The BBC documentary, Bulgaria’s Unwanted Children was a stark reminder that extreme child poverty is not in some far flung place, it is right here, in Europe. Director Kate Blewett’s shocking film shows the harsh reality of life for thousands of children in Bulgaria.
The Sofia Baptist Church has a long history of working with those who live in abject poverty. For years it has been visiting orphanages where it has made an enormous difference in the lives of the children who live there by:
- Improving facilities – building kitchens, bathrooms, installing double glazing
- Taking food and clothes
- Visiting the orphans, taking personalised presents and cards and providing entertainment for them
But they have a vision to do more. In 2003, with the help of UK based charity, the Bulgarian Partners Trust, work started on a Social and Training Centre in the centre of Sofia, which will when finished will work to keep children out of orphanages but providing:
- Feeding programmes
- Medical clinics
- Family counseling
- Homework clubs will help the children stay in ordinary schools
Workshops will give valuable vocational skills to teenagers who leave the orphanages with no ability to find a job
Donate to the Bulgarian Partners Trust to:
- Keep Children from being abandoned by providing support for vulnerable families
- See abandoned children given a present this Christmas
- Build a centre that will give these Orphans a better ‘now’ and a hope for the future