One Heart Bulgaria

Hi my name is Natalie I am trying to earn money to help special needs orphans in Bulgaria.
My mom (who is an occupational therapist) went to Bulgaria last year to help train orphan workers how to help orphans with special needs.  My mom really wanted to focus on holding and positioning these babies because they are left on their backs for most of the day, if not all day.  This makes a huge mark where their bodies are in the crib and all of the cribs sag in the middle. So if they turn to the side or on their stomachs during the day, this could be dangerous. One Heart Bulgaria is already hiring special workers to turn and hold these babies but they need these mattresses desperately.   So in order to help these children to  be positioned every two hours they need new mattresses.  We are trying to purchase 90 mattresses which are only 29$ each.  So for less than 30$ you can really help one of these orphan babies.  Some of the cribs are really small and those mattresses are only $10.00 so if that is all you can give now, it still makes a huge difference. 
We are hoping to raise this money by the end of May so they can have the right equipment by June. 

Thank you,

Natalie, my mom Jill, One Heart Bulgaria & the orphans

Hi friends & family, I have been living in Bulgaria for the past 16 months doing mission work.  (Kensington Osmond on the far left.)  


Bulgaria is a small country, about the size of Virginia, and is the poorest country in the European Union.  Bulgaria has only 7 million people, yet has more children living in orphanages than any other country in the EU.  Thousands of Bulgarian children live in orphanages and are suffering the effects of their exclusion from society - attachment disorder, stunted growth and developmental delays.   

My family is traveling to Bulgaria at the end of October, and we are raising funds to take and donate to the Stara Zagora Orphanage, which houses 82 children ages newborn to 5.  We are working with One Heart Bulgaria, which is a foundation that was started in 2003 by two American women who lived in Bulgaria and saw the inadequate conditions of the orphanages.  The goal of One Heart Bulgaria is to provide long-term solutions for the problems found in these orphanages.

One such program is the Grandmother ("baba") Nurturing program, which funds the hiring of Bulgarian babas to individually nurture the children by holding them, reading to them, teaching them, and playing with them one by one.

Stara Zagora Orphanage currently only has one baba for 82 infants, toddlers, and preschool age children.  We would like to donate money to hire more babas so that all of these children can get adequate individual attention and the nurturing that they need to thrive.  If we meet our $2000 goal, the  orphanage will be able to hire 2 more babas for 1 year.

All donations (from $1 - infinity) are appreciated!!

For more information about One Heart Bulgaria, visit http://www.oneheart-bg.org