CURRENT

ACT TO SHOW CARE AND PHILANTROPHY

FOR THE FLOODED SENIORS

IN THE BULGARIAN VILLAGE OF BISER 2012

Please donate any amount you feel comfortable with. It may be as little as 5 USD and as much as you wish.
Your name will appear on the list of donors (see SOS page). More than 10,000 people will see this page.
Even $5 make a difference. The total raised so far is $1245.

Checks may be sent to:
Vassya Valenti / 2168 Balboa Ave. Ste 3 / San Diego CA 92109

The pictures will almost say the story. Here is what you will not see.

Bulgaria is located north of Greece, an ex-Eastern European country, which has been struggling with more that 20 years to transition from socialism to capitalism. Many governments came and went and a lot of money disappeared from the one time rich country. The prosperous and ambitious population has left the country with 6-7 million people on a territory as big as the state of Ohio. As one of the Bulgarian ex-ministers of the Social Ministry stated, no institution in the country knows how many of its citizens have immigrated. My estimate is about 2 million of the young working population have found better systems to enrich in the entire world.

In 2011 I met with the Bulgarian minister of Economy, Simeon Dyankov, and he simply answered my question that seniors in Bulgaria would be left to live the way they have up to now - with no additional help provided - which meant that mainly the immigrants like me would have to continue to subsides our parents and grandparents just like I have for the last 20 years. The standard of living in Bulgaria is close to a 3-rd world country in a sense that prices of esential foods and electricity are often as high as here in the USA, but pensions are no more than 200 USD at best as the average is about $90. And the sad fact is that naturally not every senior has a kid abroad capable to assist SURVIVING.

In any case, none of that is good enough reason to ask for your help, but this winter 2012 a polar freeze swept the country away with temperatures between 0 to -20F for the last 3 months. No one remembers Bulgaria to have been so cold for so long! People are literally dieing like flies. However, a few villages like the one you see had it extraordinary worse. The village of Biser (The pearl) had its river show its monstrous power as it flooded for the first time the lower part of the village. 9 seniors are dead and the other you see on the pictures. The old lady got about $700 help by immigrants like me and she will get by on this money ONE YEAR!

The World Red Cross will not help since the damages are less than the needed - around 2.5 million USD. The Bulgarian budget is already strangled and pretty much half of this village will be buried in mud for unknown future. The people do not have house insurances.

I beg for your love of humans

to help these seniors to get by a few more days in the hard life they have

...and they have worked for all their lives.

How your donations will be handled:
The motorcycle couch Joro Hadjiev, from the near by city of Stara Zagora was kind to provide the images you see below from Biser. He will take our ambassadors to the village. The mayor will provide a list of the victims and will gather them. Our ambassadors will give an equal amount of money to each person in need. The intended day is going to be in April or the begining of May.

This the last information Joro Hadjiev (via facebook):

1. Ангел Славов Георгиев - ул."Шипка" 4
2. Боню Желев Ванчев - ул."Драва" 4
3. Борислав Г.Лилянов - ул."Банковска" 1
4. Валентина Танева Атанасова - ул."Партизанска" 1
5. Мария Димитрова Георгиева - ул."Д.Терпешев" 4
6. Стефан В.Сербезов - ул."Хемус" 10
7. Димитър Георгиев Севриев - ул."Шипка" 3
8. Иван Кирилов Стоянов - ул."Партизанска" 3
9. Иванка Петрова Димитрова - ул."Опълченска" 14
10. Райна Станкова Господинова - ул. Драва" 14

Това са предимно бедни хора - самотни, многодетни, болни, без почти никакви доходи, които на практика няма как да си помогнат сами. Кметицата ми разкара за всеки един поотделно, за да аргументира доводите си за помощта точно към тях. Докато правих снимките, видях много бисерчани съсипани и отчаяни, но добре разбирам, че няма как да се помогне на всички. Интересното беше, че хората гледат с надежда най-вече към частните благотворители, фирмите и организациите в чужбина. На въпроса ми, не се ли надяват на помощ от държавата и БЧК те отговарят: "Абе, мани ги тия !"."

Ambassadors are going to be Ivailo Giurov, Hristomir Hristov and Joro Hadjiev. The 3 three of them do not know each other.

The singer Ivailo Giurov was the initiator of this mission. In his local Vidin region he is well known for helping for years the senior home near Bregovo. I have spoken to the director of one of the homes in regards to previous idea for raising money for the elders. I do not know Mr. Hadjiev and so far he has provided the pictures and has express eagerness to help. Hristomir Hristov from San Diego is a Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry and a close friend of my famlily. He will be present as well. Ivailo will try to bring a TV crew in the day of distribution of the donations as long as it the deserves attention. For now the idea is that someone will take a video so all donors see what has happened if the amount is less than 4-5k. The intended deadline for raising help is the end of April, 2012.

Traditionally, I trust little the Bulgarian organizations and this would be the only way I will not empty whine on Facebook but I will do something. So if you are with us, please join our efforts. Thank you!

List of donors is provided bellow. If you need a donation receipt please let me know: vassya at yahoo.com .

THANK YOU to:

$ 20 Veneta Stoyanova, Portland OR $ 20 Vassya Valenti, San Diego CA --> Total for Day I: $40 $ 20 Koralski Famili, Redmond WA $ 20 Petya Dimitrova, Duluth GA $100 Svetoslav Valchev, Austin TX $ 30 Anonymous, Del Mar CA $ 20 Evelina Pentcheva, Irvine CA $ 20 Rumen Petrov, Irvine CA $ 20 Petroslav Dushkov, Huntington Beach CA $ 50 Olya Mueller, Carpinteria CA $ 10 Tatiana Pavlova, Los Angeles, CA $ 25 Mariana Grierson, La Jolla CA $ 10 Ivan Genov, Santa Barbara CA $150 Anonymous, London UK $ 20 Mariya Messier, Camarillo CA $ 10 My 6 year old son and his friend did not drink lemonade in Legoland so they can donate. $ 50 George Shumanov, Chicago IL $ 20 LillyLubina, San Marcos CA $ 20 Galina Gueorguieva, Torrance, CA --> Total for Day II - $635 $100 Marinina Gadeleva, Los Angeles, CA $ 50 Katya Dakova, Pompano Beach FL $ 10 Maya Belcheva, Wheeling IL $ 20 Zhan Vetrenski, Chula Vista CA $ 20 Iliyan Iliev, CORONA CA $ 25 Bella Litchev, Morris Plains NJ $100 Svetoslav Tzvetkov, LONG BEACH CA $ 20 Rozalina Hristova, San Diego CA $ 10 Antoaneta Partaleva, La Mesa CA --> Total for Day III - $355 $ 25 Anelia Genchev, San Diego CA $ 10 Todor Kichev, San Diego CA $ 20 Petya PBobadova, Overland Park, KS --> Total for Day IV - $45 $ 20 Ivelina Hamel, Las Vegas NV $ 50 Maya Smilyanova, Duisburg Germany $ 25 Zdravka Remskar, Clinton MS $ 05 Ventsislav Korichkov, Redlands CA $ 70 Kalin Kopachev, Redmond WA $ 20 Gergana May, Bloomington IN $ 20 Boyan Alexandrov, Hilliard OH --> Total for Day V - $210 $300 Emil Roussanov, Bellevue WA $ 50 Anna Vasilyuk, San Diego CA $ 20 Darina Shahanov, Ballwin MO $1615 TOTAL
This also happens in Bulgaria but just for the chosen ones.