First topic message reminder :[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] The delivery of the goods for the 2nd year running
OCTOBER 2009
Hello Guys
Just an update to say we delivered the goods to both the Silistra Orphanages, the Hospital, the Home for the Elderly and the Villager's all safe and sound and they all had a fantastic time opening the goods. Also wanted to say the transport company Delamode Plc were super. Everything went like clockwork. Latcho and his team were just fantastic with everything. The driver was great too;
He rang the Director of the Dimcho and gave us enough notice of his arrival so we could round up help for unloading. Hopefully when we can afford to, we will use Delamode Plc again.
It was a very busy month for us;
we had so much to do lots of people to visit. Putting up the marquee took 6.5 hours and everyone helped, but the onus was on poor Dougie, as nobody had any idea how to put it up. In the past Dougie had put marquees and tents up but never one at 40ft square however, he is still not in the best of health, so he delegated. We had lots of helpers and they all managed very well. I will post some photos in due course on our website.
The Garden Party and presentation went well. The Director of the Orphanage organised for the TV, Radio and the Newspapers and the city deputy Mayor to be there. Also there was a programme set up whereby two of the older children read in English and Bulgarian, their greetings and thanked Dougie and myself and all the English people for all their help and support. It was really nice. We will try to get the TV programme on our website in due course.
Then, we heard all the speeches. First was the Deputy Mayor, then the Director and then myself. They thanks us again for bring the children goods for the second year running and naturally hoped we will continue in the future. The also thanked us on behalf of the other entire organisation we brought goods to. The said to thank all the English people, the companies and the military (TA) who are very kind and supportive to our cause and they are very happy we are helping them. Once that was over, we had the breaking of the bread and dipping in spices and then the children came round with a flower for us. The children than performed their folklore, singing and dancing, dressed in traditional Bulgarian costume. It was lovely to watch and they were so very proud of themselves.
Once all the ceremonies’ were over, we settled down to eating and then the disco started. The children were totally amazed and besotted with the music and the set up. It was wonderful to watch them, they danced and danced and had a brilliant time - You should have seen their faces, a picture of happiness. This is the first time they have had a disco at the Orphanage. The disco was done by our friends, BulgariaBill. He brought all his own equipment, thanks Bill you are a star. The children kept him busy. We were really please everyone enjoyed themselves. We had 18 British couples, which was wonderful as they had to travel for hours to get to Silistra. We also had members of the Peace Core who attended, so thanks a million for supporting us, we really appreciated it.
Sponsors Support
We also had brilliant support from UK Food Warehouse. They, John and Linda supplied all the food and drink free of charge, all they asked for was a donation and then, that was also donated to the Orphanage. They made 85 lev for us. A wonderful effort Thanks a million time over.
Paul from Freecycle also donated 5 boxes of books to sell to raise funds. Whatever was left over, we passed on to others to sell for us and the children books, we kept at the Orphanage, when they have finished with them, they will donate to the Silistra Library. Combined we raised a total of just under £90 which was fantastic, considering a teachers wages is under £200 a month. The Director was delighted. We told him this is the start of our fundraising towards the new flooring at the Orphanage for next year.
Opening the Goods
Opening the boxes was just fantastic. We had boxes and boxes of new goods that were donated by Gap, Next, JJB’s, Tesco’s etc. The children, the staff, the Director and everyone were just beaming from ear to ear. It was a great success. We also had boxes of goods donated from Freecycler’s as well as friend and family. We had so many boxes that we needed help to open them. Just watching the children’s faces light up when they were offered a jacket or trouser or trainers or even a small toy, was just brilliant!! This is what it was all about, seeing all their little smiling faces was enough to make me cry. Tears of joy, mind, It was wonderful, like getting a hug, right in the middle of all the activity from one little girl, because I gave here some socks. We just thank God we are blessed to have the opportunity to spread a little joy and happiness to those who deserve it all.
The children have very little but they make the best of what they do have and are truly grateful for what we do for them. The children are amazing;
they love to help with everything. They made flowers and painting and allsorts for decorating the marquee donated by Snowden's. They were just fantastic, they were smiling all the time and a pleasure to be around. They are extremely well behaved and very considerate towards each other. Every opportunity that arose they kidnapped Dougie to take their photos. Oh! and they especially love the Disney books Paul donated. Thanks million to everyone who help and supported us.
The Shoeboxes
As you know we filled and decorated 106 shoeboxes for the children at the Dimcho for Christmas. We separated all those boxes and are now stored ready to be opened on Christmas Day as well as the two 50lt boxes of sweets. Wow!! what a Christmas they will have! Can you imagine what it will be like?, yes indeed, fantastic!!! Only wish we could be with them, but it would be far too expensive for us to fly there then, plus with work commitments, it would be difficult – We just can’t have it all eh! Still, we had a wonderful, fantastic day on Sunday 20th Sept and most of all, had very good publicity for the Dimcho. Hopefully this will bring awareness and the need for funding and support from the Bulgarians too.
Plus I was invited to speak to an older group of children in one of the local schools. They were amazed that the English people can care so much for children they do not know. I explained the shoebox idea and asked them if they could try this year, to do the same thing on a small scale for the Refuge Centre in Silistra – I will try to follow this up. However, fundraising is not something the Bulgarians are very familiar with yet, but I am on the case!!!!!!....
We were delighted to hear that the local Rotary Club also organized a charity event for the children at the Dimcho on Saturday 19th Sept - a lunch and a boat trip on the Danube. The children really enjoyed themselves. So our special thanks goes to Tsvetana Tsanova and her team for organising this wonderful event, well done!!!. It was lovely to me you and hopefully we can work together planning more spectacular events. well done!!!.
Also, we delivered the new wheelchairs to the Silsitra Hospital again, they were delighted. Then we delivered the wheelchairs, walking frames, zimmer frames, walking sticks and 1 large box of spectacles - to the Home for the Elderly. They were delighted. They are in need of linen and blankets for next year, so we will see what we can do. We also went to the baby Orphanage. They had already picked up 36 boxes of goods from the Dimcho and Dr Tania Stoikova and her team were delighted and thanked us and the British people for their help. The goods will be kept for Christmas. Finally the 20 odd boxes of goods for the villagers were delivered to the community centre and they were equally delighted with their gifts and thanked us.
Finally just to say we achieved our target for the second year running and we are just delighted and proud of ourselves and all you guys for your part in supporting us. Special thanks to Captain Cutworth , his soldiers and their families, Snowden’s, all the retails outlets especially Kate, the Orton Line Dancers, Tom & Christine, the supermarket for allowing us to bag pack and all our friends from Freecyclers and the Forums and everyone else who has helped us, without you guys, we could not have filled the boxes and raised the funds for the transport, so well done!!
Our new target for 2010 is to raise the funds for new wood flooring and 15 internal doors - so get your thinking hats on, or you could always get the debit card out and visit our website hahaha!!! or spread the word. You can see the photos on the gallery and go to the Link to see the coverage from the articles in the papers. There will be another link going on next week from a follow up to our visit - so keep watching.
Thanks a million times over.
Berni & Dougie
Dimcho Debelianov Orphanage
Oddy
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Sat Oct 24, 2009 12:19 am
