Our October 2023 visit to Bulgaria was the first since 2019. It was good to re-establish our visits and to see first-hand how your donations are being used.
Covid has had a detrimental effect on the babies and children along with a huge strain on funding, carers, and local support. Babas were unable to come in to take the babies out of their cots or wards so for almost two years these children were living a very solitary existence.
Babas are now beginning to take the children out of their wards.
We met both of our Babas in Pleven and Roman. These ladies have the most amazing rapport with the babies and children they visit. Their bond is clearly having a huge impact on their physical, mental and emotional health.
We have forged good relations with the directors of the institutions over the years. They often have items that they cannot afford or are unable to raise funds for. They let us know in advance of these requests and during our visits we are able to see what is required and why.
Our aim as trustees is to ensure we are getting the right information to make choices that benefit the children we support. We take notes on each visit , photos of buildings and equipment (if we have supplied it) in order to refer back to these in the coming years to see what impact the items or funding has had on the children.
One of the advantages of a small charity is we are able to see the benefits of our work with different organisations & institutions and the far-reaching impact that your donation can make on the most vulnerable.
Setting targets after visits helps to cement our commitment to providing support. With this in mind we will be focusing our efforts on raising awareness and funding for more Babas and physiotherapists as they have such a direct and life changing impact.
