Children’s Home, Rudnik (near Varna)
Not yet confirmed for this summer - ask at meetings for more details.
The home can accommodate 35 children, but currently houses 30. The ages range from 3-10yrs, but there are some 22-23yr olds with a reduced mental age there as well. All the children have mental or physical disabilities. A small proportion of the children have parents who visit them. The home takes in children from the whole Varna region, only three of the children come from villages within a 20-mile radius. Rudnik is a rural town 40km away from Varna, and has a population of 500-600 inhabitants. There is one bus a day to Varna at 2.00pm. There is no one in the home who speaks English, but there is a possibility that any arrangements could be made with the help of Ekaterinna Marinova as a translator. The Municipal overseer of the local Directors (Penka) has a young son (George, 12yrs?) who speaks some English and he may also be willing to help volunteers if he is available in the summer. The home offers the only source of employment in the area, the villagers support themselves with subsistence farming on their small plots of land. Volunteers would probably be able to sleep on the floor of the Director’s office, and could cook on the home’s stove (supplies would have to be bought a few days in advance in Varna). However, they may be more comfortable finding their own accommodation in the local pub/restaurant/boarding house “Jonson’s’” which we were told was a short walk from the home.
The home is very understaffed. Some of the children are bed-ridden and have become so because of a lack of mobility and having been encouraged to stay in bed from an early age. Two of the children we saw had cerebral palsy and were tied to their beds (they often stay like this 24hrs a day). Volunteers could help exercise children that otherwise receive minimum attention. We were told by staff that one of the bed-ridden children was unable to sit up on her own, but were informed by a disability adviser that with the proper stimulation she should be able to do this. Volunteers could be advised how to undertake simple physiotherapy that would improve the children’s mobility. Many of the children have never left the home in their life and the few that have for the first time recently, have been distressed by the experience (one started screaming when he saw a cat, for example, as he had never seen one before). The volunteers would be involved in very exciting work as they could take the children outside the home for the very first time (the child’s confidence would have to be built up slowly). Penka was very enthusiastic that the children should be taken out of the home, perhaps on a picnic in the local woods or (if transport could be found) to the coast for the day. Within the home volunteers could make a magnet board with cyrillic alphabet shapes to teach reading and multi-sensory room (with different sources of sensory stimulation, made from things as simple as sandpaper etc.) The walls are very plain so there is also the opportunity to paint a wall mural - it would be wonderful if the children could join in. Paint and play-dough would be appreciated, but should be used with caution as the staff fear the children may eat the paint!!! (Bring aprons for the children [old shirts?])
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Last updated: March 2nd, 2008