My heart was tearing apart, I felt so helpless

It’s excruciating watching your children suffer, knowing you can do nothing about it.

Our lives are a daily struggle for physical survival. I often look at my children with so much regret that I’m not the parent I want to be, that we can’t provide them with new jackets for the winter. I feel so much heartache when I see them returning home with wet feet because their shoes are worn but I can do nothing.

‘We know that you need new shoes and clothes but we have no money to buy them for you.’  Those were words that our children would hear regularly from us.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now our children can go to school warmly dressed and we as parents aren’t worried about them. Thanks to the Mission’s support, our children are no longer shy, with low self-esteem, but they’ve gained confidence and dignity.

The winter support we were given is of great importance as there is no work and we live with the little funds we have set aside from the seasonal work in summer.

What warms us most of all is the Mission’s attitude of complete acceptance and friendship – this is what makes our hearts leap with joy and be filled with hope.

Emil, the father of a family we work with in Bulgaria

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