Bulgaria's Abandoned Children BBC4

[TwoIfBySea]

Anyone else watching this?

Funny how, despite the children being nothing but bones the carers are all well (over) fed. This is horrendous, I never thought I would see worse than the Romanian Orphanages.

And the "Director" says what the orphanage needs most is a computer! Obviously for her own use and stuff the poor kids!

Think political pressure good but should be two pronged attack because they need help now. The BBC4 have put out a list of comments they've received - apparently 100's. I want to fly out there but know I am only one person, and could only manage 2 weeks max. Thinking of putting a website out, accessible on google so all those who want to physically help can join together and organise it. Does anyone think this is feasible?

Have been on BBC4s website. Tremendous news that theres been such a response - worth having a look

i have paid £25 for the dvd (proceeds go to charity) i will rip it and it should be on google video next week for all people to see, spread the message

Im having a small webpage built with a message board and links to petition etc. Accessible on Google under 'Mogilino orphans' Thought it would be good to keep momentum going and pass on useful info, emails for politicians, how to view DVD (bless you Siansmobiles) etc.

Hey Rosy - let me know when you have your website up, I want to email you a word doc of all the European MEP's email addresses so you can put it on your website. I should have the list done by tomorrow.

[email protected]

video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-9176914173325307126

it took about 30 hours to get it ripped so many problems encoding

hate piracy but its the only way to help these children for all to see and sign the petition

www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/bulgarias-children.shtml

This is one webpage which gives details of organisations working in Bulgaria.

Have built website www.mogilinoorphans.co.uk. Registered it with Google and MSN but needs as many links as poss on other websites to bring it up the search list. Please add link to your website or ask anyone you know with one. Has link to online petition and all MEPs and MPs discussed. Will add it, together with online link to any message boards still active.

This is the response I got today from the EU, makes for interesting reading as it would seem they are well aware of the problem. I can't decide if that makes it worse or if it is good they are at least attempting (very poorly) to address it.

Well done Rosy on the website I'll have a look once I've posted this.

Dear ##### ######,

We acknowledge receipt of your message and in response to your question we would like to suggest that you read the Monitoring report on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania.

The Chapter on Child Protection states that "there has been progress in the area of child protection. In May 2006, a specialised unit at the Inspectorate at the Social Assistance Agency was set up to supervise and monitor the institutions for elderly people and children. In June 2006, monitoring of the programme 'Assistants of people with disabilities' started. In this framework, training for parents with children with disabilities is also taking place. The rules for implementation of the Law on

Social Assistance were amended to enhance the development of alternative services for children. Monitoring of homes for children with disabilities continued.

However, certain concerns persist.

In many institutions, living and sanitary conditions remain at a very low level. The established specialised unit in the Inspectorate at the Social Assistance Agency needs to be further developed in order to carry out a satisfactory level of monitoring. Provisions have to be taken to address the results of that monitoring appropriately".

"Overall, there has been some progress in the following areas: trafficking in human beings, child protection, and the protection and integration of minorities. Limited progress has been made in the area of detention conditions, treatment of people with disabilities and the mental healthcare and broadcasting. Further action is needed. In addition, Bulgaria needs to ensure the sustainability of public administration reform"

You will find the Monitoring Report on the website of the Directorate-General (DG) for Enlargement at the following address:

icontact-emea.techteam.com/cgi-bin/bus/srv_cs_ntt/redirect_page?ec.europa .eu/enlargement/archives/bulgaria/keydocumentsen.htm

Should you wish to contact the DG for Enlargement, the DG primarily responsible for this website, please use the following email address:

[email protected]

Should you wish to contact Bulgarian government, please visit the website "EU Member States", where you will find contact information:

europa.eu/abc/european_countries/eu_members/bulgaria/index_en.htm

We hope that this information will be helpful to you.

With kind regards,

EUROPE DIRECT

hi i was totally destraught when i watched the program on the telly i didnt believe that things went on like that .bulgaria was a place i intended to visit but i certainly changed my mind on that one, how could i visit somewhere like that knowing that round the corner there could be a place like that with the forgotton children. no thankyou ! the look on those poorchildrens faces will haunt me for the rest of my life, as for the director and carers of the orphanage they should be locked up and the keys thrown away. the director was playing dumb all the time but she knew what was going on. does anyone know what happened to the poor children after that film was made. surely after it was filmed the children there carnt have just been left in those conditions if left there at all.

Just got this through today so fingers crossed....

