Albania appoints glamorous Roma to head its recycling collection

Unlike the BBC reporter, I was not surprised to learn that a woman is spearheading Albania‘s only household recycling programme. The fact that she is a Roma will be a bonus – she will understand only too well that waste is a resource which has value and can be reused; it is not rubbish.

Miranda Fejzo, described beguilingly as “all twinkling eyes and long, luxurious blond hair”, smartly dressed in matching black jacket and skirt, with white high heels, obviously adds a touch of glamour to the mountain of discarded material under her stiletto feet, creating an instant impression on the Beeb hack.

Miranda’s position as head of the country’s first door to door collection of recyclables has also struck a major landmark for feminism in the former Communist state, which aspires to form closer relationships with the EU. It is said that in male-dominated Albania, women do not usually play leading roles in public life, especially Roma women, as Miranda explains:

“The Roma men said a woman should not be doing such things. But I told them we Roma have been recycling and selling scrap for generations. We must take this opportunity”.

Absolutely right, too ture. And it should also be remembered that Viktória Mohácsi is an Hungarian Roma MEP, so Roma women are being elected – as well as appointed – to influential positions. What about Roma men?

I expect that Miranda will become hooked on the subject of waste as I did after first becoming involved in waste diversion and promoting recycling projects in Cambridgeshire six years ago. And if you check through this list of local authority recycling officers in the UK, a good number of them are women – and I do not mean to be patronising to our fairer sex. It used to fascinate me that so many women worked in waste, but now I understand their enthusiasm totally.

I thought you might enjoy a couple of views of Albania, (sorry, no pic of Miranda available) which boasts of glorious undiscovered coastlines, where the Albanian Riviera, is said to be one of the most spectacular strips of land in Europe. If you have visited Albania, I would be interested to know your views.

However, this may not be the best time to visit as the country is on the brink of a serious electricity shortage due to a devastating drought, with water levels down 85% in dams.