We are walking in the street covered with autumn leaves, in a town near the city of Dolna Mitropolia. In front of us there are houses with high fences and sloppy buildings without fences, with scattered objects and toys around. On the street a mother with two girls and a little boy is greeting us. The children are hiding because they think they will be taken away from their mother and placed in a “home”. These people have been threatened that they would lose their children because they live in extreme poverty and without amenities.
With a smile on her face Kalina remembers of her carefree childhood that has brought her joy although she has never had the clothes and the toys she wanted, but her parents have taught her to love and now Kalina wants to pass on this love.
„Hope and homes for children – Bulgaria“ committed to helping in securing of the living environment so the children could not get injured. Our organization also bought some food and supplies for the children two of whom attend school and the third one is learning to speak in complete sentences. With our help the children were let stay in their family and we make sure they feel well.
And then the COVID 19 pandemic comes and as if everything is ruined for this family. The father loses his job, the mother has never worked so far, they have no support by relatives and friends and the amount of 600 BGN with which the five of them were used to live on, now seems to be unattainable for them.
These people have always lived in misery but now it is affecting their children more and more. The food is less and lesser each day and the money is not enough to buy detergents and the children are growing out of clothes. Our team is supporting the family and guides them on how to get out of the crisis so it would not affect the children.
In May 2020 together with CEZ we launched a joint initiative – “Together we can do everything”, and this family will be supported by paying the electricity bills.
Ivan – a proud father of three, says that he could buy new books with the money the family has saved on the electricity bills because one of the favorite activities of the whole family is to read children’s books.
Summer offers other options for earning extra income that will reduce the risk of poverty.
The older children are happy that in autumn they will have new clothes and shoes for school.
This family will cope with the crisis thanks to CEZ and HHC skillful work. In these two organizations the family has a faithful ally. The energy saving devices will solve another problem for them in the long term.
„Together we can do everything“ are the words of Kalinka and Ivan and the happiness on their children’s faces shows that every single effort matters and is worthwhile so the children are raised in a family environment.