My name is Jonathan Robertson, an assistant to Alyn Smith. I felt youmight be interested to know that Alyn lodged a Parliamentary Questionlast week relating to the BBC4 documentary into social care homes inBulgaria. For your convenience I have pasted in a copy of the PQbelow. "A recent documentary produced for BBC 4 on Bulgaria's abandonedchildren highlighted the appalling and inhumane conditions experiencedby many children institutionalised in Bulgaria's social care system.The programme examined why Bulgaria has the highest number ofphysically and mentally disabled children growing up in institutesanywhere in Europe. Much of the focus of the documentary was based ona social care home in the small village of Mogilino, in which live 75children. The programme raised serious concerns about the physical andemotional neglect of children in state care in Bulgaria. Can the Commission state how it intends to respond to the concernsraised in the BBC4 documentary? Does the Commission plan to take anyaction to ensure that the right level of training is implemented inBulgarian social care homes? Is there any EU funding available toenable for example organisations in Scotland which have the necessaryexpertise to share their skills with Bulgaria's social care homes inthe hope of helping them to improve the standard of training forcarers?" A response from the Commission can take up to 6 weeks and as soon aswe receive one I will forward you it.

Hi to you all, just to let you no mouse, Kate blewett who made the doc, is trying to help the children, they are in the middle of setting up a trust fund called "Bulgarias abandend childrens trust" they are now the legal guardians of all the children of the Mogilio home,they are hopeing to hear in the next week about getting into the home and to start to help the kids. on 1st of november they are having a meeting in london to descuse what they are doing and what needs to be done now,anyone which is intrested in helping is able to go.If you email me i will send you the email i got from Kate and her team,if you would like. Tazhopes 4 the kids x

i never saw the docu,but after reading the thread i went onto bbc4's website www.bbc.co.uk/bbc4,and it was so upsetting. just reading what the producer had to say and the two pictures they have on there were horrible to read and see. the docu is being repeated nov 18 at 10pm. not sure if il be able to watch. i remember watching another bbc docu about 2yrs ago,about overseas adoptions and seeing the children in the romanian orphanages was horrific,and i remember the day after i couldnt stop kissing and telling my ds how much i loved him etc. It will be interesting to see what these countries do to help THEIR poor children. Just cant understand the way some peoples minds work.

I would like to do something on the ground in Bulgaria to possibly aid in this crisis. I am unsure where to start. I dont think the situation will change much if we contact the bulgarian goverment with this information, as they have being aware of the situation for years, and have turned a blind eye. We could start by lobbying our goverment, and pressuring them to highlight and put pressure on Bulgaria's goverment. Hopefully, our goverment getting involved would create international attention to this current crisis in Bulgaria. My heart is still aching after watching that documentary more than 1 month ago.

this was on again last night i was in tears and dp wasn't far off its soo sad

I saww this on television last night, I have never been so affected by something on the screen before. At the end when the reporter just gently put her hand on that childs knee and he embraced her like he had never had a cuddle in his life.

thats what set dp off at the end. I can't stop thinking about it, the staff were just oblivious to it they thought it was fine to leave them in one place all day

I watched this last night,

I didnt want to, I wanted to turn it off but felt I had to watch, I cried so, so many times and couldn't sleep

it was awful, those poor, poor children. I just wanted to hug them, hold them, look after them.

It makes me sick thinking that they are out there now, alone hungry and still rocking

Im off again crying, it was so sad when he hugged her and held on to her

and those support workers!!

washing them and filling them up like they were cars.!! cars, not babies, not children.

they were all fat enough werent they?

i could happily slap that 'director'

i only saw part of the docu last night but had nightmares about it all night. about being trapped in a place like that with my ds and never having a hope of getting out. Will look at the websites and see if there is anything i can do. Chilling.

I haven't seen the film, and in a selfish way i am glad because it sounds so disturbing. I looked at the BBC website and people's descriptions and reactions were so graphic that even that had me in tears. The idea of children tied to beds, starving and unloved, with their only interaction with staff coming from heartless and rough handling was so horrible, and the description of them roughly handling a tiny girl with a broken leg 'who just wanted to go outside in my pram' left me floored. The only thing 'wrong' with her was that she was blind. Equally the mildly autistic girl left to write letter after letter to her mother, that the staff never posted, and by the end of the film, was reduced to sitting and rocking in silence made me weep.

I have logged on to the website set up to help them (google 'Bulgaria's Abandoned Children') and signed the petition and given a donation.

Notyummy, the little girl who wrote letter after letter to her mum was so very sad. By the end of the programme she was noticably deteriorating, no councelling , no love, no support or comfort, the poor child just wants her mum, the 'carers' treat the children with such contempt its horrific. Someone should have told this little girl her mum wasn't coming, they should help her through this situation but instead they leave her to go insane. The 'director' clearly thinks that they shouldn't prolong their lives, it would appear that their fast deterioration is a direct result of the lack of care and nutrition. It amazed me the amount of times the children's 'illness' was quoted as the reason they are deteriorating, their 'illness' being their autism or their blindness, in all my life i have never heard of blindness causing malnutrition and weakening of the bones.
This country is in the EU there must be something that can be done.

Website here you can sign petition and offer to help here

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