How it started?
When we, parents of Arbi, realized that our son has Down Syndrome, lost in our shock feelings and fear in front of the unknown, we started to search information about this syndrome. Apart of the fact that at the beginning we found only old and untrue information about this syndrome, we were disappointed very much when we found out that in Albanian language the information for this syndrome was just few rows, where the explanation mostly was in medical terms. After we realize with what we have to do and the need of therapy for our son, we searched for specialized centers for children with Down Syndrome in Tirana, but we faced another disappointment.
And when we found out that the situation regarding the awareness was “zero”, we started to project this what is it called today “Down Syndrome Albania Foundation and Services Center”. If you, who’s reading this, are new parents and you’re fighting with your shock and rough feelings because you got the news that your child has an extra chromosome, we want to say you “you’re not alone, don’t be afraid. It is a long path, full of challenges but, truly, it will be as well full of rewards, from which the biggest one is our love for child and child’s love for us”. Together with the parents support and specialized help we can afford our children an inclusive future, a healthy life, happy and as much it can be possible, an independent life.
We wish you can find this web page useful but most of all we wish to achieve our mission “Improvement of lives for the individuals with Down Syndrome and their families in Albania”.
Good luck in this path of life!
Kledjan dhe Emanuela Zaimi