Bulgarian Child, Inc.
Love and
Loaves to Those in Need
7522 Campbell Rd. - St. 113 - 172 - Dallas, TX
June 2003 Trip
Mogilino
Our visit to Mogilino was extremely
interesting.
First of all - it's at the end of the earth -
or maybe it just seemed that way. We drove through some
of the most beautiful countryside from Borovo across a small
mountain to the village of Mogilino. Road signs are not that
prevalent but with good maps and some good guessing we were
able to find our way there with a minimum of back-tracking.
(click
here for map image)
This home has recently been written up in a
very negative Sofia newspaper article so we were a bit anxious
about what we would find.
As it turns out that article was full of
factual errors and lots of misleading information.
We first met with the Director of the home
who wanted to know the purpose of our visit. Having met
with considerable troubles from prior visitors she wanted to
make sure that our motives were non-political. We
assured her that we were really there only to help in any way
that we could.
After a preliminary discussion we left to
meet the kids. All of them that were ambulatory were outside
on a couple of playground areas. Most of them had
recently had VERY short haircuts which had left many cuts on
their scalp. Given the prevalence of lice the haircuts
were quite understandable - the cuts were less so.
The building was significantly remodeled in 1996 by a German
firm and is in really excellent shape - especially as compared
to other similar facilities in Bulgaria. The physical
plant both indoors and out is among the best shape of all of
the homes we've visited.
The bed facilities for the young bed-bound children are these
cribs with sides on them and although they are somewhat
crowded the entire room is clean and well-cared for.
The rooms for older children are also a bit
crowded but, as you can see from the pictures, they are lovely
colors, clean and neat.
In one of the rooms there was this one
"activity crib" where kids were in with some toys. These
toys looked totally unused though as did an ENTIRE room of
physical rehabilitation equipment.
This home has a very large room filled with
physical rehabilitation equipment that is simply never used
(similar to the room at Gorna Koznitsa that is also unused).
The Director asked us if would might supply a team of folks to
come to the home and help them learn how to use the equipment
and how to work with the handicapped children.
We are working on a solution to that request
as well as the possibility of providing a Physical Therapist
and Special Education Teacher for this home.
This "classroom" was obviously setup as a display for our
visit and it's difficult to tell what might take place in here
on a routine basis.
We were told that these children "can't
learn" so there is simply no school as we know it. We
were told that they have some classes on things like colors
and "how to dress".
There is a significant need here for
training and a good possibility for a team that wishes to work
with these children and train the staff of the facility.
Needs
Fruits & vegetables
soap, disinfectant, shampoo
Training on handicapped children (mental/physical)
Clothing (sweatshirts & pants are easiest for this
population)
