Hosting Countries

What is to be a hosting country?


A hosting country hosts marginalised groups from other countries, the hosting organisation are marginalised themselves currently our project has two countries; Bulgaria and Turkey.

Here are the reasons they were both chosen for the project:

Bulgaria- the country was chosen when the project started in
1997 because:

• Between 3 and 5 hundred children were living on the street
• 35000 children were living in orphanages
• 45,000 children dropped out of school due to financial difficulties.

A report by the Bulgarian Helsinki Commission revealed 238 mentally disabled children in state run institutions have died in the past ten years and at least two-thirds of those deaths could have been prevented. Causes of death include starvation, infections as a consequence of poor hygiene, violence and lack of a medical treatment when needed.

The Bulgarian government during this time released only £1.25 a day per child on food. The money provided only one diaper a day per child. Because of the high inflation and corruption in the country the orphans living in the government orphanages live a very isolated and underprivileged lifestyle (source:The Bulgarian Abandoned Children`s Trust).

Turkey- The first project in Turkey was in 2010, when:

Families are struggling to cope with rapid and startling social change in Turkey. Poverty, economic and social crisis, immigration, terrorism, violence, and mental illness have all contributed to having lots of children being placed in orphanages due to abandonment, child abuse or neglect.

Here are some facts:

• The total of 18,495 youths between the ages of 0-18 live in orphanages
• About 3,000 families are currently waiting placement of their children in orphanages
• There are approximately 88000 street children the majority being in Istanbul
• While on the streets the children are subject to abuse, malnutrition and assault

 As indicated above, an important element of this project is the mutual assistance where by one marginalized group assists another for the mutual benefit of both. The work placements abroad are all on deprived projects such as orphanages for disabled children in Bulgaria or centers for street children in Turkey, a direct benefit for the participant being that upon their return they were far more receptive to new opportunities and a higher self-esteem, as well as personal development, allowing them to overcome barriers to inclusion in their own communities.

Respectively each country that similarly to the ones above could offer a positive mobility placement for disadvantaged foreign participants, where through this placement they could benefit a local marginalized group – is welcome to become part of this tremendous project and spread the benefits from it!

If you would like to register as a Hosting organisation
please continue to REGISTRATION