No good prospects without papers

I married at 19 and gave birth to a son. My husband and I first went to Greece hoping for a better income. I started working there as a cleaner in a hairdressing salon. I stood in for a colleague one day and my boss discovered my talent. From that point on, I worked as a hairdresser. But we didn’t have the necessary papers and weren’t able to stay. Like many Albanians, we decided to try our luck in Germany.
 

My father is happy about our return

We went to Freiburg in 2013 and got help there. We found an apartment, learned German, were able to work and my son started school. He already spoke three languages when he was 10 years old: Albanian, Greek and German. But after three and a half years our asylum application was rejected and we came back to Albania. My father was very happy that we came back. “When your child grows up and leaves, then you’ll understand me”, he says.

First contacts on the path to self-employment

We’d been able to save some money when we were in Germany and built a house for ourselves in Albania. I started working as a hairdresser again; 12 hours a day for not much money. One day I noticed on the internet that the German Information Centre on Migration, Vocational Training and Career (DIMAK) offers help to returnees.

I called the phone number and the team of advisors was ready to help. Shortly after that someone from the social organisations “Nisma Arsis” and “Terre des hommes” came to interview me on behalf of DIMAK. These two aid organisations cooperate in Albania. I then took part in a seminar on starting a business that was held near Durrës. It gave me the chance to discuss and review my ideas for self-employment.