The first sod for the Little House, designed to accommodate children from the social care home in Mogilino, was turned in the Varna borough of Vladislavovo on February 4 2009, Bulgarian language media reported.

This is a step forward for the realisation of a joint project involving Unicef Bulgaria, Varna municipality and the Social Assistance Agency, for the re-location of mentally challenged children into a family-like environment.

When the documentary film Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, by BBC journalist Kate Blewett, was broadcast in 2007, it provoked an international storm. Gruesome images of children resembling breathing corpses rather than living beings shocked Bulgarian society as well as foreign observers. A charity campaign was launched and 1.6 million leva raised.

The budget for the building of the Little House is set at 500 000 leva. It should open by the beginning of summer 2009. Six children from Mogilino and two from local homes will be housed there as well as a support group of child-minders, social workers, a pedagogue and psychologist.

Envisioned as a comfortable and secure environment, resembling that of a family unit, life in the house will allow children to interact freely with their neighbours, make new friends and attend school.

Four more houses will be built in Rousse and Sofia.