An open house on Thursday intends to raise awareness for the country's less fortunate children, and show what's being done to help them.

The SOS-Children's Villages organization is inviting all those who want to know more about the global world of SOS families to their main office in Sofia, at 8A Paskal Todorov Street.

"Let's gather together all children," is the motto of the organization Kinderdorf International, to which all national SOS-Children's Village associations are affiliated.

In Bulgaria, SOS families consist of seven children, boys and girls of different ages, but none older than 13. The family offers abandoned, orphaned and destitute children new and permanent homes - regardless of race, nationality or creed - and prepares them for an independent life.

SOS-Children's Villages in Bulgaria consists of 12 houses and is an open community, representing an integral part of the settlement. "It is the new permanent home of the SOS-child and we attempt to make them feel as comfortable as they would feel in a biological family," said Sonya Tocheva, public relations officer of the Bulgarian branch of the organization.

Eight years ago, the first SOS Children's Village was founded in Tryavna (Northern Bulgaria). This made Bulgaria the 125th country in which a SOS-Children's Village has been constructed. At present, there are 84 children living in that particular village. The other SOS-village was established in the area of Dren (Radomir region) in 1995. Currently, this village hosts 57 children.

According to Tocheva, the family house plays an important role in compliance with the pedagogical concept of SOS-Children's Villages. The village director in Tryavna, Ivan Hristoforov, explained that all of the settlements meet European standards for taking care of the children there.

"Each house in the village has a huge living room which is the centre of social life within the family," Tocheva explained. The village community is a natural and valuable extension of the village family units. All of the children come from orphanages, or destroyed families with parents unable to take care of them. In both villages in Bulgaria, social cases are dominant, she explained.

"The individual child is the focal point of attention at the SOS-Children's Villages," Tocheva said, adding that each child needs to grow up in a natural environment that is close to an actual family environment. "In this respect the village serves as a bridge between the child and the surrounding world."

SOS children are in constant contact with other children their age. "It is our main goal to integrate those kids in an unequal position so they can lead their lives like the rest," she said. The goal is not to insulate children from society.

Long-term, the organization tries to ensure children feel at home and - according to their abilities and capabilities - develop into responsible adults who are capable of living in the community with other people. "It is the SOS mother whose function is the central one in caring for the children that are entrusted to our care," Tocheva added.

"The role of the SOS mother has a great impact on the children's future. She should be a woman, who endows her family with love, tenderness and security and who forms children as individuals."

The mother lives together with the SOS family permanently, in a separate home, and takes daily care for the upbringing of her children. She shares both their successes and their failures. Every SOS mother receives a monthly allowance, which she allocates independently.

Many SOS mothers are between 25 and 40 years of age at the time of applying, with no family engagements. They are well-balanced and well-motivated for long periods of time, and are ready to dedicate their lives to children deprived of a parent's support. "Some volunteers decided that they are too emotional to become attached to seven children and then have them leave her," Hristoforov said.

Fani Angelova, 36, has been an SOS mother in the village in Tryavna for over nine years. She has taken care of eight children and the hardest part for her was when two of them grew up and went on to pursue academic careers. "The way we are mutually attached creates a strong bond between us," Angelova said. Her ordinary days are spent cooking and preparing the children for school.

"The SOS mother has the same cares, duties and joys as any other mother and is the head of the family," Tocheva said.

Every SOS mother takes care of 30-35 children before she retires. Tocheva recalled seeing photographs from family gatherings in Austria, where Christmas united 100 members of an SOS family around one old woman.

The Youth Facility is a hosting place for the SOS-Children when they grow up to the age of 13. According to Tocheva, the facility is an important part of the child's integration into society, since it educates them how to be independent and prepares them for real life.

"The role of the SOS mother is not that authoritative in the Youth Facility," she said. After the age of 13, when children are about to apply for different educational programs, they are able to choose their future careers. That is the reason for situating the facilities near bigger towns.

The facility in Veliko Turnovo enables children to attend school and live with other children their age. Presently, 22 children are accommodated in the Veliko Turnovo Youth Facility. Nineteen-year-old Raya is the oldest there and she studies social pedagogy because she wants to take care of children when she gets older.

Sofia resident Leda Arnaudova left a floor of her house for SOS-villages when she died, with the purpose of building a facility for children in the centre of Sofia. Five children will be accommodated there, once repairs are made, Tocheva said.

"We enable them to operate with money grants," Tocheva said. "They try to spend it on school, clothes or food (150 leva monthly). They should be creative about what to spend money on."