Hi all,

Thank you for visiting my Just Giving Page.

I always have said I wanted to do something for Charity but like many others, I never actually got around to it until now...I did not want to be like the people watching TV and saying "oh poor kids" and then continue with their dinner.

How I Chose my Charity:

Recently, I had a conversation about "Why would you not live in Bulgaria" and "Bulgaria's Abandoned Children" series came up as part of the inadequacy of the government and the mentality of some Bulgarians. The series, filmed in a rural orphanage, showed images that were least to say disturbing- malnourished kids, inadequate living conditions, kids unable to talk at the age of 4-5 as no one has ever spoken to them, to list a few. I have always felt really strong about what has happened to those kids and I do not think I will ever forget some of the images from the series (aired on BBC).

I have since been in touch with the Trust, set up shortly after the series was aired and currently looking into ways to help them. The Trust has been set up in The UK and there are already structures set up in place in Bulgaria to ensure that orphanages across the country look after the kids in a normal manner.

For more info on the series, please youtube "Bulgaria's Abandoned Children"

The money collected will go directly to the Trust (via Just Giving) and then be allocated into the "Surrogate Granny" project. The project was created due to the limited resources to employ care personnel to look after the kids. Currently the rate is close to 1 for 20+kids. In the absence of a mother or family, a surrogate Granny is carefully selected and hired to serve as a primary carer and advocate for two children. They feed, play, sing songs, hold and encourage their children. The response has been of tremendous advances, better growth and also learning how to love and be loved.

The Challenge:

My initial thought was to go and run a marathon which seemed a bit of an extreme idea taking into account that I am a smoker. For those of you that know me better, I have always said I need some sort of motivation to quit. Yes, I know all the health risks etc but as they say in Bulgaria "what you do to yourself by yourself, your worst enemy cannot do to you".

The idea crossed my mind while I was researching the Charity and I decided to go ahead with it.

I am quitting smoking as of today (Monday 14th Sept 09) and I am quitting FOREVER. I know its not going to be easy but I also believe that the cause its well worth it and that all kids deserve an equal start in life. 

I am also putting you all on the line as I am sure you will not be impressed if i start again. No pressure there!

Oh and i am also doing it all with my will power alone- no gum, patches or anything else. (expecting many mood swings so please bear with me :))

PS. Some of you have mentioned that there will not be anyone to monitor me while at home. So whoever wants to pop in for a random visit, you are more than welcome to :)

Please be generous and donate to my cause.

Thank you

Tatyana