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Happy Children in Difficult Times |
by Rel Davis |
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Look at their faces and you see typical teenagers. That's all. Teenagers who like rock music and MTV and American movies. Kids who like to dance and "hang out" together.
And they ARE just typical teenage boys and girls. But in a world that is far from typical.
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To see individual photos of some of the children, go to http://straldja.freeservers.com/pix.htm |
They are abandoned children. They live in a home for children in the small town of Straldja in eastern Bulgaria. And in a country in the middle of economic depression, these children are at the low end of the economic scale. When there are limited resources for everyone, orphans tend to come last.
I'm a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria. An "older" volunteer. I came out of retirement to try to make a difference halfway around the world. My job is to work with the local city government and try to help the community develop its economic base. But when I saw the faces of the children at the local orphanage, I began volunteering there in my spare time. I teach an English class there and help with the vocational cooking program.
Bulgaria today looks and feels very much like America during the Great Depression. Massive unemployment (about 40% here in Straldja), lots of empty factories and businesses, a crumbling infrastructure. Horse-drawn wagons are more common than autos and people survive by raising much of their own food in gardens and in tiny herds of sheep, goats or cattle.
There simply isn't enough money to go around. Retirees live on as little as $26 a month. Average salaries are around $150 a month. My wife and I don't receive a salary, of course, but we get a living allowance about equal to the average income over here.
The "depression" mentality here is reflected in the buildings and streets - usually uncared-for, in sad need of repair, unkempt and in need of cleaning.
When I first saw the orphanage - technically the "social and pedagogical home for children" - I was struck by the fact that it was always well-maintained and kept free of debris. You can see the buildings are old and that there is no money for needed repairs, but you can also see that they are kept clean and functioning.
The orphanage is a short walk from downtown Straldja, where I work in the city hall. There are several buildings there, a large dormitory, a gymnasium-dining building, and the main classroom structure, in addition to numerous outbuildings, some abandoned for lack of funds.
I teach an elective English class on the third floor of the main building. Open to the brightest children, it teaches basic English grammar and pronunciation to a handful of children who love anything American.
The kids are always filled with questions about America, what it's like to live there, what the people are like in the States. They were intensely disappointed, however, when I admitted I'd never met the Backstreet Boys in person.
I also help out in the vocational cooking class, a new program designed to help prepare the children for survival after they leave (at age 18.) The class is conducted in a spotless room in the basement of one of the buildings. There is one "stove" in the room, which is simply a small oven, about the size of a microwave, with two electric burners on top. The cooking utensils and dishes are a motley collection of donations from staff members.
But the children enthusiastically prepare complete meals in this environment, and recently made American-style oatmeal cookies to a recipe I provided them.
Institutions like orphanages are not highly respected in many circles. There is a widespread reputation of bureaucracy and abuse by neglect shared by such institutions. But this school really seems to be different. Unsolicited comments by the children have led me to believe that the children are indeed well taken care of, and the faces of the children reflect that.
The staff seems to be a loving and caring group of people, and the children are, I believe, fortunate to be in this particular orphanage.
But the needs are enough to bring tears to one's eyes. Funding for the school is sufficient for the bare essentials only. Examples:
Food. Children are provided an adequate, if plain, diet. There is simply not enough money available for extra treats like desserts. I baked some American-style cookies and took them into my class. The students were amazed that they could have more than one each. I told them to keep eating until the cookies were gone. It took about two minutes!
Medicine. Complete emergency medical care is available, but there is no protection against winter epidemics such as influenza. The school can't afford to buy influenza vaccines or adequate vitamins for the children, and oral antibiotics are often not available.
Clothing. Clothing is provided, but in limited supply. There is always a need for good used winter clothing for the children, whose ages range from 7 to 18.
PCs. Electronic equipment is virtually nonexistent. There is not a single computer in the entire school and entertainment equipment such as televisions, CD players and tape recorders are either rare or not present at all. The children themselves say their biggest need is for TVs and CD players.
Sports. The playground and sports area is quite large and adequate, but there is very little equipment for the children to play with. Balls, nets and rackets are simply too expensive and outside the orphanage's budget.
Look at the faces of these children and you see the human spirit at its best - children in what could be the worst of circumstances who exhibit the joy and curiosity and hope of typical teenagers.
My job is to work for the good of the entire community here, but the children are the ones I find myself worrying most about.
The future of any nation lies in its children. Anything I can do to help improve the lives of some of the most at-risk children in the nation, will be a contribution to the future of Bulgaria.
(Rel Davis and his wife, Edith Sloan, were living in retirement near Okeechobee, Florida, when they decided to volunteer two years of their lives in the American Peace Corps. He is a retired Federal employee and minister and she is a retired school teacher and principal. Their websites include:
