When you are 18, everything is beautiful, the grass is green, you can cross the seas and the stars are brighter. Being in love at 18 is so real, expected and somehow shy and beautiful.
Our car moves slowly on the roads in Northwestern Bulgaria and we reach a small village where time has stopped and nostalgically reminds us of the life that was boiling here in the eighties and nineties of the last century. Now the streets are somehow suspiciously deserted, and the buildings and gardens remind us that life is not completely dead. We stop in front of a one-storey house and behind the metal gate we are greeted by a garden with many flowers. We close the door for curious glances and are greeted by Christina and Marin. There is so much innocence and strength in them that it makes us believe that they will learn to withstand difficulties.
Christina is a student and lives in a social service in Byala Slatina when she meets Marin’s charming smile. Looks, smiles, short walks, trembling hands and the rush of those butterflies in your stomach that leaves you breathless. She is 17, he is 16 and suddenly they feel that their thoughts about each other are taking over their bodies. They quickly realize that they want to spend a lifetime together. Their ideas about life are childishly naive and at the same time bold. Everything turns out to be more complicated than it seems. Christina is already 18, has to leave the municipal apartment, and Marin is a student and travels from a neighboring village, but that’s not all.
Christina is pregnant and this is a test for both of them. The abyss of the unknown and the fear of the future opens before them. Their relatives are not interested in them, their friends have no experience in such a life situation, but in their eyes you can see the love that gives wings. They share their worries with social workers and they start looking for a good solution for the future child and his parents. After the birth of Villy, our team, with their expert help, became part of the history of this family. Villy had health problems, but a year later everything is a thing of the past. She is already walking and taking her first steps that will take her around the world. She says “Mom and Dad,” claps her hands, and moves to the beat of her mother’s songs.
Our joint campaign with CEZ – “Together we can do everything” will enable this family to overcome the difficulties it has encountered. Marin has already finished school, started a temporary job and continues to apply for vacancies. Christina has learned to cook, keeps the house clean, dreams of seeing Villy grow up and succeed. She tries to collect the pieces from her childhood and that is why she invites hers and Marin’s relatives for guests for the first birthday.
They have gone through one of their great crises, and together with CEZ we have catalyzed the process of building a family and we are sure that these young people will never leave Villy and will fight for their happiness.
