The orphanage's main website is now up and running again and can be seen here:http://svetinikolai.org/en/index.php
St. Nicolas orphanage is situated in a town called Novi Han, which is around 30 km east of Sofia and is situated in the yard of St. Trinity Church. It was started in 1988 by Father Ivan Ivanov in order to shelter homeless children.
With the help of volunteers and sponsors the orphanage now houses around 130 people of whom 70 are children (under the age of 16). Father Ivan Ivanov manages the orphanage and is involved with finding people to help him to expand the orphanage and take more children. His good heart gave him the award "Bulgarian of the year" given from the President of Bulgaria.
Unlike orphanages we are familiar with, the govt does not allow Father Ivan to adopt out any of the children placed in his care, therefore he is in effect a “parent” to a very large family! The man has been helping children since 1988 which is a long time so he has seen a lot of young people come through his care. Sadly because he has such limited resources he is unable to see any very smart or bright children progress in their education.
Typically people give at Easter and Christmas, and because salaries are low it is understandably difficult for the many Bulgarians to give regularly. Sadly neither the church nor government provide any help and often Father Ivan finds he has nothing in the bank with which to buy food so ends up having to call friends and family for help.
One of the obvious indicators that it needs sponsorship is that the website is not supported and maintained regularly which is the main place where you can get information about current projects and updates.
Our intention is, in addition to any donations raised through this challenge, to keep supporting the Orphanage through donations and also personal visits from our staff to teach the kids IT skills and English to allow them to gain employment in the future