How does my money support the Malësorë shepherds?
50% directly to the host families
Of course, our main aim is to support shepherd families directly, and therefore they receive the biggest portion of your funds. Since they will be sharing food, drinks and their time with guests, it's only fair to compensate them fairly for this. As well as this, so much of the work they do all day in their Stans /with their animals takes time away from other work they could be doing to earn a living, so compensating them for this time is vital in improving their quality of life. It allows them to continue living this cultural heritage which they are proud to uphold, without being a limitation for them.
40% to cover business costs
It goes without saying that running a business such as this one incurs certain costs. Paying our local guides, hosting this website, paying for advertising, purchasing supplies for guests, etc. all costs money that the shepherds themselves can't afford to cover. Since we are a budding business run exclusively by/for the shepherds in this region, we are learning everyday how best to run this initiative as sustainably as possible.
10% invested in local projects
One of the main reasons The Shepherd's Way Albania was founded was to support the Malësorë shepherd community financially, since at the end of the day, it's very difficult to make a meaningful impact on people's lives without improving their economic situation. Although some non-for profit organisations do exist and do good work in rural regions in northern Albania, there is still a lack of awareness and therefore funding on many fronts. That's why our social business aims to set aside a portion of our revenue to slowly but surely build our own fund, in order to support local development projects as best we can.
