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Albania Mission Trip 2025 Daily Blog Page
I will be returning to Durres and Tirana in Albania to help at a Christian organization called Tek Ura which means at the bridge Tek Ura work to improve the lives of local disadvantaged and marginalised Albanian people by providing the support and opportunities they need to build better lives for themselves and their families. We have made a real difference by providing a variety of services that people turn to when they need help, building a relevant expression of church, a rehab clinic and sensory therapy services, tackling loneliness and division by bringing people together, assistance in finding a job, a safe place to learn after school, to name just some of the ways. |
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Some building projects in Duress and Tirana that I will be doing
Set up security cameras system up in the office - Completed
Roadside intercom system for the office - Completed
Do some preparation work on the outside of the building - Completed
To build a lean-to storage space outside the centre for wheelchairs with a roof on for the wheelchairs that are currently exposed to the elements, getting mouldy and risk being damaged long-term. - Completed
add lighting system to the new lean to storage space - Completed
In addition having outside electric sockets and lights in the new building - Completed
Day 1
Today has finally arrived that I set off back to Tek Ura in Albania in Durrës
I set off from Manchester airport about 13.30 pm and arrived our time at 1615 pm our time 17.15 pm Albania time it feels good to be back again to help out again we found the apartment that I will be staying in and then I went out for pizza for my tea
tomorrow I will be going and doing some work at the charity every day I will be catching the bus for 40 lek which feel very strange for me as not having to drive a bus for my job and having to pay for a ticket
Set up security cameras system up in the office - Completed
Roadside intercom system for the office - Completed
Do some preparation work on the outside of the building - Completed
To build a lean-to storage space outside the centre for wheelchairs with a roof on for the wheelchairs that are currently exposed to the elements, getting mouldy and risk being damaged long-term. - Completed
add lighting system to the new lean to storage space - Completed
In addition having outside electric sockets and lights in the new building - Completed
Day 1
Today has finally arrived that I set off back to Tek Ura in Albania in Durrës
I set off from Manchester airport about 13.30 pm and arrived our time at 1615 pm our time 17.15 pm Albania time it feels good to be back again to help out again we found the apartment that I will be staying in and then I went out for pizza for my tea
tomorrow I will be going and doing some work at the charity every day I will be catching the bus for 40 lek which feel very strange for me as not having to drive a bus for my job and having to pay for a ticket
Day 2
Today I went on the bus to the Tek Ura centre in Durres and was greeting by a small friendly stray puppy that has made a home at the centre since last week and all the children who came to the centre loves the puppy and I do as well
we moved a lot of wheelchairs that was donated to Tek Ura which is being stored outside we are hoping to build a lean to roof down the side of the building so all the wheelchairs will be a place to keep them dry from the weather and safe while they are being stored
we have made a start by adding security camera around the outside of the building so the office staff can see what is happening outside
Today I went on the bus to the Tek Ura centre in Durres and was greeting by a small friendly stray puppy that has made a home at the centre since last week and all the children who came to the centre loves the puppy and I do as well
we moved a lot of wheelchairs that was donated to Tek Ura which is being stored outside we are hoping to build a lean to roof down the side of the building so all the wheelchairs will be a place to keep them dry from the weather and safe while they are being stored
we have made a start by adding security camera around the outside of the building so the office staff can see what is happening outside
Day 3
Today has been a very busy day at Tek Ura
I've been working on my own in Durres sanding down some metal security door frames and moving all the wheelchairs that was donated to the charity from down the side of the building as we are going to put a lean to roof down the side of the building to keep the wheel chair clean dry and safe i didn't realise how many they had
Today has been a very busy day at Tek Ura
I've been working on my own in Durres sanding down some metal security door frames and moving all the wheelchairs that was donated to the charity from down the side of the building as we are going to put a lean to roof down the side of the building to keep the wheel chair clean dry and safe i didn't realise how many they had
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A video clip from today
This is a short video to show you some the amount of wheel chairs that I have moved today from down the side of the building getting ready to add a lean to roof to keep them all dry and safe |
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Day 4
We have finished installing the camara security system and laying about 65 metres of cabling for each camera that have been put up on the road side then we put the cables in some draining tubes to keep them safe a long the wall
then we managed to get the cables and wires and the tubing into the loft and I wasn't expecting to see that the loft was also full with disabled equipment
we managed to get the cables into the office and we added some extra rope into the drain pipe so if we need to put more cabling in the we can just feed the wires thru from road to office without any difficulty
Dan and |Annie was in Durres and we filled they car with a vertical hoist and some wheel chairs and the little puppy been supervising us working
Dan took us for a short walk out for lunch and we had a lovely sandwich coffee and a chat and it was good to see them again
We have finished installing the camara security system and laying about 65 metres of cabling for each camera that have been put up on the road side then we put the cables in some draining tubes to keep them safe a long the wall
then we managed to get the cables and wires and the tubing into the loft and I wasn't expecting to see that the loft was also full with disabled equipment
