The Cedar Foundation was created with the aim of facilitating and enabling the people of Bulgaria to meet the needs of their own communities, Mark O’Sullivan, the director and founder of the foundation along with his wife Penny, said.

Based in Kazanluk, it deals with a variety of projects, like renovating orphanages and schools, a club for disabled youth, visiting children at the Saint Maria Louiza Orphanage/Hospital, assistance programme at various kindergartens, and the Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants at Sofia University’s law faculty.

Mark and Penny moved to Sofia last year after three or four years in Kazanluk; a team of six, including social workers and resource teachers, now runs the organisation from there.

Woven into everything is the aim of getting Bulgarians and people living in this country to take part in making a difference in the lives of others, to develop a philanthropic mindset, and to accept people with disabilities as valuable human beings, Mark said.

“I think it stems from communist times, the idea, teaching, spirit, saying that if your kid isn’t perfect, let’s put him in one of these homes and let him have a miserable existence. Even the children that haven’t been put into these homes are still kind of locked in the house. They’re an embarrassment to the family, because something is wrong with the child. The kids aren’t given any assistance or chance to have a normal life, whatever a normal life is. And the parents aren’t supported, and they still have to earn a living. And the schools aren’t outfitted, there are no wheelchair ramps, teachers don’t know sign language, schools just tell the parents to not bring the children to school. Our social worker have had to go and say that schools can’t actually say that,” he said.

What’s happening here?
Cedar Foundation is looking to build a rehabilitation centre for disabled children. Mark has been told that there is money in the Government’s budget to build such a building, but has seen that the Government does not do anything. He said: “Do we try and lobby the Government and try to get the money, or do we just go ahead and build it? Nothing is ever straightforward.”

As an example of how handicapped children are treated, he described a friend who gave birth to a baby with a cleft palate. Mark said that the lady basically had her son taken from her, she was told nothing, and when she asked where her son was, and they said that they’d put him in an institution.

Unfortunately, often times, these institutions are not the most beneficial of places. Children there are not always orphans – in many cases, they might have family members living who do not want to care for them – so they cannot be adopted without massive legal hassle, but growing up in such an institution is neither the better.

“Anything that can be done to create a family setting, with a mum and a dad, which is a normal setting, is the best grounds for people to develop normally. That sounds easy in theory, but then you deal with the problems. They’re trying to close down orphanages, but a lot of these children have families. Where is it better for the children? with a family who doesn’t give a toss about them, or in an orphanage?” said Mark, noting that the period from birth to six years of age is vital for development of a sense of self-worth and moral guidance. “If there are foreigners, if they’re willing to provide a kid with a loving home, to me this is great news, and should it be welcomed with open arms, but I’ve heard of some unwritten law that they’ll only let 100 children be adopted by foreigners in a year. I’d love to see more international adoptions, and I’d love to see more good fostering programmes, anything to be done that puts the child in a loving family atmosphere, because that’s the atmosphere that gives you the will to want to work, the drive to continue.”

Amici dei Bambini
Francesco Fedi, country co-ordinator of Amici dei Bambini, an international Italian NGO that works for child protection, concurred. The organisation opened its doors in Pleven in 1999, followed by an office in Sofia a few years later.

Its goal is a family for every child, something not always easy to attain. Francesco described the children in the orphanages as being “outside of the world”, not having an idea about “anything” because of the insular state in which they live. “There are too many children in the homes (in Bulgaria),” he said. Estimates place the number at about 10 000 children.

He has been in contact with the Justice Ministry, and the new Justice Minister Miglena Tacheva seems willing to have dialogue on the subject. She has said that she will work to ameliorate Bulgaria’s messy international adoption situation and to make the procedures more transparent.

“The Bulgarian law on international adoption is not bad in itself,” Francesco said, “it’s the mentality of the system.”

In addition to helping children in orphanages through social inclusion programmes, development of children’s social care and support for single mothers, Amici dei Bambini undertakes staff training for workers in children’s homes in partnerships with local bodies like New Bulgarian University.

The Aroma of a Family, their current project, at the Mladen Antonov home in Totleben, aims to bring together children in institutions with their birth and estranged family members while educating employees through the process.

The most important thing remains, however, that each child is loved and valued, preferably in a family setting.

Believe in me
Which is why Mark is against the idea of orphanages, while recognising their lamentable necessity. “For you to succeed, you need someone to believe in you,” he said. “The best way to help a human being is with another human being. These kids in orphanages need more people on the ground, who can give them good quality time. If you have somebody who can mentor you, you will change.”

Cedar Foundation is looking to re-prioritise its causes and become more focused in its purposes, hoping to encourage Bulgarian citizens and residents to take over where they left off. The benefit here is twofold: the socially disadvantaged receive affirmation as human beings, and those helping them receive personal fulfilment.

Commenting on the current state of Bulgaria, Mark said: “I think capitalism can be a dangerous thing. It feeds the negative emotion of greed: as people attain more and more and more, they become less fulfilled. If you can manage to, in your life, provide time for others, you end up having a far more fulfilled life. I’ve found this to be the success to having a fulfilled life, which is to be concerned more about others. Which is almost kind of a selfish thing,” he said, realising with a hint of irony how that might sound.

What he hopes to see created is a type of transitional home, like a farm for a select number of children from orphanages. This would provide mentoring and engender self-esteem, while teaching these children that they exist as individuals, not as islands. That “you need to work for a living, you need to think of the welfare of others, that you cannot depend on others for everything. To teach them that ‘I can do something’, to be a blessing in what you can do”, Mark said. “It’s never too late.”

For more information on Cedar Foundation or to find out about volunteering, visit cedarfoundation.org, tel: 0431/ 550 05.
Donations can be made by bank transfer to The Cedar Foundation
DSK Bank, BIC STSABGSF; IBAN for euro BG91 STSA 9300 0014 030375; IBAN for leva BG87 STSA 9300 0012 759650

For more information on Amici dei Bambini, e-mail sofia@amicideibambini.it or telephone 02/ 943 84 34.