A nondescript building in a run-down industrial part of Sofia is home to an exceptional institution. A place that with the onset of winter could literally save lives.

Outside, a group of Roma youngsters is enjoying the sunshine on what turned out to be the final warm day of a long–appropriately named –"gipsy" summer. They acknowledge me in that slightly battle-scarred way that damaged youngsters do, as if I’m an authority figure about to reproach them.

Father Markus Inama, executive director of the Concordia residential home, greets me. He has a soft, unassuming manner and a winning smile. He speaks little Bulgarian (having been here less than a year) but the youngsters are clearly comfortable with him. Although he is a kind of "father confessor" to them all, he is not – as he points out – a social worker.

He is, in fact, a priest and the Concordia home is the product of the hard work of the Jesuit order.  
Concordia officially opened in May. It’s currently home to 45 youngsters from deprived backgrounds, 80 per cent of whom are Roma. Until recently residents were aged between 18 and 30 but now children can stay there too, after the centre acquired a special licence.  

Some of the youngsters are in poor health; others are simply maladjusted, having been outside the world of work and mainstream society all their lives. Markus and his team pound the streets looking for the desperate. Sometimes the desperate come to Concordia. Youngsters are often found sleeping rough near Orlov Most (Eagles’ Bridge).

Even those who don’t stay overnight can use the home to wash, get new clothes and have a proper meal, essentials most us take for granted. Markus shows me some storerooms stuffed with shoes and warm winter clothes.

Most of the money for Concordia comes from Austria and private donations, although some wealthy Bulgarians are now helping. Austrian companies Strabag and Raiffeisen Bank have also contributed and Concordia is allowed to use the premises of Sofia Mel free of charge.

Concordia has room for 85 permanent residents; with the colder weather, places are expected to fill rapidly. The home has seven Bulgarian social workers (each of whom is allocated seven youngsters) and two cooks, two administrative staff and three volunteers from Austria. Youngsters share bedrooms, sleeping two to four to a room.

A shelter on the first floor offers refuge to youngsters for an initial three-month period. If they engage with their carers, co-operate and keep to the rules, they can stay longer. They then move up to the second floor where 12 people live. Here, they have a lounge, television and cook. They then make a six-month contract. If they co-operate and if they find a job, it’s extended. Break the covenant and they must go.

In the evenings Concordia is abuzz with laughter and music because it doubles as a kind of neighbourhood rendezvous for those with nowhere to go. Music is always central to the youngsters’ sense of wellbeing – the home even has a music therapist and several musical instruments.

Occasionally, the atmosphere can turn rowdy. "When people quarrel, it can get noisy," Markus says. "If you’re not used to that, it can sound threatening. Sometimes people get aggressive but it was the same in Austria. Working in youth centres with wealthy youngsters could also be dangerous."

Outside society
Concordia’s aim is to get the youngsters back into the world of work or – in some cases – introduce them to gainful employment for the first time. Sometimes those who find it impossible to get a job can work in the home. "Every month their wages vary according to the hours they do. Some of them work in the kitchen as dishwashers, preparing dinner and breakfast. We have our own cook, but they help."  

Drug abuse is a major issue, just like in all big cities. "No one is allowed to consume or deal in the centre, although we think there may be three or four taking drugs somewhere out there. We are at the end of this problem. There are several places trying to help them but if they’re thrown out of the institutions in Sofia when coming off drugs, they come back to us. We give them a chance," says Markus.

Many drug users fall on hard times. Or is it the other way round? Sometimes it’s impossible to fathom the vicious spiral of abuse. Inside the home is a chapel with photographs of two former residents who died from drug overdoses; their features prematurely ravaged. Just another couple of casualties. Health is the biggest Bulgaria-specific problem that Concordia faces.

In this respect Markus compares Bulgaria unfavourably to Austria. Father Markus comes across as optimistic. But when he talks about the health issue, it’s the nearest he comes to sounding crestfallen.

"Drug addicts can be found in all big cities. The difference is that, in Austria, everyone has health insurance. But here – and in the US – they don’t have anything. The authorities simply don’t care. I had one guy who could not get hospital treatment even though he had a broken arm and leg and a torn kidney. Now he’s fine again after we paid his health insurance and secured his treatment.

Until the age of 18, everything is paid. Then they are supposed to pay their own insurance. Much of our work involves treating their health problems, some of which can be quite serious: tuberculosis, epilepsy (we have two or three people who need medicine regularly), HIV, hepatitis – especially in drug-users – and some handicapped youngsters. We lack the expertise to deal with their conditions. We have to cover wounds; that’s the worst thing," Father Markus says.  

Concordia tries to re-educate the youngsters. "Some people have been here almost a year. They’re trying to find jobs outside. Eight of them are finishing school. Having failed to finish 12th grade, they’re now at night school. Maybe it will help them find work, although some of them will find it hard. They’re not used to working constantly; we have 10-15 people here who are employed and we personally helped five or six people find a job."

Humble beginnings
Markus first visited Sofia in September 2008, although he’d made five or six short visits beforehand to prepare.  

"I was running a youth centre in Innsbruck. I’ve been dealing with youngsters for 13 years now."    
Concordia was founded more than 20 year ago, Markus tells me, in the wake of the fall of communism. "First, they were based only in Austria, later they opened a home in Romania.

Then a friend of mine, a member of the same religious order, went to Romania to help street children in care. Two years ago he was asked to come to Bulgaria and he was offered this house to work in. I was then asked to work with this fellow Jesuit." Concordia also has homes in Moldova and Ukraine.

Funding is never easy. "We met Boiko Borissov (in March when he was still Sofia mayor)," says Markus. "The first thing he asked us was ‘do you need money’? and we said ‘no’ and he said that was just as well because he said he couldn’t help us financially but that he could help us preparing paperwork."
Markus’ own involvement in Concordia can be traced back to his days as a theology student. "I decided I’d like to work with youngsters, to assist them and maybe help them in some way."

Markus would like Concordia to expand its work in Bulgaria but at the moment there are no plans. Although it’s easily said – housing up to 85 homeless youngsters with behavioural and health problems – each youngster requires a great deal of work. Attention is the one commodity these youngsters have been deprived of most of their lives.

"Most youngsters here had no parents and so got no attention. Everybody wants attention but we can’t give them all the time they demand. It’s not possible with 40 youngsters – it’s too much," says Markus. He communicates with some of the youngsters in English but he’s learning Bulgarian. Small talk and smiles only go so far, after all.  
Given all the negative publicity surrounding Bulgarian care homes (most infamously Mogilino), I wonder if Markus finds conditions and attitudes in Bulgaria markedly worse than elsewhere.

"Well, naturally, all the youngsters think the West is great, just as when I was 19 my first wish was to visit the US."
Perhaps a regional comparison is fairer?

"The problems are similar to those in Romania," says Markus. "The difference was that in Romania people could see that there were clearly problems with the kids left behind by Ceausescu. But in Bulgaria not everyone wants to admit that there are some youngsters who can’t manage their lives alone."
Is it pride?

"Maybe there’s an element of that, just as some Austrians would feel affronted if an English guy came to Austria and started interfering with their problems. Some people don’t want to admit things are that bad. One Bulgarian guy I spoke to was quite aggressive until, that is, I told him we had folk dances here at Concordia. Then he was really happy that I had also discovered the beautiful side of Bulgaria. Until that point I felt he was ashamed that I only knew the dark side."