we managed to get the cables into the office and we added some extra rope into the drain pipe so if we need to put more cabling in the we can just feed the wires thru from road to office without any difficulty
Dan and |Annie was in Durres and we filled they car with a vertical hoist and some wheel chairs and the little puppy been supervising us working
Dan took us for a short walk out for lunch and we had a lovely sandwich coffee and a chat and it was good to see them again
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Day 5
This morning I have been given the morning off to explore Durres town centre and surroundings area because the staff are having a regular weekly team meeting in Tirana with Dan and Annie I had a lovely walk on long the beach and had a chocolate croissant and a drink for my breakfast followed by a bus journey from the beginning to the last stop and back which is about 7 miles or more I will be going back to the Tek Ura centre later today to do some sanding and painting some of the timber they kept from the decking we built 2 years ago |
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Day 6
Today has been a very busy day for me as I was working again on my own waiting for a wagon of wood to turn up so I could start to prepare the timber for the roof project that we will start on Monday morning
the wagon eventually came and it took some time to sand them down and also varnish them
Dan helped me carry them down from the wagon then after a long day Dan and Annie took me for a crepe and ice cream near the beach and we watched the sun set
Today has been a very busy day for me as I was working again on my own waiting for a wagon of wood to turn up so I could start to prepare the timber for the roof project that we will start on Monday morning
the wagon eventually came and it took some time to sand them down and also varnish them
Dan helped me carry them down from the wagon then after a long day Dan and Annie took me for a crepe and ice cream near the beach and we watched the sun set
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A video clip from today
This is a short video of me doing some work today getting the wood sanded and varnished for the building project on Monday morning |
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Day 7
Today is Saturday and I had a late start today so I had a walk into the town centre to Sophie cafe for chocolate croissant for my breakfast
then around dinner time I went to the centre and I finished sanding all the timber
we had to cut a tree down which was down the side of the building then we marked out the and hight for the timber to go onto the walls for the roof frame so hopefully on Monday we can start the roof project
I screwed the telephone intercom system into the office so the staff can chat to those who want to come into the centre if the gates are closed in the office so keep watching the updates next week
Today is Saturday and I had a late start today so I had a walk into the town centre to Sophie cafe for chocolate croissant for my breakfast
then around dinner time I went to the centre and I finished sanding all the timber
we had to cut a tree down which was down the side of the building then we marked out the and hight for the timber to go onto the walls for the roof frame so hopefully on Monday we can start the roof project
I screwed the telephone intercom system into the office so the staff can chat to those who want to come into the centre if the gates are closed in the office so keep watching the updates next week
I My spare time in Durres
Once I have finished for the day and have gone back to my apartment I have had time to go out around the town doing some sightseeing
Once I have finished for the day and have gone back to my apartment I have had time to go out around the town doing some sightseeing
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Day 8
A video clip from today Today I walked to a local church called Grace life church in Durres this is where Carel who does the maintenance for Tek Ura and his wife Alecia leads a church fellowship in the heart of the city they are originally from \south Africa when I got the church I was greeted by a table of lovely chocolate croissants then after the service I had another walk on the lovely prom |
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Day 9
Today has been another busy day as we started putting the brackets on both sides of the walls to carry the roof beams each beam had to be measured and cut to size because nothing is straight
the timber, walls and the holes in the brackets don't always line up the same and we started placing the battens on the timber beams to find the best place to put them before finally fitting them soon
the corrugated metal roofing sheets are coming in a few days time after dinner our friendly puppy came back for a few hours when the children who took it home to live with them came to study at the centre he was so happy to see me
then we started removing all the equipment from the green shed as this needs to be also dismantled and moved to carry on finishing the roof
Today has been another busy day as we started putting the brackets on both sides of the walls to carry the roof beams each beam had to be measured and cut to size because nothing is straight
the timber, walls and the holes in the brackets don't always line up the same and we started placing the battens on the timber beams to find the best place to put them before finally fitting them soon
the corrugated metal roofing sheets are coming in a few days time after dinner our friendly puppy came back for a few hours when the children who took it home to live with them came to study at the centre he was so happy to see me
then we started removing all the equipment from the green shed as this needs to be also dismantled and moved to carry on finishing the roof
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A video Clip from today
This is a short video of me doing some work today starting to fix all the brackets so we can put the roof beams on the walls |
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Day 10
Today was another busy day for me as we to the builders yard to buy some more cables and some other bits for the building project and I emptied everything out of the green shed which was full of wheelchairs so that it can be taken down and rebuilt at rear of the centre as it is blocking being able to finish the roof frame supports
