School exercises can be fun when you have a real friend next to you who could help you solve the difficult problems and understand complicated phrases that were put in lessons seemingly in order to make one’s life harder. Helping is the mission of the volunteers from 'Podarete Kniga’ (Give a Book) Foundation. Each day they go to their regular jobs but when weekend comes they help children without parental care acquire knowledge and wisdom they would need after leaving social institutions.

“The idea started as an initiative in Facebook, aiming to collect books for children in institutions,” Elena Marinova, coordinator of the foundation says. “It soon turned out that many of these children cannot read and these books are of no use to them. That is how the idea was born for volunteers to help them catching up in school. Currently we finance classes in which pedagogues help children with learning and homework twice a week. At the same time there are special lessons for the volunteers who teach children various skills from everyday life. When we visit these children we talk with them about the lessons they learned and try to provoke their curiosity and show them information can be presented in an interesting way.”

Elena Marinova says that it is much easier to give a book than spend some of your time to make friends with children and actually help them. Some people come a few times and then give up. Others make permanent friendships with children and become their mentors for life. Elena Marinova herself has been taking care of a girl for 4 years now and says that seeing a child develop in a positive direction is an exciting experience.

“When I met my child in the institution in Berkovitsa, she was 14-years old. This August she will turn 18,” Elena Marinova says. “She finished high school and is about to come to Sofia to live in a transient accommodation. She used to be a very wild girl but now she is calmer and more focused. Unfortunately, her interest in studying did not change much. She needs a resource teacher but he does not visit her very often. For me it is important that she managed to stay away from many vices. In Sofia she would be able to use the help of more specialists and I hope she would really catch up.”

The volunteer and the child she takes care of will continue their friendship in the big city and their meetings, at least in the beginning, will be daily, Elena Marinova says. And despite the difficulties that are waiting for them, this is a happy ending story. The struggle in existing children’s institutions continues.

"Unfortunately, there are children who finish the 12th grade without being able to read and still receive a diploma," Elena Marinova points out. “There is a gap between institutions, schools and people who want to help these children. Ultimately, it is the children who suffer in the situation. Often children from institutions who know how to read do not have the ability to understand the meaning of a text - they read but do not comprehend the information. Otherwise, they have access to books - both through local community centers and through our libraries. Moreover if there was a child saying that he or she wants to read a particular book, we buy it as soon as possible. We cannot allow a situation when a child wants a book and cannot get it.”

The dream of the foundation is that no child in institutions is left without a helping hand. "Our goal is to help the children either with school lessons or help them learn some handcraft. It all depends on their abilities and desires,” Elena Marinova adds.

English: Alexander Markov