Final: CRS chose to focus its feeding program in Albania specifically on children attending kindergarten. In school year 2002-2003, there were 33 kindergartens participating in the program, feeding almost 4,000 children. CRS targeted kindergartens within the five prefectures where CRS branch offices are located (Tirana, Fier, Durres, Elbasan and Kukes) and where CRS has the capacity to monitor and assess both the beneficiaries and counterpart distribution sites. The schools themselves were selected based on the desire of all stakeholders for change, willingness to work inclusively with all stakeholders, and potential to develop a good model for other schools in the community.

In addition, CRS has worked on Parent-School Partnerships (PSP) to link food programming with educational development programming. By working with kindergartens, CRS began PSP programming with parents of young children. Getting parents involved at the early stages of their children’s education raises awareness of the importance of nutrition, educational stimulation and parental engagement in the schooling process. Food programming brings parents together to talk about nutrition and health. CRS also hopes to eventually work with government nutritionists to modify the kindergarten diet, which has remained unchanged since 1955.

CRS works with signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Albanian Ministry of Education on the national level, and with the Directories of Education and Municipalities on the regional level.

Midterm: The first distribution of commodities to schools began in April 2002 to supplement existing feeding programs. In the first month, the program reached 32 schools with a combined enrollment of 3,915 children. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) also awarded small grants to parent councils to repair and expand school facilities and purchase education materials. Because feeding began in April 2002, there are few documented impacts for the project, although preliminary information indicates an increase in attendance. The program is scheduled to operate until September 2003.

The Global Food for Education Program (GFE) mitigates certain economic reasons for low attendance and relieves hunger-based hindrances to classroom learning. CRS decided to build on its previously successful project with parent-school partnerships and to focus GFE interventions on kindergartens in five regions where CRS was already working, including the poorest region in the country.

Final: This year, CRS received a total of approximately 320 total metric tons of commodities, which included 150 tons of nonfat dry milk, 40 tons of rice, 20 tons of corn oil, and 110 tons of wheat flour. The shipments arrived separately, but all commodities arrived at the port of Durres between January 20 and February 8, 2003. Of this year’s shipments, CRS intends to barter 149.875 tons of the nonfat dry milk in exchange for fresh dairy products.

Midterm: The agreement between CRS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was signed on July 27, 2001. CRS requested 740 metric tons of the following commodities: wheat flour, 260 tons; non-fat dry milk, 340 tons; rice, 90 tons; and vegetable oil, 50 tons.

CRS received a total of 707.19 tons of commodities. The loss occurred between the U.S. port and receipt in Albania. CRS assumes that the majority of the loss occurred during overland shipping from Greece, but it cannot verify that because there was no shipping agency representation at the Albanian border, nor were there any personnel to make visual inspections at the various ports along the way from the United States. There were significant delays in the customs clearance process in Durres, Albania, and it took more than three and one-half months to clear all of the commodities. This delay resulted in a late start for the GFE program in Albania, meaning that CRS will have to feed during parts of two school years. However, USDA has granted an extension and sufficient commodities to complete the feeding in the additional months of April-September 2003.

The first distribution of commodities to schools began in April 2002 to supplement existing feeding programs. In the first month, the program reached 32 schools with a combined enrollment of 3,915 children in the regions of Kukes, Lezhe, Tirana, Durres, Fier, and Elbasan.

Goals and objectives: CRS and its implementing partners established multiple goals and objectives for their GFE project. They proposed to carry out the following objectives to meet the overall goals of increasing enrollment, attendance, and performance, especially for girls:

Final: Commodities arrived on time this year, and the feeding program began as

scheduled.

CRS targeted kindergartens within the five prefectures where CRS branch offices are located (Tirana, Fier, Durres, Elbasan and Kukes) and where CRS has the capacity to monitor and assess both the beneficiaries and counterpart distribution sites. The schools themselves were selected based on the desire of all stakeholders for change, willingness to work inclusively with all stakeholders, and potential to develop a good model for other schools in the community. Selections were also based upon:

Midterm: Meal delivery was delayed from September 2001 until April 2002 due to difficulties with customs and late arrival of the commodities. The meal program will continue through the entire 2002/2003 school year. During the wait for the commodities to arrive, CRS identified target kindergartens using the following criteria:

Based on these criteria, 33 kindergartens were chosen. CRS worked with the parents in the schools to set up parent councils, and 23 schools were chosen to participate in the parent-school partnership program. CRS held training sessions with the parents and teachers on such topics as how to plan and carry out an effective meeting and how to prepare a project proposal. Future training will include fund raising. Training has been provided in early childhood development for parents and teachers, and future topics include school maintenance and parental involvement in education and parenting skills.

