Hi everyone

I have started an orphanage appeal to aid the homes in the Plovdiv region. I wanted to start it sometime ago, but I have only been able to a short time ago. Reading about everyone else who has started orphanage appeals in their own areas in Bulgaria has been really inspiring.

It all started after chatting with my mum about some clothes her friends daughter had passed on for Gabbi, but they were too small for her. My mum said she would take them to the local charity shop and I happened to mention how it was a shame we couldn’t give them to an orphanage. Well that was it, she thought it was a great idea and it has took off from there.

I started a Facebook group and within 2 days, had 15 bags of clothes and toys donated! I then created a website which is now up and running.

abrightstartfororphansbg.webs.com

We visited the local orphanage in Kalofer. A local Peace Corp volunteer, Jo, introduced us to the Director and staff, the meeting was a little sticky at first but they were just concerned about what our intentions were towards the home and children. They gave us a tour of the home, told what they needed most and I hope we hope to provide much of it after our next donations come over in April or May. By the end of the visit the Director and staff were really happy that we wanted to help them.

This Saturday, me and my friend Pauli are going to the Baby orphanage in Plovdiv. Pauli spoke with the Director and she seemed kind and genuinely very happy that we wanted to help. So we are going to take the items already donated and have a meeting with her to discuss how we can help further. Hopefully we will get a tour of the home, meet some of the children and this will help us to arrange the next step.

We are initially collecting unwanted clothing, shoes and household items which can be used in the homes and in the future will look at doing some fundraising and we are looking into the process of becoming a registered charity.

We were very kindly offered some space on a van coming to Bulgaria, so we could transport our first load of donations. I really can’t thank Dave Sharp enough for doing this for us, he’s a star!

The appeal is still in the very early stages, but the response I have had from friends, family and people I have never met has been incredible. Over the next year I hope to arrange fund raising days here in Bulgaria and also in the UK.

If anyone would like to donate to our appeal or has ideas about fundraising, please contact me.

Thanks everyone

Charlie
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall 

We are off to Plovdiv baby orphanage tomorrow, so will post an update soon as to how our visit went.

I had great news this morning. My old dancing school in the UK are holding a raffle at Easter to raise money for the appeal. This is fantastic news and I haven't stopped smiling yet!!

More updates to follow soon.

Thanks

Charlie
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall 

The day finally came when myself and Pauli visited the Home for orphaned and abandoned babies in Plovdiv.

Part of me was excited, but I confess that large part of me was very nervous, after reading stories about the conditions that some of the homes are in, I was wondering if I would be able to hold myself together!

We were met at the door by one of the nurses who took us to meet the Director, Dr. Kazandzhieva. A big smile greeted us and we were invited in to her office to start the meeting.

Dr. Kazandzhieva has only been the post 2 months. In the past she has worked for organizations, helping the children in Bulgaria and had some great advice and information to help us with our appeal. She is a genuinely nice lady, passionate about her work and dedicated to helping these children.

Firstly, she told us about the home and the children. This facility is the only home for babies and young children in Plovdiv and they receive children from the whole region of Plovdiv. Plovdiv is Bulgaria’s second largest city so this is an enormous task for one home. The home is more of a hospital as many of the children have illness and disabilities. Quite surprising to us was the number of children in the home, 108! The ages range from 0 – 5 1/2 years, although some children who have disabilities can stay up to the age of 7 years old. At the moment, the youngest baby they have is only 5 days old. A few of the toddlers attend a kindergarten outside of the home, also some of the babies and children are on the national list for adoption.

The smallest percentage of the children are healthy with the largest percentage having some form of mental or physical disability. Some of the problems that the children have are heart disorders, diabetes, renal problems, down syndrome, after surgery problems, blindness and deafness. Twelve of the children are bed ridden and have 24 hour care. After hearing all this, I got a lump in my throat and wondered if I could get through this!

The home itself is in a 4 storey building, but the fourth floor is not used in the winter.
The children are in 8 groups/departments of varying ages and each of these groups has their own staff ensuring excellent care for each baby and child. Babies are fed formula milk up to the age of 6 months and then they are fed yogurt, milk and other appropriate food for their age.

Dr. Kazandzhieva then talked about her staff. There are 3 qualified, specialist primary teachers, a psychologist, a social worker, nurses, day care staff and support staff.

