Thank you Charlie, for that informative post, it is so nice to hear all your efforts coming to fruition

I have thoughly enjoyed reading it and was also deeply moved by it

Thanks again

Mike
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well I can say I found my place "nirvarna" (near Varna) 

Thanks Mike. I sometimes think I am waffling a little to much, but I just write as I feel, it was a fabulous visit and the reaction of the girl just blew me away. I get chocked up just thinking about it!!!

Good news is that we have been offered storage in the North West of the UK and already have 5 rugs donated!!!! And here it starts, hopefully a great 2012
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www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
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Hi everyone

Hope you've all got the wonderful sunshine as we have today Makes everything so much nicer!

So, an update. A lady in the USA, with the help of family, friends and her community, raised 1300 dollars for Sliven baby home! With this money, we have been able to get the specially made bedding made for 75 beds, we also had 27 curtains made to measure for all the windows in the home, with the remaining money and also donations from another couple of people, we also bought 300 nappies (enough for one day!), baby wipes, dummies, bibs and also some crayons, paper blocks and colouring books. Absolutely wonderful!

We are hopefully taking these items later this week and I can tell you that the Director is so excited and so grateful for everything. I think it's going to be an emotional visit!!

So I will update you all soon after our visit

Thanks for reading

Charlie
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www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
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So we finally found a day which we could travel to Sliven baby home to deliver all the donations that we had been given. I loaded the car up with so many items, clothes, toys, nappies and toiletries, curtains, etc.

We arrived at the home at 11am and were greeted by some of the staff, a couple I recognized from our last visit. There were plenty of eager and willing hands to help us unload all the items. We were shown to an office where all the items had been collected and we also met the homes accountant as well, whom we met on our last visit also.

We were asked to sit down and offered a drink. The Director, Kita, was at a meeting but would be joining us in a short while. Then the work began. Any donations given to the home have to be listed individually. So the counting began, all the curtains, each toy, how many nappies, wipes, dummies, bibs, you name it, everything was counted. The ladies had it all under control, a great team!! There were a few laughs, loads of chat, I love this home!! Such a great atmosphere!

During this time, we told them about a little boy who was adopted the year before and the staff remembered him well. They were so happy that he was doing so well. And they were very grateful and happy when told them that his new family, their community and friends were the ones who raised the money to purchase the bedding and curtains. Big smiles all around!

They absolutely loved the art and craft items, paper, coloured card, crayons, colouring books, etc, plus there were some craft sets in the box sent by Maggie all the way from America. They were also trying out some of the toys, pressing buttons, making music, so great to see. Chech told them my comment, if the ladies love these toys so much then the children are going to love them even more! The ladies beamed at me and said YES!

By the time we had finished all this sorting, we had 45 minutes to wait until Kita arrived back at the home. We said we would go and grab a bite to eat and be back for 12.30.

Once back at the home, we were taken to Kita’s office for our meeting. She is such a lovely lady and greeted us so warmly with a huge grin. She told us about the inspection they had the week before. There are such strict guidelines now, toys now have to come with a safety certificate, only brand new clothing will be allowed, it is hard for the home, as most items donated are second hand. Only by raising money can they buy new items for the home.

So she had a look at all the donations we had brought and she was so happy. She said the curtains were perfect; each one had the size in the bag so they knew which window they would fit. The nappies and toiletries she was very pleased with as they go through so many every day. She said the new bedding was being saved for a big celebration being held on 1st June, which is International Children’s day. She said they would also get the curtains put up and would send us photographs of the curtains and the bedding on the beds.

She then asked if we would like a tour of the home and we said YES! On our previous visit, I was taken to just one room, met some of the staff and 5 babies.

The cheerful lady, who showed us around last year, took us on the tour. So off we went, up the first lot of steps to the area I had visited previously. At the top of the stairs, laid out waiting for us, was the new bedding! They were absolutely fantastic! 5 different sets, bright, cheerful and fun! I am so very happy, they are fabulous!

She then took us into the room I had visited the year before. 5 young babies in their cots and 4 staff members in the room, big smiles and greeted warmly. And our tour, the lady, yet again, was talking with the babies with a fun voice and tickling their bellies, a big smile came back from one baby she was talking too. Then back downstairs we went into a different room. Slightly older children were here, but in bed! It was nap time. They had a play area that we walked into and the sleeping areas were in a back room. The rooms were spotless; there was a bathroom area off to the side. The bedrooms had about 15 beds in total. A couple of the children were still awake and our lady started doing her funny and happy chat with them in a loud whisper, but you could see the staff in the room looking at her as if to say QUIET, but at the same time smiling at her! So funny, such a lovely lady.

