In April, a delegation from the Bulgarian government visited the U.S. to learn about American adoption practices. The delegation was hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of International Visitors. When the Bulgarian officials expressed the desire to learn specifically how to better recruit adoptive families for older children and children with special needs, they learned they must visit WACAP. We were honored to share with them our beliefs that every child deserves a family and that no child is unadoptable. We discussed our successes in finding families for waiting children and how we depend on our invaluable donor support.
A little over a week ago, Lillian Thogersen, WACAP President & CEO, Mary Moo, Vice President of Adoptions, and Brittany Sweet, Program Manager, traveled to Bulgaria where they again met with the Bulgarian government authorities responsible for adoption. The officials shared that they had already begun to implement some of the practices they had heard about from their visit to WACAP. While in Bulgaria, WACAP staff also had the opportunity to visit eight orphanages throughout the country where they met children of all ages who need families. We’re excited to continue exploring how we might be able to help Bulgarian children in the future and will keep you informed as new programs develop.
Wonderful news! We are SO excited to begin adoptive family homeland journeys in Bulgaria in July 2012. After almost two decades of serving families, it is still REALLY exciting to start a new program. So glad to have learned about your Bulgaria program at WACAP camp and to learn more here.