Also I sanded some more stuff down ready to do some painting tomorrow
Today was another busy day for me as we to the builders yard to buy some more cables and some other bits for the building project and I emptied everything out of the green shed which was full of wheelchairs so that it can be taken down and rebuilt at rear of the centre as it is blocking being able to finish the roof frame supports
Also I sanded some more stuff down ready to do some painting tomorrow
Day 11
Today hasn't gone to plan for me as its been a damp day so I haven't been able to do anything outside at the centre as we needed to paint the primer on all the metal door frames so I had a day to go around Durres instead
I started in Sophie Cafe for a chocolate croissant for my breakfast then for a special treat i had a chocolate crepe with strawberries then I had another walk along the prom
then I had a look around the Durres docks to see the big boat and container ship waiting to come into the port
Today hasn't gone to plan for me as its been a damp day so I haven't been able to do anything outside at the centre as we needed to paint the primer on all the metal door frames so I had a day to go around Durres instead
I started in Sophie Cafe for a chocolate croissant for my breakfast then for a special treat i had a chocolate crepe with strawberries then I had another walk along the prom
then I had a look around the Durres docks to see the big boat and container ship waiting to come into the port
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A video clip from today
Here is a short video of Durres along the prom and the Port |
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Day 12
Today has been a very busy day for as we needed to finish installing the intercom cabling from the road side to the main office
and something we thought was going to be easy job was such a hassle to do
we planned to fasten the network cabling to some strong string that we left in the drain tube and just gently pull the cable thru and that didn't it work it snapped so we had to take every network cable out that we put in the other and start all over again this time it worked but it took me a bit of time wiring it all up
the other day I emptied the green shed full of wheel chairs because we needed to take the big green shed down and moved all the panels to a safe place so we could add some beam bracket then the final beams can be fitted tomorrow where the shed was and all the roof sheets came on a wagon that we unloaded ready to be fixed into place
Today has been a very busy day for as we needed to finish installing the intercom cabling from the road side to the main office
and something we thought was going to be easy job was such a hassle to do
we planned to fasten the network cabling to some strong string that we left in the drain tube and just gently pull the cable thru and that didn't it work it snapped so we had to take every network cable out that we put in the other and start all over again this time it worked but it took me a bit of time wiring it all up
the other day I emptied the green shed full of wheel chairs because we needed to take the big green shed down and moved all the panels to a safe place so we could add some beam bracket then the final beams can be fitted tomorrow where the shed was and all the roof sheets came on a wagon that we unloaded ready to be fixed into place
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A video clip from today
Finally wiring up the intercom system and making sure the video and sound works from the main gate on the road which is about 65 metres away into the office i'm feeling happy with this today |
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Day 13
This morning was raining when I woke up so we were not able to start working outside so we went in the car to a massive hardware shop to be some more materials this shop had everything you wanted and it also had 3 floors to have a look around then we went to a local cake and coffee shop and then the rain stopped
so we finished the roof beams and fastened the cross beams ready to fastened all the metal roof sheets too measured and cuts to size and we also put some guttering in to catch the rain from the roof
This morning was raining when I woke up so we were not able to start working outside so we went in the car to a massive hardware shop to be some more materials this shop had everything you wanted and it also had 3 floors to have a look around then we went to a local cake and coffee shop and then the rain stopped
so we finished the roof beams and fastened the cross beams ready to fastened all the metal roof sheets too measured and cuts to size and we also put some guttering in to catch the rain from the roof
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A video clip from today
This is Carel he and his wife originally came from South Africa and felt God calling them to Albania they lead a church in Durres and he does the maintenance at both of the centres at Tek Ura We both built the decking 2 years ago and we are building this roof and done many other jobs this time |
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Day 14
Today is Saturday and we all had a day off so I took the bus into Tirana and had a look around the city
I went into the shopping centre with many floors to look around then I went into a castle courtyard where they are many food cafe shops very
then i had a walk to the Albania Football Stadium which is a version of our Wembley Stadium but on a very grand scale and I had a look at the main square which is called the Mother Teresa square and i saw quite a few Bunkers all over the place it was very warm day and the sun was shining
I had a chicken omelette with with bits of truffle on it and some bread for my lunch and a chocolate crepe later on in the afternoon before going back to the bus
Today is Saturday and we all had a day off so I took the bus into Tirana and had a look around the city
I went into the shopping centre with many floors to look around then I went into a castle courtyard where they are many food cafe shops very
then i had a walk to the Albania Football Stadium which is a version of our Wembley Stadium but on a very grand scale and I had a look at the main square which is called the Mother Teresa square and i saw quite a few Bunkers all over the place it was very warm day and the sun was shining
I had a chicken omelette with with bits of truffle on it and some bread for my lunch and a chocolate crepe later on in the afternoon before going back to the bus
