Naretchen Orphanage
Number of Children: 55
Ages: 3 - 7

Approximately 90% of the children at this facility are without any parents and are earmarked for adoption. However, our organization realizes that only about 100 children are actually made available for adoption in Bulgaria each year.

The facility is a large and solid building where the children live. However, the furniture in bedrooms and study rooms is old and in poor condition. There are no individual closets. The shelving in the study rooms is old and broken.

The children are divided into three groups which is part of restructuring required by The Government Agency of Child Protection in 2006.This is an effort to give the children some resemblance of a family environment. Each group has its own bedroom and study room.  However, there is not enough staff to care for the children’s physical needs and also to teach them the skills and habits needed to promote mental and social health. Our Baba and Vnuche Program would be very important in providing additional nurturing and guidance for these children.

Because the staff is insufficient to provide proper care for the kids, they need additional caregivers, OHB representatives, and a part-time nurse. Mariana Peeva, the director, has submitted a request for assistance in this area from OHB. She is also asking us to help them remodel and furnish the orphans’ rooms.

Sponsorship funds will cover the costs of hygiene supplies (mostly diapers and detergents) plus other needs such as supplemental food when requested, medicines, bedding and caregivers. We are aware that there are many problems at Naretchen; therefore, we would like to encourage prospective donors to consider the special projects listed below.  
We cannot provide pictures of the children at this time because of new government restrictions.

To sponsor this orphanage, or to help out with a special project, contact our Sponsorship Director, Donna Dushku (donna.dushku@oneheart-bg.org).