CRS has also developed a small grant program for mini-projects. The mini-projects are solicited and then managed by the parent councils. Some mini-projects have already been carried out, including the purchase of playground equipment, new school materials, child-sized furniture for classrooms, kitchen supplies, small school reconstruction/renovation projects, and the setup of kindergarten libraries.

Baseline data gathered by CRS indicates that it will be servicing 3,915 children enrolled in the 32 GFE kindergartens. This number of child beneficiaries is expected to increase to 4,000 or more in September 2002 with the beginning of the new school year and the opening of the 33^rd kindergarten now under reconstruction.

During the first month of GFE meal distribution, two issues arose that will need immediate attention from CRS. First, school meals are not free in Albania, so children whose parents cannot afford to pay for lunch do not benefit from the government program or from the GFE project. This means that GFE may not reach those children who need it most and for whom the incentive of a school meal would likely contribute to increased enrollment and attendance.

The other issue concerns differing taste preferences. The non-fat dry milk and vegetable oil do not appeal to Albanian palates. Sufficient fresh milk is available, and the cooking/baking practices are not suited to the use of non-fat dry milk. Potable water is not always available, which poses an additional problem when reconstituting non-fat dry milk. To resolve this issue, CRS is planning to barter the non-fat dry milk to dairies in exchange for cheese and other fresh dairy products. The dairies will combine the non-fat dry milk with fat to make frozen desserts for commercial sale.

The vegetable oil has a natural aroma and taste that are unpleasant to local preferences. The cooking properties are also different from local oils that are traditionally used, such as olive and sunflower oils. Although this led to some complaints in the beginning, recent reports show that children are getting used to the odor and taste of the oil, and this problem has been overcome in most cases.

Final: From the perspective of CRS’s GFE program in Albania, the sustainability of school feeding is dependent to a great extent upon the continued development of the parent school councils and their activities, including parent and teacher training, community empowerment, infrastructure development, and community support for education.

Midterm: The Albanian Red Cross donated blankets, kitchen sets, and soap. Teachers, school officials, and parents contribute labor and logistical support at the school sites.

Sustainability: This is a serious issue to be analyzed as the project becomes fully implemented. In its focus on improving education in Albania, the Government of Albania proposes to increase attendance through eighth grade using a variety of strategies including scholarships, textbooks, and "free food" The efforts of parent councils facilitated by CRS represent sustainable infrastructure enhancements that will help resolve local school needs into the future. There are other aspects of this program that are sustainable beyond GFE. These include the parent and teacher training, community empowerment, infrastructure developments, and community support for education. Making the school meal accessible to the poorest children who cannot afford to pay for it should be addressed by any future school-feeding program.

Final: See evaluation methodology in Appendix 1.

Midterm: Both USDA and CRS will be carrying out monitoring and evaluation activities during the project. USDA has hired a local monitor to survey 20 sample schools and perform local monitoring. CRS and the USDA monitor will coordinate their monitoring and evaluation efforts to avoid redundancies while ensuring independence of action. As a group, the personnel will discuss factors that could affect a GFE project’s success and reach consensus on the factors used to develop a sample matrix. These identified factors would contribute significantly to the success or failure of any educational effort. They would also impact the administration and supervision of the project by CRS.

A matrix will be developed for all CRS schools. Twenty schools will be chosen at random from each cell. CRS has gathered baseline data on enrollment and attendance in all of its GFE kindergartens. The USDA monitor will use a questionnaire to obtain preliminary baseline data before initiating focus groups of parents for qualitative data collection.

Enrollment: Albania does not suffer from inadequate numbers in enrollment and attendance in school. Because of strong societal and cultural expectations, families make sure that their children are enrolled in school, even in some of the most impoverished areas. However, the data still reflect a 4.5% increase in enrollment.

Attendance: Attendance numbers remained relatively consistent through school years, for reasons stated above.

Performance: To more thoroughly examine program performance, it is important to also discuss the extent of community involvement in the operation of the program. Through CRS’s creation of Parent Councils (PC’s), and the involvement of these PC’s with teachers and administrators in the life of the kindergarten, all stakeholders are participating in the project. The elections for the 23 PC’s were held in October 2001, and new elections were held in September 2002. In order to hold the elections in a democratic manner, training sessions were organized with parents and teachers to clarify their role in the process. The election process was fair and democratic and the teachers did not dominate the elections, so that the most committed and capable parents were elected to positions on the PC’s. CRS staff monitored the PC elections. Once the 23 KG’s were selected for participation in the PSP program, parents were introduced to the philosophy of the program during several training sessions.