They do have plans to re-organise the home to make the living conditions better for the children, but this is a plan to be executed over the next 10 years, as and when possible. They try to create a family environment, more homely for the children and also to help the children that are on the adoption list to adapt to family life when they find a new home. This is similar to what the Kalofer orphanage want to do, to make apartments within the home to help the older children adjust to life on their own, to help them to become more independent and fend for themselves once they leave at the age of 18 years.

We then talk about what they need. I asked her what is at the top of the list of items they need most desperately. This is the list:

Furniture – much of the furniture is old and falling apart. They need sets of cupboards and stacking cupboards, suitable for children.
Desperately needed are chairs for staff. As we saw later in our visit, the staff only have hard chairs with no support for feeding the babies. As many of you mothers and fathers out there know, when feeding a baby, how hard this can be on your body if you don’t sit correctly. The staff have pains in their backs and arms due to the lack of support. They would like chairs with padded seats, good back support and arm rests, similar to office chairs, but without wheels and don’t swivel.
Also tables and chairs for the staff where they take their coffee breaks. At the moment, they are sat on small children’s buffets and children’s plastic chairs!

At the moment, each of the 8 departments share one microwave and fridge which is not convenient when some of the departments are 2 floors up! Ideally, they would like to have facilities on each of the floors and for each department, including a small fridge and a microwave for each.

Other needs include:
Wooden toys including shape sorters and jigsaws
Plastic baths
Cloth table cloths
Rugs and carpet
Very large curtains and nets (each of the windows are a minimum of 2m x 5m).
Wall clocks
Bedding
CD player
CD’s – in both Bulgarian and English, nursery rhymes or similar
TV
Glass feeding bottles
Bibs – material only
Washing powder
Baby cosmetics – creams, wipes, etc.
Cot bumpers – as all the cots and play pens are metal.
Office stationary, files, etc, also cork notice boards for each department.
They have one play room which is desperate for redecoration, so we need to raise money for the paint and wage of the decorator.
Nappies – they can through a staggering 1,000 nappies every day!!!!

The home receives quite a lot of donations of clothes from local people and sometimes, they end up with too many clothes. At the moment, they mainly need clothing for the age of 1 year up to 5 years as they have plenty of newborn up to 12 months.

* Can I please stress at this point, we will still accept clothing up to 12 months old as there are other homes that do need clothes from this younger age group. Thank you. *

We then had a tour of the facility. We had to wear protective plastic shoe covers as they keep the home as sterile as possible due the health conditions of some of the children and we can only walk the corridors and look into the rooms for the same reasons.

The first 3 rooms did not register with me as I didn’t really look. I confess that I was scared at what I would see and the conditions of the rooms and children. Eventually I looked. I couldn’t have been more wrong about my feelings! The rooms have high ceilings with big windows, so are very light and not dreary. Dr. Kazandzhieva explains that they put paintings and art that the children and staff have made on the walls to make it more cheery. This is evident through out the corridors too. One thing that was surprising for both me and Pauli, were the number of staff. There were so many, the home was a buzz of activity. As my confidence grew, I peered through the windows more and the children peered back! Grinning and waving! Well that was it, I was in love with them all!
We saw the metal cots, some had cot bumpers, some without. Each room had a changing table and we could then see how much they needed new ones. The unit in most rooms consisted of a shelving unit on one side and drawers on the other, the top had a changing mat and a worktop. It was explained that some are too small, mainly for the toddlers who have disabilities. All the rooms are clean, tidy and well organized.

We are shown the sterilizing room and it is at this point I will explain a few things. The home comes under the Ministry of Health and they have strict health and safety guidelines to follow. All equipment has to be sterilized at a temperature more than 200 degrees, which makes some of our donations not suitable. Anything plastic would not survive the cleaning and sterilizing process, this is why most of the things they can accept have to be material based.

As we make our way down the corridor and up to the other levels, staff pass us and greet us with hello, friendly and happy, the atmosphere is fantastic, this home is filled with care and love, it was so great to experience this.

We see groups of toddlers in their play rooms, we wave, both the children and staff wave back, I just wanted to jump in and play games with them! The children seem genuinely happy and so well cared for, playful and cheeky, just how they should be! The rooms do have some play equipment and toys, but most need rugs and carpet as the floors are hard and tiled, not suitable for playing on or when the young ones are learning to walk.

We reach the top floor and there is a room which has not yet been decorated. There is also a roof terrace which they take the children up to in the summer and set up a paddling pool and play area. What they need here is a large umbrella as Bulgarian summers are hot and sunny.

