Real Stories
Stories like these are the reason why we do what we do...
Stoyil's Story
'In the orphanage you don’t know what life is like, whether it’s happy or sad. Now I know what life offers and that I have to make the most of it.' Stoyil
Abandoned aged nine, Stoyil entered the House of Opportunity from an orphanage in 2007. He could not look anyone in the eye, could not use a knife and fork and hid his food under his bed for fear that someone would take it. After two years at the House, Stoyil graduated from the House of Opportunity Programme able to budget, cook, work and enjoy interacting with others. He now has a job at a local school and has even helped coach the local football team. He is a wonderful chef who smiles and jokes with everyone.
Too poor to see a doctor: Smilena is saved from TB
Smilena, a 28-year-old mother of two, thought she was eight months pregnant. Living in Bulgaria’s largest Roma shanty town, Stara Zagora, Smilena was too poor to see a doctor and had no pregnancy check ups. At a free health-check provided by Trussell Trust partners World Without Borders, the doctor noticed that the baby had no heart beat. He urgently took the young mum for an ultrasound and discovered she was not pregnant but suffering from tuberculosis hydroperitoneum. Smilena then spent two months in a TB clinic and is now recovering.
World Without Borders is a Roma NGO founded by Roma people. Many of its staff grew up in poverty in Stara Zagora Roma Community and broke the mould by gaining a good education. Instead of pursuing well paid careers these passionate young professionals returned to their community to set up a charity providing essential healthcare, family planning and sex education. The Trussell Trust partners with World Without Borders.
Refugee twins receive Christmas Shoeboxes
The five-year-old twins, pictured, fled to Bulgaria with their mother after their father was killed on the streets of Baghdad. Having spent months in a refugee centre, unable to leave, these young girls were facing a very bleak Christmas. A Trussell Trust team secured permission to take Christmas Shoeboxes filled with gifts to the Sofia Refugee Centre. The emotional responses to these boxes were hard to believe. These people had barely any possessions and had no contact with people outside the centre. The young twins were delighted by their gifts, as was their mother who could not provide them with any presents herself.
Every December The Trussell Trust takes Christmas Shoeboxes filled with gifts to Bulgaria’s poorest and most vulnerable men, women and children. Each box is made by schools, churches, businesses and individuals in the UK. The Christmas Boxes are given out in a variety of places including orphanages, poor Roma communities, women’s refuges, poor rural schools and refugee centres.
Botevgrad Roma Community bulldozed by authorities: 100 children homeless
Helena, 6, came home from The Trussell Trust’s 2010 summer camp for disadvantaged children to find her home destroyed. The community that is home to 200 people, including 100 children like Helena, was bulldozed by local authorities. With no alternative accommodation provided, the families were very distressed and started to consider sending their children to the local orphanage to enable them to survive the freezing Bulgarian winter.
One grandmother held up her 20-day-old granddaughter, who no longer has a home, ‘what are we going to do?’ she asked. The Trussell Trust set up a Botevgrad Families Fund to help with the immediate crisis. We’re also tracking down each family to give them Christmas Shoeboxes. Longer term, The Trussell Trust is working to help Roma people break out of poverty through sustainable community projects.
Roma people across Bulgaria suffer from extreme poverty and marginalisation. Living conditions are third world, many are illiterate and less than 1% of Roma children complete a secondary education.