CAMPAIGN FOR BULGARIA CHILDREN - UPDATE
Stoyan has been placed on the international adoption register and his adoption is going through now. This is a highly confidential process and we are not party to any more information than this.
28 juni 2008
CAMPAIGN FOR BULGARIA CHILDREN - UPDATE
Dear Supporter ,
The last few months have been very frustrating and the persistent government interference has made an already difficult situation much harder at Mogilino. However, UNICEF continue to manage the rehabilitation project there and some very encouraging results are starting to be seen. We have some specific information on how the children are recovering and what steps are being taken for their futures as well as the latest news from our charity.
In May we appointed a Bulgarian representative, Maria Sharkova, who will be responsible for tracking all the children as they leave Mogilino for new homes. She will visit the children, assess their situation, make recommendations to TBACT about any future support we can give as well as alert us to any problems. In the case of the children who are being re-integrated with their families, we want to see that their local social services are supporting the transition and again we will help where we can.
Maria has already visited Milen and Misho in their new protected home in the south of the country and a news update of this visit and how the two boys are doing will be posted on the website shortly.
Maria is also tasked with setting up a Baba Scheme for some of the children. She is already starting this process, with help from UNICEF and the recruitment of suitable Baba's is now underway.
Despite the government's announcement that Mogilino would close at the end of April, UNICEF and other agencies have agreed that the home will need to stay open until March 2009 in order to rehabilitate and prepare the children and young people for leaving. In the case of the over 18's, who number 32 in total, the lack of suitable new homes for them has been an ongoing worry – everyone involved is determined that they should not enter the dreaded adult institutions.
For this reasons we have proposed that our charity funds a small group home for some of the young people to be built in the nearby city of Rousse where they will have access to day centres and local amenities. We are working with a number of experts to develop the plan for this home so that it is ideally suited to the needs of the individual young people who will live there. UNICEF have agreed to this plan and we are now looking for a suitable building to renovate or a plot of land to build on. We will have much more news on this over the next few weeks and months and will of course share our progress with you.
As you know we are committed to ending the system of institutionalising children, effectively warehousing them, in Bulgaria. There are many ways in which this goal can be achieved – small group homes and community schemes is of course one way to get the children out that are already in the system but another way is to stop the supply of children to these places. Institutions exist because people abandon their children into the system, in some cases they are actively encouraged to do so. Intervening early is key to stopping the supply. There are now a few Early Intervention Schemes running in Bulgaria and we are keen to support this work – mindful that it must have evidence of its efficacy – and we are in discussions now about a possible roll out project.
We have been criticised recently for imparting too much personal information about the children and whilst we feel it is necessary for our supporters to know that their concern and their generosity is being effective in changing the children lives, we also must work with some of the other agencies involved at Mogilino co-operatively. For this reason we can only discuss the basic facts.
Vasky has continued to gain weight and is now having physiotherapy, including weight bearing exercises to get her standing and it is hoped she will become more mobile in the future.
Stoyan has been placed on the international adoption register and his adoption is going through now. This is a highly confidential process and we are not party to any more information than this.
Didi was taken to a new protected home in Rousse but this was a temporary move and we were very alarmed to hear that she was then sent back to Mogilino. She has now been placed in a home for young disabled people who can learn a trade in Sofia. Maria will be visiting her very soon and reviewing her situation.
Desislava is being assessed by an eye specialist to see if there is any possibility to improve her sight but an operation cannot go ahead until her mother is found to give permission as she has not given up her parental rights to her daughter.
In total 10 children have been moved into new accommodation in nearby Rousse. Maria will be going to seeing them soon.
In addition to our continued support to the Mogilino children we are also looking to help close another institution which is nearer to Sofia. Two members of our team have just returned from visiting the home and meeting the various organisations involved in this project. We will be posting news on the website about this project and a volunteer programme that we are aiming to set up first soon. We will also be emailing everyone who have expressed an interest in volunteering.
After some frustrating weeks we are now starting to see real progress both at Mogilino and in other areas of Bulgaria.
Thank you for your continued support.
Kate and the team
http://www.tbact.org/home.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/bulgarias-children.shtml
Don Viona