Charity News February 2010

The spirit of giving comes in many forms and sizes. The Bulgarian Retail Association (BRA), contacted through the Greek Stall, donated a large quantity of goods - new clothes, sports items and toys - to the IWC Charity Foundation, worth over 35,000 leva. The signature of the donation agreement took place on January 26 at BRA’s office. We will keep you updated how the goods will be used!

The Soup Kitchen 2009-2010

The Soup Kitchen project started in 2002 on the initiative of the staff of BNP Paribas- Sofia Branchand in cooperation with Sofia Municipality.

The project consists in daily providing a warm lunch (soup and a loaf of bread) to elderly and poor citizens in different districts throughout Sofia every winter workday for 4 months (during the period 1st December - 31 March).

Eligible beneficiaries are individuals above 65 years old living alone with insufficient funds to provide themselves with food during the winter season as well as single parents with children and disabled people who are in vulnerable social situation.

The project is financed through the donations of the staff of BNP Paribas, Sofia Branch on a matching contribution basis with the Bank and with the financial support of clients and partners. The IWC has supported the project financially since its start.

Meal distribution is handled in cooperation with Sofia municipality, through the centers of municipal company “Social Patronage”, which provides the necessary cooking and distribution facilities and staff. The permanent control of the collected funds by BNP Paribas guarantees they are used exclusively to support the less fortunate. In addition, BNP Paribas representatives and members of the IWC charity committee visit the distribution centers regularly and make personal contacts with the staff there and the beneficiaries of the Soup Kitchen.

The project started with 150 beneficiaries in 2002-2003 and has expanded every year since. The 2008-2009 Soup kitchen provided meals to 1750 people per day and saw the opening of a distribution center in Varna. This year, the Municipality of Sofia has taken over a portion of the costs, which is permitting the expansion of the Soup Kitchen in Varna with 3 new distributions centers.

The Social Kitchen provides crucial support during the harsh winter months to many needy old citizens, who are often the forgotten people in this era of economic change. Many of the distribution centers provide not only a warm meal but also a warm place for the elderly people to eat and to socialize. It is a moving experience, when visiting the distribution centers, to see the elderly people enjoying this moment of warmth in simplicity and dignity.

In January we visited the distribution center at the Social Patronage on Blvd Bulgaria, which serves meals to 200 people daily. The Nestle chocolates – a donation by Nestle- left from the Charity Bazaar made a welcome sweet supplement to the daily fare!

The Soup Kitchen in Mladost

The Baba Program

An estimated 10,000 children live in social institutions in Bulgaria. It is particularly difficult to fulfill the emotional needs of very young children and children with disabilities in the context of social institutions, where staff is insufficient and often poorly trained. The lack of individualized attention causes or aggravates developmental delays and behavioral problems such as auto-aggression, feeding problems and attachment disorders.

Programs are being implemented to facilitate the reintegration of children into their families when possible, to develop foster care and alternative residential care services like small group homes, and to prevent abandonment of children. However there is a need for immediate measures to remedy emotional neglect at an early age, so as to minimize long-term damage. The Baba Program is intended to do just that, to give young children and children with disabilities individual care and love every day.

Retired women from the areas where the orphanages are located are paid on a monthly basis to devote exclusive attention to two children each, 4 hours a day. It is a simple concept that gives very encouraging results. After the bond between the babas/grannies and the children is established, the emotional development, speech skills, gross and fine motor skills of the children improve significantly.

The Charity Foundation of the International Women’s Club is currently funding five Baba Programs with a total of 30 babas:

- Petrovo Orphanage, near Sandanski, where the first program started in 2004, home to 97 severely disabled children, aged 4 to 18

- Maria Luisa Orphanage in Buzovgrad, since 2006, home to 90 children, aged 0 to 3, many of them with disabilities;

- Gorski Senovets Orphanage, since 2007, home to 55 disabled children, aged 4 to 18

- Zlatitsa Orphanage, since January 2009, home to 60 children, 0 to 3 years of age, many of them with disabilities

- Karin Dom Day Center in Varna, a private Centre for rehabilitation and social Integration of children with special needs and their families. The Baba Program started in spring 2009.

We are immensely grateful to Zhivka Nikolova, the psychologist of the Baba Program, who so caringly follows up on every child in the Program; to the Macedonian Outreach Foundation for their long-time support of the Baba Program in Petrovo Home; and Drammen Rotary Club-Norway for their support of the Baba Program in Buzovgrad and Zlatitsa Orphanages. And of course we are grateful to every individual donor who has taken a baba under their wings!

Bulgarian Mothers’ Movement
http://dbm.bg-mamma.com

We are The Bulgarian Mothers’ Movement - 100% volunteer non-profit organization, founded by a group of Bulgarian mothers with the intention to improve the conditions for the children in Bulgarian orphanages.

The beginning
The start of our activities in the beginning of 2004 was prompted by the idea to help the Medical and child-care orphanage in the town of Pernik. We collected clothes, toys and shoes left from our own children. We met through the internet forum BG-Mamma.
We also bought nappies, baby food and cosmetics, which were donated to the orphanage.
Gradually, we established contact with other orphanages in Bulgaria. Donations have been made by mothers from all around Bulgaria. We could see that when we unite together, we could help the children who lack parental care. A lot of children were made happy thanks to the mothers’ big hearts!

Our numerous campaigns proved that with close co-operation with the orphanages, we could help improve the living conditions there and bring happiness to the children living there.
Our ultimate goal and dream is to close down all institutions in Bulgaria as we believe that every child has the right to parental care and family environment.

The idea was not only to bring the donations (clothes, toys etc.), but to stay for a while with the kids, to play with them, to give them what they need most – a hug, a warm word, an encouraging smile!

Who are we?
We are mainly mothers (most of us working), who are involved in the organization on a voluntary principle.
We have volunteers in Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Kyustendil, Rousse, Burgas, Vidin and Sofia.

What we do?
- Christmas Charity Bazaars (5 consecutive years)
- Easter Charity Bazaars
- Back to school actions for collection of school materials for children in orphanages
- Protests against the Mogilino institution
- Numerous letters to MEP, State Agency for Child Protection for improvement of conditions for children in the orphanages
- Participation in various discussions and initiation of requests for legislation changes for improvement of conditions in orphanages, improvement of prevention for mothers at risk, improvement of adoption procedures
- Protected Home Together – a joint initiative with architectural agency to build a Protected Home on the territory of Gurmazovo, near Bozhurishte. The project started working in October 2008 and currently there are 12 young people (aged 17-20 years )who pass through various courses in order to be fully prepared for life outside the institutions.
- Sveta Paraskeva Project – our latest project, that is planned to be launched in the following months. The idea is to hire specialists who will help with the care for the children in Sveta Paraskeva orphanage in Sofia. The lack of qualified personnel is one of the serious issues we face when visiting the institutions.