and can fight the isolation by interacting in a new environment. The school used to have a small greenhouse which has been ruined and is now out of function. For this purpose we would like to rebuild it and expand it so it can be useful for the school kids. The greenhouse will be as a small farm where children with special needs can farm flowers, garden crops like fruits and vegetables and will effectively include them in the process of planting and growing.
The main aim of the action is to create a safe and better environment for children with special needs and in addition to crop cultivation, it will also help them to build skills for life and the labor market.


The impact of this campaign will be seen in different aspects. Firstly, the new greenhouse will help children with special needs to learn how to cultivate flowers and crops and be more self-confident by interacting and learning life skills. Secondly, the greenhouse will be a safe and inclusive environment for the children to show their skills but also to improve their motor skills and communication skills. Thirdly, by supporting this campaign, you will help our community and society to become more inclusive and less discriminative against people with disabilities, while creating better awareness in the local community in Tirana and Albania.


The funds of this campaign will be administered by Beyond Barriers Association. BBA is a nonprofit organization established in Tirana, Albania in 2004. Their mission is to promote inclusion, equal chances and better quality of life for all young people and supporting the foundations of building a better society for the present and the future generations. You can read more about them here: About BBA – Beyond Barriers


Every single donation   to this campaign has a great value for us and will support us in making this project come true. In these regards the funds will support the:

-          Preparation and adaptation of the land spot to construct the greenhouse;

-          Establishing the propagation, electricity and ventilation systems;

-          Building the greenhouse structure;

-          Replacing the glass with a safe and resistant material that does not risk the children and helps the crops grow;

-          Internal infrastructure for different plant types;

-          Seeds, seedlings and baby plants;

-          Tools such as: Gloves, trowels, hand forks, labels, buckets, etc.