Bulgarian Child, Inc.
Love and
Loaves to Those in Need
7522 Campbell Rd. - St. 113 - 172 - Dallas, TX
June 2003 Trip
Totleben
Totleben is a tiny village just east of
Pleven. Arriving there in the morning we were greeted at
the gate by a bunch of kids who were excited to see us.
This is actually one of two homes that are
combined under the same Director - one for older children and
the second for younger kids.
The children had prepared a song for us - the "Song in Praise
of Science and Progress" was sung with great gusto!
Bedrooms in the older kids home were large and fairly clean -
in fact there was nothing here that wasn't clean by Bulgarian
Orphanage standards.
As you can see though, there are simply no personal items at
all but at least the colors are bright and there is some
semblance of decorations thanks to some previous unspecified
donors.
After touring the older kids home we moved
down the road to the younger kids
We saw a delightful playroom and lots of
equipment - that's the good news.
The bad news is that it seems to be mostly for display.
The equipment looked almost new as you can see from these
pictures and according to the Director was donated by an
adoptive parent some time ago.
As with other homes we're thinking that they just don't know
how to use this wonderful equipment.
Some of the kids here in the younger home
had significantly more obvious mental problems than the older
kids but were absolutely wonderful if somewhat more subdued
than we normally expect to see.
Someone has done a great job of murals here in this home.
The younger children's bedrooms were also
multi-purpose rooms where the beds folded up into the walls.
You can see that we were expected by the stuffed animal
carefully placed in each chair.
It's hard to criticize such things because it does imply that
they care about the impression that they make but it also
gives pause to wonder what it's like when we're not there.
There is a clear need for decent shoes - especially winter
shoes and socks.
Plus, there is only one house-hold size
washer to do wash for the 120 kids in both homes - not a good
situation.
There is something incredibly moving about
these children. They are caught in a place and time that
keeps them in conditions that we would not long tolerate and
yet, many of them are full of spirit and good times.
Needs
Shoes - socks - clothing of all sizes and varieties are really
in need. Because the kids are schooled at the local
schools we didn't see any indication of school supplies but
I'm sure there is a need there.
We have been given a
designated gift of $500 for this home that we will use to
purchase a washer and dryer for this home. Thanks to
this donor for their heart for these kids.
There's also an ongoing need for medicines, bandages and
disinfectant, plus the usual soaps and cleaning supplies.