Then it is time for giving the home the donations we have received so far. After the discussion with the Director earlier, we realize that not all the donations are suitable for the home. They hate to turn anything away from the kind people that donate and they have many items in storage, so I tell them anything that isn’t suitable for their home can be given to other homes and to not feel embarrassed about saying no. We want to help them the best way we can, as each home require different items, we would prefer them to take what they need at this moment in time. So on this visit, the donations made were 6 boxes of clothing, a moses basket, a table top changing mat and smaller mat, a selection of bedding, blankets, towels and bibs, cot bumpers, table cloths, 3 boxes of toys and various other smaller items. For this donation, we receive a receipt listing all that has been given and accepted.

Our visit is now at an end, we say our goodbyes and tell them we will see them soon!

Myself and Pauli decide that we need to sit and reflect on our visit before driving home, as we have so much information and images going through our minds. We discuss what we have seen, our thoughts and feelings, what our next step is and how we want to take all the children home with us! As parents ourselves, we had many emotions about our visit, the maternal feelings really kicking in. We were also partly glad we could not hold the babies or children as I doubt we would have been able to let go! But, it was also an eye opening experience. This home is run by a kind and warm lady who wants to give the children and staff the best home environment she can. Her staff are hard working and caring ladies, I believe these children couldn’t be in better hands.

So now it is our turn, although donations will go a long way, we really need to raise funds so we can purchase the items most desperately needed. I know we can help these children and the amazing people that care for them.
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall 

First Donations Delivered to Kalofer Orphanage

Myself and Pauli visited Kalofer orphanage to deliver the first donations that were delivered from the UK.

We were met by 2 of the children who proceed to shout for others, I think they saw all the boxes in the car! The security man came out to ask our reasons for being there and then went to fetch a member of staff to help us. Whilst we waited, more children appeared, shaking our hands and asking our names, their faces were a picture when I told them I am was English. The lady who came to greet us, I met on our last visit, very nice and helpful. She remembered our previous visit and asked the children to help us unload, which they didn’t need asking twice to do!

We took all the donations into the office, the children were very well, there was lots of exited chatter and smiles, even more so when the crisps we’d brought were handed out. Then, a young teenage girl looked at me and in perfect English, she said “Do you speak Bulgarian?” I was blown away, I didn’t expect that. So in my best Bulgarian I asked if she spoke English, and she replied, in English, “a little”. We are told that Jo, the Peace Corp volunteer, teaches the children a little English when he comes on one of his regular visits.

We explained to the lady what we had brought, toys, clothes, bedding, curtains, shoes, soap and shampoo, plus others. Pauli also brought more donations she had collected from some of her students and friends. We asked again what they were most in need of at the moment and she said under wear and school things. Last time we visited, top of the list were shoes, but looking at the children, the footwear seemed better, so I suspect that their needs will change at different times of the year, depending on donations they receive. So knickers, underpants, socks and vests are high on their list. She also said they need school things like pens, pads, colouring pencils, erasers, etc.

We then told her that hopefully next week, I will be visiting with an English gentleman who has kindly donated some items, also told her that we have more donations arriving in May, including the t-shirts and clothing from the company in Manchester, also many many donations that have been collected. She was very happy and very grateful.

As we leave, the children say goodbye in both Bulgarian and English and I pass on to all of the generous people who have donated items to our orphanage appeal, the children and staff thank you all so very much.
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall 

Me and Chech met with a Scottish gentleman today who has kindly donated some items for both Kalofer and Plovdiv orphanages. Unfortunately, he was unable to come to the orphanage today so me and Chech delivered the items on his behalf.

This would be the first time I have visited the home during the week when all the children would be present. So many new faces! And of course some familiar ones whose faces lit up and gave us a big wave. Fabulous!

This time, we met with Madam Mustovova again, who met with us on our first visit, plus a gentleman who is temporarily in charge of the home, Mr. Dimitar Katsev, who is also a teacher. Chech explained to him why we were there, what we were doing to help the home and to show him the latest donations for the children and the home.

We have just delivered, all from our kind Scottish gentleman and his family, a new TV, a DVD surround sound system, some sports equipment, colouring pencils and pads, 40 toothbrushes, 2 gorgeous dolls and some hair accessories which the girls are going to love! I also took on this delivery an electronic dance mat which was donated by a family in Hyde, as this can now be used with the new TV.

