On May 1st, most of the people in the city of Korça are off work, but the Dalipi couple has woken up early, to clean the streets of the Albanian city.
For more than 12 years, they’ve been working at the cleaning company in charge of keeping the city spotless. When most people are asleep, they get up to work, even though they’re paid a ridiculous amount in the end.
“I gain 21 thousand Albanian lek a month. It’s not enough, but what else can we do? We must feed our children. My wife is sick and she works with me. Our whole family works here, whether it is sunny, rainy, snowy. Even if there is a storm, at 1 in the morning we go out to work,” says Maksim.
His wife, Lirika tells us what they gain in a month, is not enough to make it.
“I’m operated, 3 times. I suffer from high tension and the heart. What we get here is not enough. We don’t even rest,” she counts her hardships.
As if it weren’t enough, she must also face racism and bullying.
“The Roma have always done the hardest of jobs. It’s true. We want to work somewhere else, but they say there is no other place. They won’t accept us elsewhere, even in offices they won’t accept us.”
Rain and snow have not quenched their warm hearts. They say they would clean the city even for free, if asked.
“We are the heroes of Korça, because we keep it clean. The people know, they praise us for our work. Officials? Sometimes they come, other times they don’t,” confesses Maksim.
“I enjoy it, I’m ready to work for free for my city. There’s a street I always clean, as there is no cleaning staff. Citizens praise us, officials don’t,” adds Lirika.
This is the sad reality for more than 150 working staff in the cleaning sector in Korça, who face lack of work rights, harsh conditions and wages below average.
