IT may have been damp and miserable last Sunday in the Stara-Planina mountain town of Tryavna, but the atmosphere at the SOS Children's Village was anything but damp and miserable.



The SOS Children's villages are found in 131 countries and territories. In Bulgaria there are two villages, located at Tryavna and at Dren. For 152 children, the two villages are their homes, with 69 living in Tryavna and 72 in Dren. Added to this, 31 children or indeed youths live at the Youth Facility in Veliko Turnovo, with a further 10 youths living in Sofia. Tryavna and Dren may not be that well known outside Bulgaria, but are part of a wider global issue about the welfare of children who are not able to live with their parents.



SOS villages are not only "home" but they are a tribute to the "mothers", staff and indeed the children who make the villages what they are.



Indeed, what they are is a living testament of how love and care, when focused in the right direction, can yield a loving environment in which children thrive and blossom.



Each village of the SOS family is made up of a series of between eight and 15 houses in which between four and 10 children live with their "mother". The children are of varying ages and live as any other family anywhere in the world does.



The houses at Tryavna are in keeping with the village itself, immaculately well-kept and tended. Bedrooms of which any child could be proud, are matched by the homeliness of the lounge and kitchen. The grounds sport a compact but equally impressive sports area, designed for all ages. The ages of the children in the Tryavna village range from six months to 14 years.



Tryavna was visited by the staff of Jamadvice BTI in Sofia who each year, during the month of September, focus on a global theme. This year the theme was "Children of BTI".



Mark Thomas, MD of Jamadvice BTI said, "at a time when the welfare of children in the Balkans is not always viewed in a positive light, this global BTI Day gave us a chance to do our little bit. We decided to take the theme one stage further and invited our travel Partners, GlaxoSmithKline to participate with us. Both BTI and GlaxoSmithKline are global operations but with a local flavour. BTI is arguably the world's leading travel management company and is represented in more than100 countries across five continents. GlaxoSmithKline is the worlds leading pharmaceutical company with seven per cent of the world's market share. Every Bulgarian child is vaccinated with at least one GlaxoSmithKline vaccine. Helping people is very much the denominator for both organisations."



To mark the day, the BTI staff on behalf of both parties were treated to a musical display and a tour of the Tryavna facility, and they gave Village Director Ivan Hristoforov T-shirts, writing & art materials, sports equipment and games.



"To see the warmth of the children, the mothers and the staff gives warmth to the inside regardless of the weather outside," Thomas said.











The SOS Children's Villages are funded mainly by private donation. Check the website at www.sos-children'svillages.org