Lajme Online Shqip

Last year we followed four families across Eastern Europe to see how rising food prices had changed their daily lives.

Now a year on, Steven Eke has re-visited them to see how the global financial crisis has affected them.

A year on and the Mucmata family in the Albanian city of Kukes are facing new challenges.

Drita, a mother of two children, says they need new clothes for school. Prices are high and she cannot afford everything she needs.

Like many other women in the region, she is unemployed and there are no social benefits.

Many political parties are making pledges ahead of parliamentary elections on 28 June but Drita says these promises mean little and she doubts they will reduce women’s unemployment in Kukes.

On the positive side, Drita says there are now fewer power cuts, but the water supply remains irregular.

Some days, the family – which lives on the ground floor of their apartment block – has water for just two hours a day. Those living in the flats above them have more irregular supply because of low water pressure.

Bujar, the children’s father, says his salary has gone up a little. He takes home 35 euros a month more than a year ago, but his monthly salary of 240 euros still isn’t enough to cover the high cost of living.

The family borrowed 3,000 euros from a local bank to refurbish their old flat but he has been forced to borrow money from friends and family to cover the loan repayments.

The family has at times fallen behind with their electricity payments and it has been cut off.

But Bujar says he is still lucky to have a regular wage as many of his friends are unemployed.