07 Jun Part of this disorganisation comes from the fact that there is still a strong feeling among the country’s 8
9 million inhabitants that the state can and should look after unwanted children in state-run homes – a legacy of communist times. Unwanted children proved to be a loose and open category. In the past, such homes led to horrific media reports on the conditions inside – they are often tucked away from society's eye and little or no contact with the outside world. Officials in the justice ministry admit that there are still homes where government inspectors have had little access. But as with the rest of Bulgaria – change is coming, albeit slowly, here too. In another high-rise part of the city, the Soviet title Nadezhda ("Hope") is not altogether misplaced. Assen Zlatarov, a home to some 100 children from 7-18 years is an open and friendly place using modern psychology methods. It is quite obviously a ‘showcase' home – but the pragmatic woman who runs the place feels that societal changes in Bulgaria will lead to this being the norm throughout the country.