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A video clip from today
This is a very short video of me travelling to Tirana by bus and looking around the city centre |
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Day 15
Today is Sunday again how did that happen I had a lovely walk in the rain to Grace Life Church in Durres for 9.30
Its been raining all morning but still warm
before the service started I stopped off to get a chocolate croissant for my breakfast and after the service I had a what app live stream in the service at Caton Baptist church to share what i have been up to while I have been at Tek Ura
I was sharing to our church back at home this morning how you see people begging or selling stuff all over the streets and on the pavements you could be having a lovely meal with friends in a restaurants and very young children at any age 5- 8 years will come in together and try and sell packets of tissues to you its happened a few time to me while I have been here or you see people removing rubbish from the recycle bins on the main roads but for some this is how they live and make money
Today is Sunday again how did that happen I had a lovely walk in the rain to Grace Life Church in Durres for 9.30
Its been raining all morning but still warm
before the service started I stopped off to get a chocolate croissant for my breakfast and after the service I had a what app live stream in the service at Caton Baptist church to share what i have been up to while I have been at Tek Ura
I was sharing to our church back at home this morning how you see people begging or selling stuff all over the streets and on the pavements you could be having a lovely meal with friends in a restaurants and very young children at any age 5- 8 years will come in together and try and sell packets of tissues to you its happened a few time to me while I have been here or you see people removing rubbish from the recycle bins on the main roads but for some this is how they live and make money
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A video clip from today
I went to Grace life church Durres this morning starting at 9.30 before I shared with the fellowship back at home from Albania to Caton Baptist Church we had this song called I've got Joy I’ve got joy in the morning Joy in the evening You keep me dancing in every season Whatever comes tomorrow I’ve got joy For full song version click here |
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Day 16
Today I worked again on my own and its been a very busy day again for me as I went to the local builders supply shop just a few minutes walk away and we bought some more stuff for the new building
16 metres of electrical cabling wire
four 1.2 metre led lights
Outside plug and a outside light switch to fasten on the wall so when the roof get finished in the next few days you will be able to see inside to get wheelchairs or a place for storage
Today I worked again on my own and its been a very busy day again for me as I went to the local builders supply shop just a few minutes walk away and we bought some more stuff for the new building
16 metres of electrical cabling wire
four 1.2 metre led lights
Outside plug and a outside light switch to fasten on the wall so when the roof get finished in the next few days you will be able to see inside to get wheelchairs or a place for storage
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A video clip from today
This is what I have been doing today and I was very happy that it all the lights work under the new lean to roof building |
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Day 17
Today has been a very long day for Carel and me as we tried to get as much of the roof fitted as i only have 1 more working day left in Durres we needed to use the new lights in the shed as you can image how dark it is with the roof on
we needed a extra hand this morning so one of Carels friends came to help to move the big shed roof and the main base of the shed so we could finish the roof
we all went for a coffee and another lovely chocolate croissants then later for dinner we both sat and had a meat and a cheese Byrek
then we went back to work
Today has been a very long day for Carel and me as we tried to get as much of the roof fitted as i only have 1 more working day left in Durres we needed to use the new lights in the shed as you can image how dark it is with the roof on
we needed a extra hand this morning so one of Carels friends came to help to move the big shed roof and the main base of the shed so we could finish the roof
we all went for a coffee and another lovely chocolate croissants then later for dinner we both sat and had a meat and a cheese Byrek
then we went back to work
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A video clip from today
Last 2 full working days left in Durres Albania we started fastening and cutting all the roof sheets each one had to be cut to a differently but its looking very good now we have to get it done tomorrow before i go back home |
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Day 18
Today was my final working day at Tek Ura in Durres and the big question was
can we finish the roof build project before I am having to fly back home to the Uk tomorrow we started having a look to see what we needed at the building supply shop and we went in the car and bought some stuff and we ended in the coffee and cake shop AGAIN for a mid morning final treat
and when we got back to the centre it was lets get on a finish the job and that what we did
But we actually did some extra build which wasnt planned for
we carried on the roof to the shed so they is some extra work space to do some maintenance if it is wet day or to use for bbq's
Today was my final working day at Tek Ura in Durres and the big question was
can we finish the roof build project before I am having to fly back home to the Uk tomorrow we started having a look to see what we needed at the building supply shop and we went in the car and bought some stuff and we ended in the coffee and cake shop AGAIN for a mid morning final treat
and when we got back to the centre it was lets get on a finish the job and that what we did
But we actually did some extra build which wasnt planned for
we carried on the roof to the shed so they is some extra work space to do some maintenance if it is wet day or to use for bbq's
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The final day
Today was the last building day and the last video clip at Tek Ura for me |
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