So we were taken to 3 other rooms like this last one, again, very clean and tidy. We then visited a play room, opened the door and there are some children, not asleep!! Great! One little boy was walking with the help of a staff member, big smile when he saw our lady and yet again, chat chat chatting away to him and the others. Chech told me that she spoke to them all the same, warmly and kindly, she’s their mama and loves them. She had told us this on our last visit, she said that they are like her own children and she loves them all dearly. This is apparent; you don’t need to understand the language to understand this!

Finally, we were taken to a room downstairs, on the way we met a little boy, of maybe 1 ½ years old, being brought back upstairs, he was climbing each step with help and was really enjoying himself. And of course, our lady greeted and talked to him as before, which was rewarded with a big smile from him.

The room we visited last was a day centre. It was used by the children in the home but was also used by children whose parents had no one to look after them whilst they were at work. It was a great room, everything in it was donated. You had small play centres with ball pool and slides, soft play items, mats, balls, etc. In the back room there are put me up beds, books, small ride on toys, etc. It was great to hear that children from outside of the home were also able to visit and are looked after so well.

We then went back to see the Director. We asked about what their needs may be now and in the future. She said at the moment, food was a priority. But they also need new washing machine desperately and also medical scales. Not the type that you just stand on, but the larger type used in Doctors surgeries and hospitals. They need shoes, but as she told us before, they could only be brand new due to health and safety regulations. She did say that as and when they needed anything, she would email the details to us. We told her we would help them as much as we could.

So now was the time to leave. We were shook gratefully by the hand and told thank you so many times. I am so happy and grateful to have found this home so that we can help them. It is a friendly, caring, warm and happy home run by some incredible women. It is an honour to be able to help them and for me to share their story with you all. Thank you to everyone, to all of you who have helped and supported the children and staff in this home, I can personally tell you that you do help to make a difference. I hope that we can continue to work together to help the children. Thank you.
_________________
www.cckb-bg.com
www.abrightstartfororphansbg.com
www.facebook.com/pages...04?sk=wall 

Hi Charlie

Very informative, and the website is very good, nice to see in pictures the result of all the work that is put in by everyone
Reading through it, it seems to me that lots of items needed need to be new, and the shortage of nappies and foodstuff, all needs to be bought with cash.
I wonder if it would be a good idea if you setup say a paypal account, so that cash donations could also be made with little hassle, and much better than someone buying the product and having to have to transport it, store it and deliver it.
Not sure of the legality of it, or if you need to be a registered charity first, but it does seem to make some sense

Anyway, thank you for the update, I wish you well

Mike
_________________
well I can say I found my place "nirvarna" (near Varna) 

Hi Mike

Thanks for the reply.

It has now got to the point where we are limited to the items we can donate directly to the home. We are not a registered charity, through the website, I did set up 2 projects that people could donate to, 1 - to help renovate the bedrooms at Kalofer home, 2 - to buy gymnastic equipment for Sliven (but now their needs have changed). We have had a few donations come through, although for some reason, these have not registered on the website itself. But all those who have donated through paypal, I send a receipt so they can see their donation sent.

We have had 2 big donations come in over the past year. Last May, a very good friend of nine held a fund raiser for our appeal and Help for Heroes. She managed to raise 1000 pounds for each appeal! Incredible achievement.

Then a lady from America, whose family adopted a boy from Sliven baby home, wanted to raise money to buy something for the home, her own thank you for them looking after her son in his early years. With the help of her community, a local Eastern Orthodox church and also Bulgarians resident in her district, they raise over 1000 dollars! This money bought 65 new sets of bedding (which can be seen on our Facebook group and on our website, photo gallery), curtains for 27 bedrooms made to measure, various art and craft items and some nappies and toiletries. A few other donations came in and we bought more nappies, wipes, bibs and dummies.

So our aim now is to try and raise money to buy at least on of the items Sliven needs, the washing machine or medical scales. We are also raising money, an on going project, to renovate all the bedrooms at Kalofer. We have enough money to do one or two, not sure yet, and have a few volunteers to help with the work. We have already been donated curtains for Kalofer, so that's one huge hurdle out of the way.

If anyone wants any more information about our appeal or the homes, please fee free to contact me.

Thanks

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