QSUT, Mother Teresa Hospital, Tirana, Albania

Albania, You are a Sunflower!

It all started from zero under the idea, conception and cure of Albana Osmani. 6 young people joining this vision raised their money to create a product that would be sold for charity. They set their hearts on this mission believing that miracles would happen because hundreds of children and parents prayed for one more day in desperate need. On June 1, 2017, the first campaign was closed that originated as an awareness raising campaign for the collection of income to help children affected by blood diseases, who have been treated near the Hemato-Oncology pavilion of the Pediatric at QSUT.

From the day of public presentation at Top Channel TV in Albania, as a charity project, the first sunflower t-shirt was placed in front of the public as a form of contribution and was sold in record time for 7 weeks and 4 days. There were 3,000 people wearing t-shirts sharing their photos on their social media profiles and raising awareness to anyone around. #Youareasunflower hashtag became viral. Wherever were Albanians and not only, they were a powerful message to help and support the children. It was just awesome !! The greatest joy was in the children and their family members who were following each post. They felt that all the hearts were gathered together and a miracle was happening!

To improve the conditions they are treated, is the engine with which everything is conceived and functioning. To relieve their the pain and hard times with which babies are faced during severe treatment, the campaign “YOU ARE A SUNFLOWER” fulfilled it’s purpose through the sale of products created with a lot of love and dedication. The revenues collected from the sale of 3000 t-shirts with sunflower, each valued contribution of 20 euro, amounted to 60.000 Euro and 100% of the fund served to purchase the respiratory apparatus, who will be placed in the function of laid children and treated in onkohematology and reanimation.

The greatest joy was in the children and their family members who were following each post. They felt that all the hearts were gathered together and a miracle was happening! It all started from the great desire to help the children where the need was desperate, in children affected by blood diseases, cancer and leukemia. Meanwhile, we have raised the cause for newborn infants and we have close to our hearts the education and the health as well as mothers. We created our ideas and products through which we raised the funds, which in public form went to the destination, fulfilling everything that was immediate in three pavilions of the haematology in three states, Albania Kosovo and Macedonia.

The humanitarian campaign was joined by the company Vodafone, who made their contribution by buying over 800 T-shirts. Also, at the conclusion of the campaign, Vodafone bought a 32,000-euro device that was placed in the pediatric cardiology ward. Thanks also to the organization ‘The children for peace’, who equipped the oncology pavilion with new and high quality TVs and the FiBank you were with!

Soon other young people volunteered to join the ‘You’re a Sunflower’ mission to help children. Thank you to these extraordinary people who gathered hearts together dedicated to this cause. Through their sacrifices they set the example for hundreds of thousands of others with the great impact and influence they set. Thank you Brisilda Mataj, Esti Zekaj, Herado Ajazi, Greta Harapaj and Gerti Koxhja! Herardo and Greta built the first website. Brisilda, Esty and Gertie, along with Albana, followed closely all the orders for the Sunflower T-shirts. The enthusiasm was so great that people stopped us in the street and asked: How many T-shirts are there? We worked for 7 weeks and 4 days in a warehouse with maximum rigor until the wee hours of the morning. Everyone’s job was for everyone. Our mission is sacred. Everything is worth it to those we are dedicated to.

This fund also served to purchase chemotherapy pumps and new poltrons for chemotherapy sessions. As infants receive the treatment they need at these forts, they will be able to be quieter throughout the sessions. Also, by putting earphones on, they will be able to watch cartoons in the restored room with the proceeds of the “You’re a Sunflower” campaign. Likewise, chemotherapy pumps, a much needed equipment missing before, are already available and help to make everything more professional in the treatment of children, and are a great help to medical staff to respond in detail to all children hospitalized in this ward.

New televisions were set up in each room, as well as portable beds for mothers staying with children for nights and days, sometimes for months or perhaps years. Before, mothers slept with children in very difficult conditions, often in chairs, forced to sacrifice everything. Now these portable beds, which turn into massage chairs during the day, are a great relief. Thus, everything ended successfully in the first campaign, and the little ones will be accommodated in these conditions closer to their beautiful world. These improved conditions will continue to serve greater psychological, emotional, and physical facilities. In the meantime we did not stop there. A few weeks later, the ‘You’re a Sunflower’ initiative would turn into a foundation, legally established in the Court of Tirana with the vision to go global wherever there is a child in need. This was just the beginning ..

Ndërkohë ne nuk ndaluam me kaq. Pak javë më vonë, nisma ‘Ti je një luledielli’ do të shndërrohej në një fondacion, të themeluar ligjërisht në Gjykatën e Tiranës me vizionin për të shkuar global kudo kua ka një fëmijë në nevojë. Këtu ishte vetëm fillimi..