Lik Home for Children 6 to 16 years old

It was in the summer of 2001 that Jana Marinova-Jones and Bryn Jones were first invited to visit the Home. They found a well looked after building in a small village around two and a half hours car drive north of Sofia. Inside was very run-down but clean and tidy. Around 100 boys and girls some of them orphans, some ‘street kids’, all of them with a difficult family background.

The Director, an open and progressive woman in her 40s and an enthusiastic and committed staff, have worked wonders with the children. They even established a successful theatre group that won a national youth drama prize. Unfortunately all funds for creative activities, indeed all funds for non-curricular activities were struck off in 1999. That means they cannot even afford to travel at all for any kind of free time cultural, sporting or other activities.

We were inspired to commit BAP to supporting the Lik Orphanage not only because of the obvious material needs but also because the highly professional and caring attitude of the Director and Staff denote a high possibility of helping many of these children become not only responsible and useful members of the community but also to be able to make a valuable contribution to the creative and cultural life of future Bulgarian society.

BAP is in the process of planning a project to help those 16 year olds who are unable to proceed to a higher education prepare for life in the adult world, since, unfortunately, neither the Home or any other State organisation has the facilities to give them a start into working life.