Furthermore, the Community Liaisons Officers (CLO’s) in each sub-office conduct trainings and informational sessions to present the program to parents and school professional staff. Parents were informed about education legislation in Albania, and the role and responsibilities of the PC’s. CRS has developed a complete training package for PC’s, encompassing topics such as:

The first round of trainings for these topics was completed in all kindergartens during the 2001-2002 school year, conducted by CLO’s. Several additional training topics were identified by the school communities as being needed, and CRS contracted with local experts to conduct trainings in:

During September 2002, each sub-office organized five big round tables with the participation of parents, teachers, and representatives from Local Directory of Education, from Economic Centers and CRS. The objectives of the round tables were:

The round table was conceptualized in the theoretical and practical realms. During the theoretical session, the representatives from CRS’ Main Office and Sub-Offices did a presentation of the work done so far during the implementation of GFE project as a whole and with specifics per sub-office. During the practical session participants had the opportunity to discuss many issues related to the objectives. Many of them brought real experience and information, and often these experiences were the focus of discussions in small groups.

Also, CRS funds Mini-Projects in many of the schools. Mini-Projects are grants given to PC’s for small projects in their kindergartens. PC’s work as units, in cooperation with students, teachers and administrators to identify needs and make written proposals to CRS to access these funds. Mini-projects implemented so far have included: new school materials, kitchen supplies, new playground equipment, child-sized furniture in the classrooms, small school reconstruction projects, setting up kindergarten libraries, purchasing didactic materials, celebration of Children’s Day (June 1st), repairing the electrical system in the kindergarten, and organizing excursions to the zoo and botanical park. By using parent and teacher contributions (20% of the total cost of a mini-project) to foster an increased sense of ownership towards the school and the education process, mini-projects are an opportunity for PC’s to implement projects that bring tangible benefits to their school while strengthening relationships with other stakeholders in the kindergarten. Mini-projects also provide parents with an opportunity to use what they learn in the CRS trainings to further develop their skills and understanding of management, prioritization, joint decision-making, and transparency.

Special Emphasis on Girls: There is not a cultural disparity between males and females enrolled in schools in Albania especially in the age group of children who attend kindergarten.

Midterm: Because the feeding began in April 2002, there are few documented impacts for the project. However, preliminary information indicates an increase in attendance. The parent councils at many schools have completed needs assessments and launched successful activities to improve kindergarten facilities such as playgrounds, kitchen facilities, and specific enhancements to the learning environment. Parent-teacher bonds are being strengthened as reflected in greater parental involvement.

The reaction to the vegetable oil and the non-fat dry milk was unanticipated and will be dealt with by CRS Albania to minimize any adverse impact on the project.

Final: There were some cultural concerns about some commodity items that were addressed in the GFE program. Some of the commodity items used in the meals were unfamiliar to the children, and it took some time for the children to become accustomed. In particular, they were concerned about the taste of the oil and the type of rice used for soups. Both CRS and the recipients made necessary adjustments. CRS changed from the vegetable oil it received last year to corn oil this year, and the children became more accustomed to other commodities with which they had been unfamiliar.

Midterm: Perhaps the neediest children targeted by the program are being missed. The CRS GFE program is intended to enhance the nutritional quality of the menu by the purchase of additional food items, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. As a result, meal portions are bigger and more nutritionally balanced, and more meals and snacks are now provided throughout the day than was possible before GFE. However, the CRS GFE program may not reach some of the neediest children. The Government of Albania does not have a free-meal program, and some families cannot afford to participate. There may also be other reasons that children do not participate in the program, and more research is needed as to the causes of nonparticipation.

Teachers benefit from the food, too. Teachers are the keystones in the education process. The teachers often have economic and nutritional stresses similar to those of the students. Furthermore, the GFE program adds to the teachers’ workloads. Opening the meal program to the teachers would enhance educational effectiveness, as well as extend good will in appreciation for the new tasks that GFE imposes on them, such as recordkeeping and reporting.

People from different geographical areas often have different tastes. The non-fat dry milk and the vegetable oil are not popular with the Albanian palate. Although the rejection problems seem to be decreasing with time, CRS will continue to monitor the situation to determine if further adjustments have to be made to accommodate these differences.

As attendance increases in response to the GFE program, infrastructure can be stretched beyond its limits. Any program that seeks to increase enrollment and attendance must ensure that the needs for additional classroom space, desks, staff, and educational materials are addressed as well.

