Although Shpresa (Hope) was raised in poverty and hardship, the first few years of her life seem to have been the happiest.
When the Serbian/Albanian war hit Kosovo in 1999, Hope lost both her uncle and cousin. A few years later, her aunt died, too. No longer able to care for herself, she was forced to move back home to a family who didn’t want her. She was treated as a slave and beaten often. Filled with great despair, Hope attempted to take her own life and ended up in the hospital. The police moved her to a women’s shelter where she came in contact with the OM Kosovo team. She lived at the shelter for 8 months.
“Hope started working at the Christian coffee shop next door when we were informed that she would no longer be able to stay at the women’s shelter,” said Christina, the OM Kovoso team leader. “Two OM Kosovo team members agreed to take her in, and Hope was suddenly immersed in the Gospel. She saw it lived out each day. Now, she has committed her life to Christ and regularly attends the local church.”
“We are looking for ways to help Hope stand on her own feet financially, emotionally, and spiritually,” said Christina. “As a young, single woman without a high school degree or family support, the odds against her are slim. But we have a mighty and powerful God, who rules over all things and delights in giving good gifts to His children. We are filled with hope for her future.”
OM Kosovo works with a locally run women’s shelter in the city of Peja. There, the OM team has gained the trust of the staff and women by loving, supporting, and rehabilitating abused and trafficked women. The OM team offers counseling, language, and micro-enterprise classes, as well as exposure to a teaching called, “The Circle of Violence.” Until now, the OM team supported the women who could not come back to their homes because of the high risk in their families and the lack of work with the aggressor. Two of these women have been living with the OM team, and the others are in independent houses. The team is working hard to create a program of healing and re-socialization with each of them.
In 2012, OM is developing a project for a transitional shelter for women to come to after being at the “safe shelter” (safe from trafficking and from domestic violence). They will be at the shelter for 6 months or more. The average number of women who will need this help in a year can be up to 24. Since its first year, 17 women have been touched because they received the help they needed in getting on their feet when they left the shelter. Most importantly, they had friends to support and help them face their new life.
It costs $100 a month for each woman at the shelter, but the bigger challenge of the project is creating a center where the women can be healing, training and ready for a new life. This part will be very expensive (the budget is in process). The OM Peja team is just 3 people, and they need workers with professional skills. Your gift of $20, $50, $100, or more will be an important brick for the future of many women who are victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.
