Holding Out Hope : News

13.10.08

Last November many people were shocked having watched the BBC documentary called ‘ Abandoned children of Bulgaria ‘which showed children surviving in an extremely poor state of neglect in a children’s home in a place called Mogilino.
We decided that some action was required, so we quickly planned a trip to Mogilino arriving at the village early in December. As usual, when undertaking these trips abroad, our plan was to take as much of our funds as possible and to then spend it wisely, on what the institutions tell us they need.

We purchased as much food and toiletries as we could possibly carry and because it was clear that no other agency had given any thought to Christmas, we also bought Christmas trees, lights , decorations and lots of other goodies for the children. It was very satisfying to know that we brought them some form of Christmas cheer.

We were interested to see an example of an institution for adults, as we wanted to see the sort of place where the children would end up, so we travelled south for a couple of hours until we came across a city called Razgrad and here we found ‘ Samuil ‘ institution for adults.

It is sad to think that many of the children will end up in an institution like Samuil. The director and the staff were fantastic, all doing their best, however the dilapidated state of the building and lack of funds will mean that the place will never really be ‘ home ‘ to it’s residents.

Once again we brought Christmas into these peoples lives and I think had we not done so, then Christmas would have been like any other day in an institution. The residents thoroughly enjoyed our gifts and welcomed the additional food for Christmas. We have been back to Samuil twice since last December and we are pleased that the director wants to work with us to improve peoples lives and the conditions.

Our plan is to go back to Samuil on the 13th December as they have requested warm winter coats and shoes, which we will be able to buy in local second hand shops. We will also once again give them a Christmas to remember.

Since last Christmas, we have also been supporting a small home for twenty one young people who are HIV positive and have been abandoned by their families in an institution in the town of Vidra, near Bucharest in Romania. Following our trip to Bulgaria we will pay a short visit to Vidra, to spend any money we have left on giving them a Christmas.

If there is anybody out there that would like to make a donation, please be assured that we take every penny to where it is intended and needed and we have no admin or expenses along the way.

Pete Brady Holding out Hope