Shqipe Malushi
Shquipe
 
Shqipe Malushi

Paul Harris Fellow

In 2006, Bronx Rotarian Shqipe Malushi began a leadership training job in Kabul, Afghanistan. Unbeknownst to her, she arrived in Kabul during terrible social unrest and rioting. Many service volunteers were killed during her time there as was one of her female students. She has put her life at risk to not only continue her job but also to make herself available to women and children who seek her counseling and support after hours, sometimes very late into the night. She says it is all worth it because Afghanistan is at the center of South Asia and needs stabilization.

She has reported that when she first arrived, she saw that people had no hope or dreams, didn't smile and didn't know how to love or laugh. She said that women are treated like dirt and that the people have no concept of democracy, are afriad of the western world, yet are hungry for knowledge. She was proud to show before and after photos of the first group she trained with more relaxed, smiling students after the training. She has given people the ability to change their lives and have hope. What pleases her most is that she was able to make them laugh.

Shqipe has accomplished a lot during her various stays in Afghanistan. She was able to arrange for 2 scholarships for women to go to the University of Ohio, 3 scholarships from a government institute to train them for government and leadership and arranged for the former Minister of Women's Affairs to come to the first Conference of Muslim Women in NYC. She has also been integral in the Project Chairs Campaign which was started by a young boy in Afghanistan to raise money for chair and desk sets for schools in need there.

Shqipe has also raised enough money in the U.S. to give 100 people in Afghanistan $50 each for food. That goes a long way over there. She has also worked after hours with those disabled by explosions in the mine fields by helping to firm up an existing organization that provides aid and getting more support so that they will be able to run the organization themselves. She has also worked to help mental patients, rape victims and children. She secured money from Germany and used it to buy food and clothing for children who were without. She has also started a campaign to collect used clothing for the children.

Shqipe has done all this at great personal risk. It is hard to think of anyone who better exemplifies "Service Above Self", and so she deserves her surprise Paul Harris Fellow and a spot in the Bronx Rotary's PROfiles.