The daycare center, which is currently hosting 28 children ranging in age from six months to six years, is run by Kaltrina Mujaj. This 22-year-old woman had participated in a USAID-supported entrepreneurship training program for four months in 2009. She was one of the program’s 50 participants, chosen after applying in an open competition organized by a local USAID-supported NGO.

When she entered the training, Mujaj hoped to gain new knowledge and skills, both professional and academic. At its close, she became the recipient of a bank loan for having developed the best business plan. As her thriving daycare center shows, Kaltrina is now using those skills and realizing her aspirations. “USAID entrepreneurship training program made me realize that I could put the skills and knowledge I acquired to a better use”, says Kaltrina.

Currently, the BAMBI day care center employs four women, but as an ever growing number of parents become interested in the services, more jobs will open for females in this community. Kaltrina was not the only beneficiary of the USAID-sponsored training. Five more businesses throughout Kosovo opened as a result, creating 20 additional jobs for youth and women. In Kosovo and throughout Eastern Europe, USAID continues to assist entrepreneurially motivated youth to acquire the knowledge and skills required to start-up or re-organize small businesses, or find meaningful employment in an ongoing business enterprise.