We told Mr Katsev that when we visited on Saturday, the lady who met with us said they were desperate for under wear. He said they needed underwear, shoes, as before, also other sports equipment. Even second hand bicycles would be fabulous. Mr Katsev also said that they really need money for the children to visit the dentist as they get very little funding for these visits.

We were also able to see the play rooms. These rooms are kept locked unless used, as a member of staff has to supervise the children in these rooms. We were shown 3, one for the younger children, the other for the older children and also a joint room where they will put the TV and DVD player. The play rooms need so much work, new flooring would be great and the walls need plastering and painting. This is something we could arrange once we start to raise some money. This is also the case for the play room at the Plovdiv baby orphanage.

They want to make the younger children’s room fun, maybe with a disco ball, stereo so they can dance, toys and activity games. At the moment, they have a football table and small trampoline. The older children’s room has a very old table tennis table and some fitness machines. I was told on our first visit to Kalofer, that they needed paddles and ping pong balls for the table tennis, but I see now they also need a new table. There is plenty of room for a pool or snooker table too. Mr Katsev said the younger and older boys would like a punch ball set on a stand. The older boys have some mattresses on the floor where they wrestle. You can see from the photos that they are quite big rooms and have almost nothing in them.

The 3rd joint room is more of a study area, the municipality had donated some mechano type construction sets, they had a few jigsaws and many books. It is a cozy room, but still needs some work. This room will be the new place for the TV and DVD player as all the children can sit and watch if they like.

The more I visit the home, the more I see things that they need and ways in which we can help. Our next delivery is hopefully coming in May, so if you think you can help and donate, please contact me and I can send you more details.

Please pass the word around to your family, friends and colleagues, so we can help these children even more.
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall 

- Charlie

Hi everyone

I have started an orphanage appeal to aid the homes in the Plovdiv region. I wanted to start it sometime ago, but I have only been able to a short time ago. Reading about everyone else who has started orphanage appeals in their own areas in Bulgaria has been really inspiring.

It all started after chatting with my mum about some clothes her friends daughter had passed on for Gabbi, but they were too small for her. My mum said she would take them to the local charity shop and I happened to mention how it was a shame we couldn’t give them to an orphanage. Well that was it, she thought it was a great idea and it has took off from there.

I started a Facebook group and within 2 days, had 15 bags of clothes and toys donated! I then created a website which is now up and running.

abrightstartfororphansbg.webs.com

We visited the local orphanage in Kalofer. A local Peace Corp volunteer, Jo, introduced us to the Director and staff, the meeting was a little sticky at first but they were just concerned about what our intentions were towards the home and children. They gave us a tour of the home, told what they needed most and I hope we hope to provide much of it after our next donations come over in April or May. By the end of the visit the Director and staff were really happy that we wanted to help them.

This Saturday, me and my friend Pauli are going to the Baby orphanage in Plovdiv. Pauli spoke with the Director and she seemed kind and genuinely very happy that we wanted to help. So we are going to take the items already donated and have a meeting with her to discuss how we can help further. Hopefully we will get a tour of the home, meet some of the children and this will help us to arrange the next step.

We are initially collecting unwanted clothing, shoes and household items which can be used in the homes and in the future will look at doing some fundraising and we are looking into the process of becoming a registered charity.

We were very kindly offered some space on a van coming to Bulgaria, so we could transport our first load of donations. I really can’t thank Dave Sharp enough for doing this for us, he’s a star!

The appeal is still in the very early stages, but the response I have had from friends, family and people I have never met has been incredible. Over the next year I hope to arrange fund raising days here in Bulgaria and also in the UK.

If anyone would like to donate to our appeal or has ideas about fundraising, please contact me.

Thanks everyone

Charlie

Well done to you, having worked in the child care sector in the UK for many years and now I am a volunteer for a disabled charity all i can say is well done and keep up the good work.
_________________
If you don't try how will you know!!!!!!!!!!! 

Hi everyone.

Wanted to give you an update on the donations that we have/are receiving.

Juice Corporation in Manchester have donated some great items, approximately 115 tshirts, some belts, hats and sweatshirts!!! Absolutely fantastic, I really can’t thank them enough for their generosity. The children are going to love these!!

I would also like to thank GSG Carpet Factory Shop in Rochdale who have told us we can have their surplus roll end carpets and rugs. Thank you so much, these can be used in both orphanages, especially the Baby home as the young babies are learning to crawl and walk on hard surfaces, so these are ideal! Thank you
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall