These past few weeks have been exceptionally busy at BCI. Here's a brief list of what we've been up to:

Humanitarian Aid Shipment: We have received a large container of humanitarian aid from The Heights, containing shoes and some physical therapy equipment donated by Buckner's International Orphan Care, clothes donated by Kelly's Kids, and hospital beds donated by Baylor hospital, among other things.

Teams: We've received three volunteer teams in the past two months: a general-purpose volunteer team working with children with sewing, sports, physical therapy, and construction; a medical volunteer team that examined almost 250 children in four homes and gave flu vaccines to over 120; and a shoe team that distributed over 700 pairs of shoes, over 900 pairs of socks, and over 1400 other articles of clothing. More info on these coming soon!

Flu Shots: We have provided flu vaccines for children in four homes: Georgi Damyanovo, Berkovitsa IV, Dren, and Gorna Koznitsa. The medical team gave the injections at Georgi Damyanovo and Berkovitsa IV while they were doing examinations there, and we delivered the other vaccines in the first week of October.

Dren: While at Dren delivering vaccines, we also delivered some equipment for a planned physical therapy room that arrived on the container. We had also planned to put shoes on the children, distribute clothes, and start setting up the equipment, but unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that the home had been under quarantine since the day before. They had accepted a new child who was sick, and when the child took a turn for the worse they sent him to the hospital only to find that he had hepatitis, so now the home cannot allow any outsiders to enter until mid-November at the earliest. Thus, our shoe and clothes distribution there, as well as any work on the physical therapy room, is unfortunately postponed.

Computers: Also with the container were thirteen second-hand computers, donated by various companies and refurbished by Darrell Ard. After-trip checks, some further work and installation of Bulgarian-language software and Cyrillic keyboard support were done in Bulgaria by Andrew Ridgway, and twelve of the computers have already been distributed to various homes, with one more—which required a legacy keyboard plug—now completed and awaiting delivery.

Floods at Roman: As mentioned earlier on this site, BCI had committed to replacing the laundry facilities at Roman after they were destroyed in the recent flooding. However, the government has agreed to replace the laundry commitment, and another NGO has offered to remodel the damaged bathing facilities, so we are currently looking into helping by remodeling the roof. The entire structure, including the rafters, sustained severe damage during the heavy rainfall that caused the flooding and is in desperate need of replacement, so we are currently coordinating our relief efforts with the director and the other NGO.

Remodeling at Petrovo: We have been engaged in ongoing discussions with an architect about a proposed remodeling at Petrovo, and have a meeting with the architect, the director, and various city officials on October 31st.

Woodworking in Berkovitsa: We have received preliminary permission to begin construction of a better woodworking shop at Berkovitsa IV (Home for Children and Youth with Mental Disabilities). This is quite an exciting project, as it is a chance for the older, more capable boys at that home to earn some money while helping other orphanages (BCI has already hired them to build and install playground equipment for several other homes, of which three projects are so far completed and another is scheduled soon).

Refrigerator: The refrigerator and freezer at Berkovitsa II (the Health School) have stopped working, and BCI has agreed to supply new ones, which will be delivered on the 24th or 25th of October.

Medicines for Lom: BCI has supplied medications to combat an outbreak of intestinal parasites at a home in Lom.

Roof at Vidrare: A roofing job and installation of a solar-panel water heater have been completed at a home in Vidrare. The director is very happy with both, and made a point to tell us how much his hot water bills have been reduced.