Hello,
Last year while in Bulgaria my family and me visited an orphanage in the village of Lesichovo close to the town of Pazardzhik.
We were shocked to see the conditions not only of the building, but the children do not have basic food. This year the government has agreed to give money for the basic building works to be carried out so hopefully the building work will start.
This will not change the fact that the children will go without food. The government will not allow more money for food and as it stands today the orphanage does not have a sponsor to help.
We would like to change this with your help.
We have had meetings with the director of the orphanage to get a true picture of what they need to make the lives of the children a bit better. We believe it’s the right for every child to have the right to have a healthy life and part of this is to give them a good diet.
The children are between 3 and 7 but look much younger due to the fact they have not been fed properly over the years. On average two children from the orphanage are adopted every year. Some go to the USA and Italy plus Germany and France but none have been taken to England. If you are interested in adopting a child, we can help you in every way. We will not charge you anything and only ask you give the child a chance of a normal life. My wife is Bulgarian so she can translate for you. If anyone is interested in going to Bulgaria to visit the orphanage, please feel free to come along. We will be going out in July for around six weeks. You can travel with us and we can arrange a hotel for you. We will take you to the orphanage so you can see for yourself. And why not get involved and help the children in any way you would think it helps them.
It will stay with you for the rest of your lives. As you go to the children they all run to you all thirty of them, as they love to get attention that they don’t get normally.
The children do not leave very often the orphanage because of money, so to get visits from outsiders is just great. Children in Bulgaria do not start school till the age of seven so they spend all their time in the orphanage. Once they are seven they are moved to a different place.
As we all know children need support all through their lives but for me the ages up to seven are very important to get a good start in life.
Last year we took all the children to our home where they had a swim and had a meal and they loved it so much. This year we want to go a bit further and help them raise enough food.
I would like to ask you to support the children. You can do this in a few ways.
First, you can go to the orphanage and help the children direct. If you would like to do this, please get in touch and we will arrange it.
Second, you can give cash. If you give cash, please send a cheque to Michael Screen and send it to 16 Burnhays Road, Burslem, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England, ST6 4HH. Cash is very important because this year in July we want to send the first container of food and this will help to pay for the transport. No matter how small amount you send it helps us to help the children as small amounts mount up to large amounts more people give.
On the matter of transport if anyone or any company is willing to help with this please get in touch. My home number is 01782 821595.
Another way you can help is do fund raising for us. This would help us a great deal to raise money and goods much faster. If you would like to help or even if you have a good idea, please help. Any money left over after we have paid for transport will go on heating for the orphanage. Bulgaria in the winter months reaches – 30C in this area. They only have money to cover part of the heating so every year the children live in freezing conditions.
The other two things we ask, if you can help, are to help the children and help the orphanage separate. First the children - we would like, if possible, to make boxes up to give the children direct. In these boxes you can put things such as sweets, toys, clothes and they love crisps, as they don’t have these. If you plan to do this, you can send it to the address above or, if you live in Stoke, I will come and pick it up. If it’s out of Stoke it needs to be worth it for me to pick it up so why not get friends and family involved and collect enough stuff so I can pick it up anywhere in England. If you plan to do this, please have in mind that the boxes will be checked for genuine contents and then sealed and taken to the children so, please, state on each box if it’s for a girl or boy and the age you want it to go to because of the items in the box need to be to the age of the child. It is very important that all children are treated equally so, please, prepare a shoe size box for the children. In this way all children will receive approximately the same amount of things. The box for the orphanage could be any size. We can tell you what child your box went to, if you wish, and send you a photo when they open it. If you want to have a picture taken with your box given to the child, please put your name and contact details on the box. Please do not put in the box books as they are in English, also no fizzy drinks, as they are not allowed these.
To do this you will make a child so happy.
The next one is the orphanage because, as I have said, we urgently need food. We would ask you each week to just put one extra thing in your basket and most people have tins in the kitchen that have not even been opened. Please fill a box for us and again we will pick it up. Again if it’s outside of Stoke, please get your friends and family involved so we can get more so it’s worth us picking it up anywhere in the UK.
We would ask for this to be such things as tinned fruit, puddings and custard. One thing in Bulgaria that is very expensive is meat so tinned meat such as stewing steak or meat balls will be great for building the children up. Beans are another good thing as they have not tasted the English baked beans and beans are always good for the fibre in them. Also you can give peas, sweet corn, mushrooms, pasta, pasta sauces or any other cooking sauces, etc. The only thing we cannot take is fresh meat and vegetables because of transport. But tinned would be great. Cereals such as porridge, Frosties or plain corn flakes or any other cereals are very good, as the children will never get the opportunity to taste them. Also any biscuits or any other long life goodies you think are good for children. We would like you to buy in most cases the cheaper brands so more can be given.
If you are in a club such as scouts, football club and so on, why not help and feel good about yourself while helping others.
Once again if you would like to get in touch about all this you can speak to me direct on 01782 821595.
I will keep you informed how things are going plus after I have been to Bulgaria we will put photos on of the children and the orphanage.
I have put also on here a few videos for you to look at, so you can see the reasons why we are trying to help. Please take a look at these. Anyone looking at these is advised to look at them alone before showing them to your children, as they are very upsetting at times. Please note that the videos only give an idea about the orphanages in Bulgaria and they do not show the orphanage we are trying to help. In this orphanage only a few children have got health problems, the rest are in relatively good health although they suffer from malnutrition.
I thank you from myself for helping us but most of all I thank you for helping the children of Lesichovo orphanage.
In 2007 the BBC documentary film 'Bulgaria's Abandoned Children caused an international outcry because the images of neglect were so shocking to witness in a country that had just become a member of the European Union. Bulgaria has more institutionalised mentally and physically disabled children than anywhere else in Europe. The film is a heart-rending and eye-opening look into the life of one institution.
Eighteen months after filming it, director Kate Blewett returned to Bulgaria in 2009 to film with a handful of the children featured in the original documentary, seeing where they are today and how their lives have changed since the outcry and changes brought about by the film.
The original documentary is set in a small Bulgarian village in an institute called Mogilino, a place where 75 unwanted disabled children are growing up. Many of them cannot walk or talk, not necessarily because they are unable to, but because they have been neglected and have never had the opportunity to learn. With extraordinary access, Blewett takes us into this tragic silent world.
The second half of the film takes the audience back to Bulgaria to see how the lives of the children have been transformed beyond recognition as a result of the public response to the film. It is testimony to the power of television to bring about concrete change, and also demonstrate how even apparently hopelessly withdrawn and 'damaged' children can be reached, helped and given a meaningful life and future with the right care.