March 20, 2010 – Dren, Bulgaria | Wild World of Sean's Blog

March 21, 2010 – 12:09am

I came in on high alert to the ex-communist country of Bulgaria late at night…Not because I had heard anything in particular that was worriesome, but because there are signs (MANY signs) inside the airport to only take ‘approved’ taxis. This fact was highlighted by the woman at the information desk… she warned me three times with great stress – only, Only, ONLY! take the certified taxi to the right as I exit the airport. Apparently the mafia, as in other eastern european countries run the ‘unofficial’ taxis…Many of those drivers hover inside the airport awaiting unsuspecting guests. Sure, they might be cheaper, but you are just as likely to not get to your final destination, or at least not get there with your money…I took the safer route…’certified’…special note: ‘certified’ doesn’t mean the driver is a good driver.

After 5 hours of sleep, I was met at my hotel by Ivana and Alexander at my hotel. Ivana recently returned to Bulgaria (Sofia) after spending six years in China for her college education and would be my translator today. Ivana’s English was incredibly good. So good, in fact, that I was able to easily explain WildTangent’s “WildCoins for Kids” program and how the sponsored WildCoins for Kids Game of the Day helped earn netbooks for children in need merely by having consumers play the designated game with WildCoins or could donate
WildCoins directly to the cause and as little as 1 WildCoin (approximately $0.25).

Alexander is an incredibly generous and happy fellow with a wicked-impressive beard and was my transporter. Understanding a bit of English, we could communicate a bit. He also shared information about Sofia – 2 million residents and growing fast, the buildings (including two nuclear power plants in town), mountains and history – pre / post communism. He is very proud of this area and the improvements…he should be.

My visit today was to the SOS Village in Dren, Bulgaria. Located about 1.5 hours from Sofia, Dren sits at the base of a 9,000 ft mountain where skiing and mountain lakes attract locals and tourists. With a total population of 3,500 residents in Dren, SOS is really a village within a village, with the SOS village perched above the town.

This SOS village has 13 homes with 65 children presently and a capacity of 78. Due to the remoteness of this village, they have had to be very self-sufficient. They have their own water recycling facilty, their own water well, individual fuel tanks for each house, and more. Despite being located in such a scenic location, they face challenges and some unique aspects of their facility. One that stood out is that the children leave the Dren village at the age of 14. At that age, they must decide what vocation they wish to pursue and then leave for Sofia to pursue it, whether it is for a University education, vocational training or other…it is then that the begin living in the youth homes. There are two youth homes located in Sofia for a total of 120 children (including the 65 in Dren) in the SOS program in this region.

While in Dren, the SOS children attend the local school. There are 150 children that attend the Dren school, 50 are SOS children…The joke is whether the SOS children are integrating into the town or vice versa.

The SOS village in Dren was very well kept and appeared quite new…remarkable given the harsh climate and that the village will celebrate its 15 year anniversay in May. A week long celebration is scheduled for May 17 and the President of Bulgaria might attend including other dignitaries.

A few other unique programs: This is the first village that has a couple (husband/wife) run one of the homes. Typically the homes are run by a single house mother. It is a trial program, but early indications are good. The next exciting program is ‘home ownership’. The SOS facility just helped it’s first child, now in her early 20′s, purchase her first apartment in Sofia. She had to acquire the loan on her own, but SOS helped finance the down payment, and with no requirement to repay SOS. Pretty cool. Hard to say how scalable such a program could become, but it is the first time I have heard of such an SOS program anywhere in the world…I wish them luck with that.

I must admit, my first impressions of Bulgaria and how I felt leaving are incredibly different. Yes, this country faces challenges, but you can see the changes taking place. This will be an interesting country to watch in the years ahead.