MARION Robertson, project co-ordinator of social services at the UMBAL Children's Clinic in Plovdiv, has great respect and admiration for Bulgarian women because, she says, they have difficult lives.

"They work at their jobs and then work at home," she says, in reference, in particular, to women in the villages who are faced with many chores daily.

Robertson, who hails from the UK, is a devoted mother of three, and has taken on the care of many others in her role at the clinic.

She came to Bulgaria as part of an Eastern European Partnership, part of the UK organisation VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). The project was designed to stimulate business people to come to Bulgaria, and to encourage business ideas.

In her time here, her affection for Bulgaria's children, including of course those in the Plovdiv clinic, has been ever-growing.

She was an experienced voluntary worker, having had a clinic business back in the UK before she arrived in Sofia in 1998.

She had worked with disabled children as an after-hours volunteer, helping them with various activities.

She recalls in particular, a boy with brittle bone disease, and women whose children were born with disabilities and physical defects because of the Thalidomide medication their mothers had taken.

"In the 1960s there were many children born this way before the pill was taken off the market," Marion says, adding that it served as an eye-opener for her and as something she will never forget.

"I wanted to see if I could cope with this type of thing," she says.

She found she could cope with many things, at one point being engaged in helping to tend to the needs of dozens of children with cancer, fundraising for equipment, and trying to track down three cars that had been stolen.

For Marion, there is great fulfillment in the tasks she takes on. Her involvement means communicating daily with various people to arrange assistance, including medication, for those in need. Those who respond to her requests join her pool of patrons that she knows that she may rely on.

Recruitment as a patron means a long-term commitment, including helping in the provision of funds.

Some of the events brought about with the help of such patrons include the recent charity bicycle ride from Sofia to Plovdiv, a concert in which popular television presenter and singer Slavi Trifonov participated, and two chalga (Bulgarian pop folk) nights.

"When dealing with illness in the family for long periods of time, a mother becomes very stressed, and it is good that people take notice, understand and come to talk to and acknowledge that there is a problem," she said, adding that it was this sense of support that she wanted to give to mothers and children.

Marion remembers how she met Trifonov and, thinking about the children, invited him to come and visit them in Plovdiv.

He did so, and his fundraising concert at Christmas led to assistance for the department, and many hearts filled with happiness.

Little Margarita was one of happiest children in the department, bursting into tears seeing her idol.

"She told me that she had written him a letter in April, and she felt so lucky that this was happening," Marion says.

It all started back in 1998 with a project for the hospital of the Health and Day Centre. The foundation came to life on April 4, 2000, called Social Service, and headquartered in Plovdiv.

She describes the people who joined the team as "very committed".

The project underwent a name change, and is now known as People Against Children's Cancer.

The first social project in 1998, before a subsequent expansion, was about helping children with medicine, and giving mothers money for food and transport to and from hospital.

The team would give them practical help, including support with education at home because the children were unable to attend school. The number of children fluctuated. They were accommodated in 12 to 15 rooms.

What was shocking for Marion was to find two families in one room and mothers sleeping in the same bed as their children.

"I could not believe that this could happen, coming from Britain where you would not see a mother sleeping in the same bed," Marion said.

A snapshot of the reality of the department is that there is about one death of a child each month, and in the same period, a further five new cases.

Marion has developed her own philosophy in dealing with death.

She has witnessed, for instance, little Ricardo fighting for, and losing, his life.

"It was a great loss and a lot of people will not forget him," she says, adding that you have to keep people alive by remembering them and talking about them.

When children go into remission, parents do not think of coming back to the place.

They appear to have decided "I appreciate what you have done but I am out of here" - they do not want to remember the problems with which they have had to cope.

"This is sad because they could offer so much to children and mothers whose children have been just diagnosed."