Pandemia exacerbated Kosovars, food and medicine demand added

720 other families have been assisted by the organisation “Mother and happy children”. These families were helped with medicines, food packages, and many even household users. Since March many more groups have opened up to help the needy.

The increase in the number of poor families during pandemic time also confirm on the Kosovo Red Cross. Armend Shala from this organisation says that since the beginning of the year, but also the spread of pandemic has increased citizens' demand for assistance.

“As Kosovo's Red Cross, so far we have distributed over 30,000 food and sanitation packages. Last time we had the donor from Qatar's Red Halfage, where they donated a donation of 20 thousand dollars for the purchase of clothing to raise children and families in need. Now we're doing their distribution. Likewise, a group from the diaspora have donated a 107-pack of food, and these are distributed in the holiday period”, Shala reports.

Kosovo's Red Cross is currently helping about 14,000 households at the country's level. On March 13th, the Emergency Operations Centre has also been established for the situation created with COVID-19.

We've had the list of over 10,000 families we've helped, and so far we've noticed there's been up to 30 percent to 40 percent growth from what we've had in existence. We as the Red Cross of Kosovo have tried to help all those who have sought our help. For now, we help some 14,000 households at the country level, throughout the Republic of Kosovo, with food, sanitation, clothing, and others. What we have options and which are offered by donors”, he adds.

Most of the new cases that have sought help are people who have lost their jobs after the pandemic. Most of which were construction workers as well as day workers who lost their jobs.

Kosovo's Red Cross has already launched the project for people who are lonely.

We started the first time, some 500 cases we've identified (single persons) at the country level. And now we have the support of the donor. U n NFPA, which by the end of the year we think of supporting some 1500 such cases”, notes Shala.

Now six years, families in need are being assisted by the organisation “Mother and happy children”. Director Edita Dula says the biggest demands during this time have been for medicine.

We have helped many children with various drugs that humans have donated, mainly because the entire organization functions from people of goodwill. Then we have top priority mothers. And some of them we've already made for us. Then we have made two families of living quarters, normally donors, but they have also chosen the family here. Then we constantly help in different ways, each of the donors here has been able to choose how he wants to help a family. There have been those who have chosen a family for every month who received food package from that person”, Dula relates.

Many of the donors have assisted children diagnosed with serious operating diseases abroad. The number of cases that were presented near the organisation has passed the 700-sosh figure.

“in the organisation are registered 720 families, with accuracy. Somewhere near 300 are self-friendly mothers. On a daily basis we've been helping these mothers and these families. In the time of the pandemic, demand has actually increased to register new families, but we haven't had a chance to register them, but for those that are constantly distributed various food packages. The greatest demand now that I have of many mothers is primarily for medicine, especially for children with chronic illnesses. There are different donors asking for different tests that are usually private, and they are not done in the state, and one with one social does not have the potential to run those” tests, Dula relates.

Dula has called on institutions to take social cases first.

“Kisa demanded that these single mothers especially have greater support because most of them lack family support and leave more institutional. Most of them live for rent, live under very difficult conditions. But also for these families to have at least a release in service, especially for sick children, then there are those who have no information about where to send children who have different diseases and come looking for help”, says Dula.

Pandemia has also burdened the plight of families in need. The state with the beginning of the pandemic had decided to double the amount of money these families receive for three months. In Kosovo, 24 thousand families, or about 7% of the family economies, depend on social aid from the state.