Wednesday, July 11, 2012

This short film is from The Bulgarian Abandoned Children Trust (TBACT), a British Charity that campaigns for the end of institutional care settings for children in Bulgaria.
One of the managers of the core team is Kate Blewett who filmed the original BBC documentary 'Bulgaria's Abandoned Children' that showcased the Social Care Home in Mogilino, Bulgaria. The film aired in 2007. I find this particularly relevant to our adoption, as 'Mogilino-2' was the headline in the Bulgarian newspapers when the conditions at Pleven went public in 2012. (Click on the Pleven tab to read the translated version.)

On June 18th, 2012 Kate released her next project on the BBC, Ukraine's Forgotten Children; this documentary like the Bulgarian documentary is 'disturbing', according to the BBC.

 TBACT has created the Babas program as part of their response to the effects of institutions on young children and infants.  This program aims to nurture children living in orphanages in Bulgaria by employing a  surrogate grandmother. The team is managed by psychologists and provides two children for every woman to care for as the primary caregiver 20 hours every week. As you can imagine, the Babas are the highlight of the children's day once a bond is established.

You can support the Babas program at http://www.giveagranny.org/. The Babas program at the Pleven orphanage can be seen in the video from 2011.

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