New residents in Skravena

Four new residents joined the House of Opportunity(Joshua House) in Skravena which brings the number of residents to the total of seven.

Left to right: Gabriel, Sevdalin, Bozhidar

Sevdalin and Bozhidar are 18-year-old twins who grew up the orphanage in Krushuna. They were abandoned at an early age and have no contact with their parents. This year they graduated from high school this year in Krushuna and consequently were asked to leave the orphanage and take life up in their own hands. Perspectives ahead of them and their peers in the same situation are not bright. Crime, prostitution, begging and drugs are only some of the routes which young people who leave state institutions often take. Ill-equipped for independent living, they have no skills to build successful lives – finding a place to live, getting a job and fitting into society are a challenge. Thus, they most often become parents of children who end up in institutions themselves and close the vicious cycle of abandonment which defines Bulgaria as the country with highest number of institutionalized children per capita in the European Union.

The House of Joshua (pilot project) has been working successfully in Skravena for three years now, giving opportunities to vulnerable young people to develop skills for independent living. At the moment, FSCI is working to establish such centre in Gabrovo which is expected to open doors in a couple of months.

The other two new residents are Gabriel (19) also from Krushuna and Tsetsi who was asked to leave the orphanage in Lik in 2009 due to his age and since then had lived in a distant location around the mount of Parshevitsa under unclear circumstances.