In Prilep, Loza Foundation met with a field team with extensive experience of working in vulnerable communities. The discussions focused less on individual interventions and more on how the working approach has changed, and what it means to work with families rather than for them.
During a working meeting in Prilep, field workers from Loza Foundation’s local partner organisation gathered to reflect on their work within the End Extreme Poverty project. Among those present were Sami Ajdini, Sabri and Bedria, all of whom have experience from previous social projects targeting people living in extreme poverty.
The conversation quickly turned to the differences between this work and earlier projects. Several field workers described how their role has fundamentally changed.
“In many projects, we have been used to people coming to us with demands and us delivering solutions. Or telling them what their problems are and how they should be solved. Here, we work differently,” says Sami Ajdini.
Instead of taking over the process, the focus is on dialogue, understanding and responsibility. The coaching-based approach means that field workers spend time helping families articulate their own needs and understand the steps required to move forward.
“The method has made our work easier, but also more demanding. We work more with dialogue than instructions, and that makes families more involved in their own processes,” Sami explains.
The field team shared several examples of how this changed approach has had a tangible impact. A recurring issue involves families who lack identity documents or are registered in the wrong municipality, which in practice excludes them from access to housing, healthcare, and employment. In previous projects, such obstacles were often seen as unsolvable.
“Many people have been told that their problems cannot be solved. They accept this and stop talking about what is their biggest barrier,” says Sami.
By working systematically, gathering information and taking one step at a time, the field team has shown that these problems are often administrative rather than impossible. One example raised during the meeting concerned a family registered in Tetovo despite living in Prilep. To gain access to housing and identity documents, they needed to be deregistered, registered anew and engage with several authorities — something the family neither had the financial means nor the knowledge to manage on their own.
“When we sit down and go through the process together, it becomes clear that there is a way forward. It takes time, but it is not impossible,” says Sami.
The field workers also described how the approach has affected them as a team. Collaboration has become closer, communication more open and relationships with families more trusting.
“We are in constant contact with each other. It is not just about solving problems, but about building trust,” says Sabri.
The meeting in Prilep demonstrated how practical field work is essential for Loza Foundation’s model to function. The digital platform provides structure and follow-up, but it is in the conversations, in the meetings and in the slow, consistent work with each family that change takes shape.
For the field team in Prilep, the work is not about quick results, but about creating the conditions for people to take steps out of extreme poverty themselves — with support, time and clarity.