Children's centre in Sofia

In our children's centre in Sofia, we take in children from state children's homes or problematic families who have been physically and mentally abused. Children between the ages of 6 and 18 live in this family-like centre, where they are lovingly cared for by our team of staff. The greatest challenge is to carefully rebuild the children's destroyed trust in adults - and often also their confidence in their own lives.
In addition to homework supervision and special remedial lessons, they do the shopping, cooking and cleaning together. As many of them have not learnt to look after themselves in the homes, this is very important for their future life and independence and gives them confidence in their own abilities. In addition, there are many joint activities such as swimming, dancing, creative workshops and computer courses.

History of Casim

One example of this is Casim. His parents left him in hospital at the age of two when he was being treated for acute hepatitis. He stayed in hospital for over a year as no one came to collect him until he was placed in a state orphanage at the age of three. Our staff got to know him there later during their regular visits and brought him to our children's centre at the age of 9, as he was often beaten and abused by older boys in the state orphanage. With special remedial lessons, he was able to catch up on his major school deficits; at the age of 9, he could neither read nor write! In July 2012, after a long search, our team found Casim's grandparents in a town 300 kilometres away, who took him in. They are very kind and attentive and Casim is happy to finally have a real home. He is now attending vocational school and is training to become a lorry mechanic.

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