Upon the recommendation of the National Foster Care Association, the president of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev awarded the Honorary Presidential Sign to Kina Rasheva from Kurtovo Konare village. The occasion for the award was the 25^th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

All foster parents and friends of foster care acknowledge with great respect the efforts of Kina for the development of foster care and the change of societal attitudes toward foster parents in the country.

“We respect Kina and think that she teaches us to be kind, patient and brave. Her leadership by example  is contagious and gives many foster parents confidence and strength to carry on.”, Miroslav Dolapchiev, the chairman of the management board of the National Foster Care Association commented. When a campaign for recruitment of foster parents was launched in Plovdiv in the summer of 1999, there was great interest.  The pilot project was executed by For Our Children Foundation. During the first year, six foster families were approved. During the second, four more got the green light, and in the third year only one family was accepted. It is interesting to note that the family of Kina, who is now a source of inspiration, was regected. She later entered the program with a lot of tenacity and persistance. 

Kina is a retired doctor and her husband Atanas, who is a little younger than her, is a traffic controller at the train station in Kurtovo Konare. They raised their beautiful daughter Radotzveta with lots of love, but were always especially empathic toward abandoned children. Kina is the author of poems, many of which are dedicated to children in institutional care. During one of her visits to the “Rada Kirkovich” residential institution in Plovdiv she met Mariyan, who was “a tiny little boy”. She took him in for the summer. As September 15 (the beginning of the Bulgarian school year) drew near and the child was supposed to go back to the institution, a rebellion broke out. He would not hear of it and the family was so used to having him with them that they did not want to part with the boy. During this time a programme for foster parents was announced and they applied.

Kina’s second foster child, Petya had serious problems when she arrived at her house. Although she was in the 6^th grade she did not know the alphabet, she had trouble concentrating, the gaps in her knowledge were huge. Kina and Atanas spent hours working with her. Kina would wake in horror in the middle of the night at the thought that Petya’s homework was not done and Atanas – the artist of the house, soon started drawing horses in the middle of the night, because the child had forgotten to say that this was part of her homework.

Petya finished school and married in the village where she was born. Marian graduated from the Theological Seminary.

We would like to share some of Kina’s thoughts, which continue to inspire us: 

• “I want nothing more than to see them on the track and to make them good people.” (with regard to her foster children)
• “The heart of a foster parent must be as big as a pumpkin. You cannot look after these children without love and patience, great patience.“
• “As long as my eyes are still open, they (the foster children) will not be on the street.”