At age twelve, Flaka Gashi deals with unusual job, selling cigarettes in the streets of Prishtina. She has a father who is works’ invalid, mother who is housewife and three younger sisters. Recently she left the school, in order, to make money to feed her family.
In a lot of ways, Gashi is like a lot of young Albanian children; she belongs to poor family. However, in other ways she is different from several of her contemporaries. She is the only working person in her family.
“In the near past, Albanian family had values. It was impossible to work if you were not a grown person”, says Xhavit Shala, a sociologist. “At the present, Albanian families are faced with a lot of changes. Everybody, including children, is potential worker. This is a result of economic problems. The accumulation of economic disadvantages can really place the children, at a very high risk for reliance on their families. What is more, children are considered as a mean of profit”.
“Concerning the problems that Albanian families are facing with”, Shala says “I am not so optimistic that we will resolve this problem in the near future.
Like Shala, Gashi is pessimistic too. “I do not enjoy while doing this. Sometimes, when I don’t sell anything, I have to beg people to buy from me cigarettes or chewing gum”, says Gashi. “People know to be very cruel sometimes. Once, an owner of cafeteria told me with ignorance: hey, child without childhood, get the hell out of my property”.
In a lot of ways, Gashi is like a lot of young Albanian children; she belongs to poor family. However, in other ways she is different from several of her contemporaries. She is the only working person in her family.
“In the near past, Albanian family had values. It was impossible to work if you were not a grown person”, says Xhavit Shala, a sociologist. “At the present, Albanian families are faced with a lot of changes. Everybody, including children, is potential worker. This is a result of economic problems. The accumulation of economic disadvantages can really place the children, at a very high risk for reliance on their families. What is more, children are considered as a mean of profit”.
“Concerning the problems that Albanian families are facing with”, Shala says “I am not so optimistic that we will resolve this problem in the near future.
Like Shala, Gashi is pessimistic too. “I do not enjoy while doing this. Sometimes, when I don’t sell anything, I have to beg people to buy from me cigarettes or chewing gum”, says Gashi. “People know to be very cruel sometimes. Once, an owner of cafeteria told me with ignorance: hey, child without childhood, get the hell out of my property”.
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