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Bulgarian Child Proposed Project:
Hospice for Dying
Children
Purpose: to provide loving care for handicapped children in the last
weeks of their lives.
In Bulgaria, physically and/or mentally handicapped children are
abandoned by their families and routinely turned over to the state for
their care. These homes are grossly understaffed and the staff is
grossly undertrained. Potential development of the children is not
understood, and therefore, neither expected nor encouraged. Many times,
even Down’s Syndrome children are confined to beds and receive no
stimulation. Their world is no larger than their bed. BCI has worked to
relieve some of these conditions by employing a special education
teacher and a physical therapist for one such home of nearly 100
children. Our efforts help only a few. For most, their lives are spent
in their beds, sometimes sharing it with another child. Some of these
may live (linger) for many years. As a child enters into the last stages
of life, he is given no special treatment, not even pain relief. Most of
the time, medical personnel are not called to the home until after the
child dies. We know three children who died within a three-month period
in one home this summer. There was no cup of water given in Jesus’ name,
no cool cloth to relieve a fever, no medication to dull the pain, no
tender touch to ease their passing. No one held them. The children were
left in their beds to die. Their passing was noted only when the new
shift came on duty to change the wet beds. Then, many hours later, after
the appropriate authorities were notified and had made their appearance,
the bodies were wrapped in blankets and taken to be buried.
We are currently working with our lawyer to understand the legal
requirements associated with running a hospice program for these
children.
We will need your help to make it happen.
Personnel:
Director/Chief Physician. Medical doctor with the administrative skills
to direct the center.
One full-time physician to work a second shift when director is not on
duty.
Four full-time nurses. One per shift.
One person to both cook and to clean the facility.
Volunteers:Medical doctors and nurses from the Sofia Baptist Church,
plus retired “Grandparents” with a loving heart and a gift for such
ministry. There is a Bulgarian Christian medical organization in Sofia
and an international association of Christian nurses who could be
involved as regular volunteers and as need dictated.
Facility: this need may possibly be met through the Ministry of Health.
There are several state-run medical clinics hospitals with unused rooms.
We would appeal for the use of such a facility – rent free. If this is
not an option, or we find it to be inappropriate, an apartment may be
rented and converted into an appropriate facility. Depending upon
availability of funds, space would be needed for 5-10 patients.
Medical equipment and furnishings: supplied by donors in the States.
Operating budget:
Medical doctor/director: $500/month would cover the salary and social
insurance requirements.
Two other physicians $300/month each. Total: $600.
Four nurses: $200/month each. Total $800.
Cook/maintenance $100/month.
Total personnel: $2,000/month
Facility/utilities. – dependent upon the availability or support from
the government.
Ongoing expenses: food, laundry (purchase washer and dryer), cleaning
supplies/disinfectants: $500/month
Operating expenses without rent and utilities: $2500/month
Secondary Use of Facility and Personnel: Post-op Care Center
Many of the children we see would benefit greatly from surgeries for
repairing clef lip/palate, correcting “lazy” eyes, and other procedures.
Surgeons from the States have stated their desire to come to Bulgaria
and perform these surgeries. We have met with hospital officials and
surgeons in Sofia. They are in agreement for the surgeries to be
performed in their facilities. The only thing preventing this from
happening is the need for post-operative care for the children. This
facility could be used once or twice a year as a post-op care center for
children who undergo corrective surgeries performed by volunteer medical
teams.
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