Interview: The Orphan Foundation and foster care in Bulgaria

The main goals of the Orphan Foundation are:

• to give possibility of the orphans to live in good families:
• help the orphans to have good higher education.

How can you become a foster family?

First you will be interviewed by the social workers. You must have incomes above 150 levs and be willing to work with social offices. You will be trained to be a foster parent. Nina Todorova is the trainer of prospective candidates, teaching them to be patient and loving towards the new member in their family.

After another interview the Court is the instance to decide to grant a child to a foster family, that will receive money according to the child’s age.

65 children have been given to foster families since 2000 and twelve of them have been adopted. Nowadays Nina and her colleagues make trainings for specialist who work with children - teachers, doctors, journalists, etc. She believes that the future of the world depends on our children. If they are happy, healthy, and well-educated, that will be to our advantage.

Presenting good practices for child care to the Government is Orphan Foundation’s greatest success. Nina Todorova and her colleague, Nina Dimova, took part in writing the Child Protection Act. They wrote part of the “Foster care” law, translated The English law for child care and introduced it to the Parliament.

People, who are interested in the projects of the foundation, can write to Nina Todorova at: nina_todorova@yahoo.com