Our volunteers come from all walks of life. Students, teachers, full-time mums and retired professionals are amongst some of the people who have volunteered to help the babies and young children at Pleven Baby Institution in Northern Bulgaria over the past two years. The Pleven institution is home to over 200 children. At least 80 of the children are disabled, some severely and many show signs of institutional autism and developmental delay. The staff to children ratio is poor, and all too often, the staff are unable (and all too often, unwilling) to stimulate the children. As a result, many of the children lie in their cots for most, if not all of their day, without activity or interaction. Many of the children would spend their entire childhood like this if it weren't for the work of our volunteers and Baba's. And for the children without Baba's the volunteers are a lifeline. Here are just some of the amazing stories from the people who really make a difference at Pleven.

“ Volunteering at Pleven can be very challenging and tiring but there are so many rewards. For example, when a child who seems passive and unresponsive starts to smile and respond to your gestures and reach out to you; holding a child in your arms and feeling the tension release from their body as they relax; watching a child you have been working with for days take a few steps independently; Looking into the eyes of a child with severe disabilities and holding their attention. Seeing a child with severe disabilities and little mobility arch their body towards you as you bend to pick them up.
It’s the little things that catch your breath and touch your heart.”

“ I volunteered for a three week placement at Pleven last year. It was my first experience of volunteering overseas and I was nervous about going. I was worried that I would find it too upsetting. Although I was shocked at the levels of neglect and seeing some of the conditions in which the children lived was distressing, I could soon see just how much a moment of one to one attention delighted the children. They are so deprived of contact that just a smile or a cuddle makes an enormous difference. Even in the short time I was there I was able to see a difference in the children. The work was hard and the days were long and the three weeks went so fast. It was the most rewarding experience of my life and I will definitely go again.”

Even if children get enough to eat, they will become malnourished if the food they eat does not provide the proper amounts of micronutrients - vitamins and minerals - to meet daily nutritional requirements. Malnutrition at an early age leads to reduced physical and mental development during childhood. Stunted growth is common amongst children suffering chronic malnutrition and according to SCN's World Nutrition Situation 5th report, Iodine deficiency, is the world's greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage. Over the past two years we have been monitoring the levels of malnutrition at the Pleven baby institution and our results are alarming – there is chronic malnutrition amongst some of the children, particularly the disabled ones, that is going unchecked. We believe that with enough volunteers we can implement a nutrition programme that will improve the children’s health and well being.