Hi all..I hope i find you well today..Let me share what i have accomplish today..I did call few more orphanages (institutions). To be honest i don't even know what to call them anymore...Here some call them orphanages and some institutions..It doesn't really matter at the end, the places do have children (lots of children) in great need. Two places are on my MUST visit list...One of them is located in Berkovitza...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkovitsa
After locating this place by phone i was not able to talk to the director right away, but i did talked to the senior nurse. She was very happy that i called and she did offer a lot of information about the home (orphanage, institution). I asked her how many children are there. She said they currently have about 80 mentally challenged children, with about 17 that are abounded. I wasn't sure what she meant by only 17? Then she explained to me that number of the children do have families (left them there so the government can take care of them) that come once in a blue moon to visit their child. It was very interesting to learn that they never take their child home for the visit. She said sometimes they don't even come every year. To me
i consider this as a "Permanent Home" for this children, and I consider the parents as a "Non - Existing ". I really don't want to judge anyone, but to me this is a crime. No one wants a disabled child, but to throw your child in the hands of the government and to visit once in who knows how many years it's not really fair. Anyway, I will try not to get emotional and state my opinion, but it's hard. Forgive me for that. The nurse then said there are a number of children that are abounded. She said "parents" leave these kids behind and don't want to do anything further. They give up the rights and walk away. However the nurse do call and encourage them to re-evaluate, but she said the answers are always the same: “Please do not call again”,
"We don't want to see the child again", “We have moved on", " We have new families" .....How tragic...I then told her the purpose of my trip. The director was not there at the moment, but she promised he will call me as soon as he returns. Not too long after that he did call. Mr. Petrov said he is not scared to tell me the truth. He said their home is in bad shape and they need help. Especially food he said. He also mentions that the building where the children are is in a bad shape, but he said for that "you don't have money". He said I can't take cash, but I will be more than happy to take food and gas..I did explained that i have collected donations from friends, family and clients and I would have to show where they money went, so I told him I would have to take photos and video. He then said it's ok to do that with the abounded children, but the one with the "Non- Existing” parents its impossible was fine with that as long as i can take the home and the some of the children. So since we don't know where the home is , the director said "when you reach town, and especially there is a arrow pointing to the gipsy town, there is a gas station OMV, park there and call me..and i will come to get you"....Hmmmmm...My sister is with me (that’s good). I forgot to mention the age of the children in this home, 8-18... We are planning on seeing the home and evaluate the needs. Then off from there and go the next one which is about 50 or more so kilometers..The place is called Georgi Damianovo...
"We don't want to see the child again", “We have moved on", " We have new families" .....How tragic...I then told her the purpose of my trip. The director was not there at the moment, but she promised he will call me as soon as he returns. Not too long after that he did call. Mr. Petrov said he is not scared to tell me the truth. He said their home is in bad shape and they need help. Especially food he said. He also mentions that the building where the children are is in a bad shape, but he said for that "you don't have money". He said I can't take cash, but I will be more than happy to take food and gas..I did explained that i have collected donations from friends, family and clients and I would have to show where they money went, so I told him I would have to take photos and video. He then said it's ok to do that with the abounded children, but the one with the "Non- Existing” parents its impossible was fine with that as long as i can take the home and the some of the children. So since we don't know where the home is , the director said "when you reach town, and especially there is a arrow pointing to the gipsy town, there is a gas station OMV, park there and call me..and i will come to get you"....Hmmmmm...My sister is with me (that’s good). I forgot to mention the age of the children in this home, 8-18... We are planning on seeing the home and evaluate the needs. Then off from there and go the next one which is about 50 or more so kilometers..The place is called Georgi Damianovo...
http://guide-bulgaria.com/NW/Montana/Georgi_Damyanovo/Georgi_Damyanovo
I did write about this place in my previous blog, the children in this home have no parents and they are younger. From age 3-7. These kids do not have disabilities (per the in charge person)..I already know their need. They asked for medical supplies like: antibiotics, cough syrup, fever meds. Remember here in Bulgaria you can purchase many meds without prescriptions. They also asked for soaps, cleaning supplies and pampers. My sister went and borrowed a member card from a friend so we can shop for those things at the local "COSTCO"...( called Metro)...Tomorrow before we leave Sofia we need to pack our little car with medical supply , pampers and cleaning supplies and head out ...Those two places are about 2, 2.30 hr from Sofia. Stay tune...There is so much more info to come..I'm so excited...We did exchange the money today..After many stops to many banks to make sure we are getting the best exchange rate. $ 2,865 ( 200 from this amount i suppose getting from Australia ,but i haven't yet) ,so it's really $2,665. Exchange rate for the day was.... 1.36 leva for a dollar....so i have 3,651 leva. Now going to bed..Thank you all and wish me luck..I'm very thankful to my sister. My mom and dad are very excited. My
Dad said he will call the TV stations ...he is funny.. Car is filled up with gas and ready to be loaded..(gas is on me and my husband , not coming out of the donations)..Love you all.. Good night…Leka Nosht…in Bulgarian…
