Her heart was moved by the plight of little souls who had been wronged by fate, and this motivated her to undertake a journey to the other side of the globe. Dr. Elena Shtarbanova, a specialist in anesthesiology at the "Sveta Ekaterina" Hospital in Sofia, has always wanted to volunteer on The Mother Continent. Last summer, she reached out to the Bulgarian The Second Mile Foundation, a group that raises money for children in Africa. Thanks to the foundation's support, her dreams came true, and she embarked on a journey to Kenya. The young doctor herself financed the trip and her three-week stay at a boarding school for children in Nakuru, one of Kenya's largest cities. "My main mission was to give the children love, a good example, and, in general, a true Christianity," says Dr. Shtarbanova, adding:

"The boarding school consists of an elementary school and a high school. There are between 300 and 400 children. Many of them have no parents - they are full orphans - and they live, study, and eat there. We visited a neighborhood that was practically a garbage dump by Bulgarian standards, and that was where most of them had been taken from. And it was very heartbreaking to see the conditions that some people live in around the world. The first reaction when you visit a place like that is sheer shock at the misery that these little innocent souls, these little children, live in. It's heartbreaking to see the conditions in which their lives begin, continue and end, because the average life expectancy there is very low, between 30 and 35 years."

It turns out that the Bulgarian foundation is the only foreign donor to the boarding school in Nakuru, providing food, clothing, running water, plates, etc. for the children. But the Bulgarian help is not only material and financial, the psychological support is also important. "We alternated school lessons and help in the kitchen with games. Because the most important thing is to be with them, to show them that someone cares and that they are not alone," adds Dr. Shtarbanova:

"It was remarkable how incredibly grateful the children were. Perhaps because they knew the alternative was life on the street - no food, no shelter. They were truly happy and thankful for everything they had. We gave them food, clothes and small gifts, but what they valued most was our attention - the love we showed them, the time we spent playing with them or helping them with their schoolwork.

Many of these children had heartbreaking stories - some had been abused, others had seen their parents killed in front of them. There were children living with HIV, some of whom had been infected through rape. But not one - I repeat, not one of them - complained. They were simply grateful for the opportunity to receive an education. There, education is considered a gift."

Dr. Shtarbanova recounts the genuine surprise and joy of the children when she showed them pictures from her phone. "They understood that I had a family - a mother, a father, a sister who were all alive. In their eyes, I was some kind of privileged star from Bulgaria," says the young doctor. She emphasizes the vital role of the Bulgarian foundation in helping these young souls on the other side of the world.

"For me, this was a profoundly transformative experience. I learned that with just 20 leva, I could provide a child with food for an entire month. Then I thought about how I spend that money in Bulgaria. My time in Kenya taught me to be grateful for what I have and to realise how truly blessed we are in Bulgaria. At the same time, it made me aware of our responsibility to help those who have nothing.

The most important thing was to go there and, as much as I could, show these children God's love - to help them feel that they are not alone in this world, even though they are convinced that no one loves them. It is a beautiful thing to show them that this is not true," concluded Dr. Elena Shtarbanova.