CRS helped strengthen parent councils in 23 schools. The parent councils are instrumental in implementing the GFE program, promoting educational enhancement of the kindergarten facilities, and providing feedback to USDA on ways to improve the impact of the program.

The small grants awarded to the parent councils by CRS to repair and expand school facilities and purchase education materials are central to the GFE goal of improving educational performance.

Final: After the signing of the agreement with "Ajka" Dairy factory the food situation in the kindergartens has changed dramatically. Children became exposed with much greater frequency to several dairy products like cheese and milk. The mechanism found to release funds thanks to the donated commodities has enriched the menu. Economic centers can provide other articles like fruits and fruit juice, extra rations of meat, eggs, etc.

In Rreshen Kindergarten, prior to the implementation of the GFE program, students would consume food at a cost of 1000 Lek per month. With the implementation of GFE, they now consume 1600 Lek per month worth of food, a 60% increase without increased financial obligations on the part of the parents.

In some kindergartens GFE funds have been used for small kindergartens needs for infrastructure repairs, equipment or educational materials.

In Kindergarten No. 2, Ebasan District, the building was in very bad condition. When it would rain during the winter, the ceiling would leak in almost all of the classrooms. The efforts of teachers and the parents had not been able to improve the situation. When GFE began they decided to collect the funds released (as the GFE commodities were not bought any more) and use it to rehabilitate the ceiling. This investment was popular and successful.

In Kindergarten No. 2, Fier District, a part of these funds were used to fix the sewage network around the kindergarten that had been a hygiene problem for the children and teachers for some time. As the Municipality did not have enough money, funds were used from the GFE program to improve the school’s ablution facilities.

In Patos, Fier District, the Municipality promised to by a big refrigerator for the kindergartens needs there.

At the beginning of the program, the vegetable oil was not popular because of the unfamiliar smell, however over time, kindergartens became willing to adopt this commodity with recipes that would make it acceptable to the children. Many would fry a peace of bread in the oil before using it or add a spoonful of butter, which would reduce the smell. Others would not to fry the oil, but would instead put it directly in the pot.

The cooks say that now they have more ingredients to prepare the desserts. Many of them use the NFD milk.

In kindergartens in Kukes District in the northern area, the number of meals has increased from 1 to 3 meals per day.

In Patos, Fier District, Friday is called the cake-day, because the cook now has enough ingredients to prepare cakes for over 100 children. One Friday, at the main door of the kindergarten, a child that was sick, was having an argument with his grandmother and his teacher who were trying to convince him to go home and rest. The child said almost bursting into tears: "But today is the cake day. I don’t want to miss it."

In Kindergarten No. 1, Kukes District, the director said that when CRS started to distribute the dairy products, there were changes in the foods that children had available to them. Among these was a kind of yellow cheese that most of the families of that area cannot afford. Children were surprised by the color of the cheese at the beginning, but it soon became their favorite. They were so enthusiastic about it that they could hardly wait till the lunchtime asking, "Are we having RED cheese again today?"

Midterm: In the kindergarten of Rreshen in the region of Lezhe, people were very excited about the donated food from CRS. The Mayor of Rreshen was the first to knock on CRS’ door to express interest in participating in the GFE program for Rreshen’s only kindergarten. A meeting of representatives from CRS, the municipality of Rreshen, the community, and kindergarten teachers and administrators was organized to discuss and exchange ideas about how to manage the food for the benefit of the children. Everyone thanked CRS for giving the children of Rreshen the opportunity to enjoy a more nutritious diet. When the food arrived in the kindergarten, everyone was pleased and grateful. The cook is always busy preparing new and improved meals. Parents have the opportunity to discuss the next day’s meal with the teachers and the cook when they come to pick up their children.

When the CRS staff began to work with kindergartens, they realized that teachers and parents had very little information about parental involvement in education. At the same time, teachers and parents were requesting training in early childhood development. CRS then decided to offer this training. After the parents and teachers participated in the training, things started to change in the kindergartens. Teachers approached their work with more energy and new ideas, and parents said they felt more important in the life of the kindergarten. Parents and teachers felt more united in a common cause of improving their children’s school experience. In the Kavaje kindergarten (prefecture of Tirana), parents contributed toward building a playground for their youngsters. In kindergarten No.1 in Librazhd (in the region of Elbasan), parents contributed their time to assist the teacher during the school day. After the training was held, parents and teachers immediately started to make changes in the classroom environment, and teachers began using new teaching practices, based on child-centered methodology.

Last modified: Monday, April 14, 2008 06:13:23 PM