First topic message reminder :[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] INTRODUCTION TO Silistra Orphanages March 28, 2009,
Hi Guys
Well it's time for us to start planning our next trip to the Silistra Orphanage. You will probably remember that Dougie and myself Berni sent a lorry load of goods over to the Orphanage in October 2008 and paid for all the transport ourself. It was a wonderful success, that we said we would do it again this year. Most of you followed the blog and seen the pictures.
I have had a small amount of participation from various companies I wrote to. They have send a few boxes of stuff which is a great help, but Freecycle and Netmums still remain our main suppliers. We have filled 79 boxes already but this is now shared between, our own Orphanage and a baby Orphanage in Silistra, we have been told about and what they need etc. We will visit them in Sept with some goods and see what it is like etc. We have also been collecting stuff for our villagers and the home for the elderly and also the Hospital - which we have a few wheelchairs, crutches and walking aids and a mobility scooter - although I am not sure what to do with the mobility scooter yet - I would like to trade it in for some wheelchairs, as they would be much more useful. We will have to look at that in due course.
I have approached our local TA and the WI and they are all collecting for us now, how wonderful is that. thumbsup Got the Brownies and possibly one school doing shoe box appeal for Christmas too. We are over the moon as we were donated an ex hire 40ft by 40ft marquee. All we need to do is buy the metal stakes. They are expensive here in UK £3.50 each and we need about 60, so we will get them made up in BG, which will help the local ironmonger business too.
Now that we have asked people to help, we are just delighted with the response and they are more than happy to be able to help in some way. Mind you, it is still very hard to get a foot in the door - Most companies have their own charities etc they donate to and believe me, it can be very disponding work, but then you get one that say YES, wow! it like you hit the jackpot thumbsup
We have people dropping stuff off and having a coffee and a chat and they are happy to see for themselves what we are like and get more info on our cause, nine times out of ten they will come back with more stuff.
Dougie and I wash, sort, pack the clothes and label the toiletries in Bulgarian. Then we label the boxes and store. But our spare room is getting jammed packed now so we are looking for a kind soul to donate warehouse space. The TA has offered to keep their stuff there until we find suitable storage space. so no panic yet. I am sure something will turn up. The RAF may also be helping us the end of April.
We will be paying the transport again ourself, although, when we are back on our feet properly we will be doing carboot sales, raffles etc to raise the funds. As most of you already know Dougie has had heart surgery in Nov 08 it went well, but he has to undergo another op. He is gutted, as he wanted to be in BG for April, still it can't be helped, his health comes first. I too went down with an illness 3 days after Dougie came out of hospital from his surgery, I was rushed in for another 8 days - We have been lucky in the past with only had minor ailments, the normal cold etc but for both of us to be struck down with major illness at once. it's just unbelievable. I am doing well too, again just a small op and please God we will be back to normal.
Bulgariabill has been a tower of strength to us and has build us a website and it will be going live in April, so hopefully we may get donations from there to make the improvements necessary in the Orphanage, but who knows what will happen.
I have written to various transport companies as they might be in a position to offer us some free space, but with the credit crunch, it is very difficult on them too. But I will keep trying.
I have contacted Opticians and now have 3 of them collecting recycling specs for us, I just need to find an Optician in Silistra to test for free I am working on that too.
I also need to find a way of getting the marquee out as the centre pole is about 25ft long with no breaks, so an all in one unit, the rest folds down - Could be, if we can't get it transported as a whole, we might be able to get a new pole in BG, but I have no idea of the cost, would that be possible??
Well now, you are all up to date again. Unfortunately, it is unlikely we will be moving to BG for another few years until Dougie health is all clear. But we can go for the summer months. We will start off by going for a month in Sept, naturally we want to be there when the lorry load arrives. Oh! it's so exciting I can't wait. We would love to have a big party at the Orphanage in our new marquee so might plan something around that -so watch this space.
Oddy
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 
Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:33 pm
I must say I preferred the old way but if this is what they call progress ? then so be it.
