The small village of Kaspichan greets us with lovely sun, the smell of freshly cut grass and a European flag. In front of us is the village community centre and in front of it Nedjmia is waiting with the two little princesses – Ivayla and Ivelina. They had just visited the library to take some new books. Nedjmia is a middle age sturdy woman with an honest face. You can see that life has not been easy for her. However, as you keep on looking at her, you can see that the hardships did not take away her desire to be caring and help. She and her husband got together 18 years ago. Both were married to other people before. After splitting up with their previous partners they created a new family. Her husband, Remsy, already had two girls. She also had two kids. They created a family nest and taught their children to respect and honour others. They never distinguished between them in any way gave each one their fair share. 

We were walking toward their house, which is close to the community centre, and Nedjmia could not stop looking around and worrying about the two little girls. She did not let go of their hands, as if the village road was a busy crossroad with hidden dangers for the kids. She continued her story by telling us she has taught them that the house’s gates are only opened for them to go out only if they have received permission. And the small serpentine street next to the house was rather welcoming for mischief. It was great for jumping rope and dodge ball. Nedjmia also told us that when the two girls came to their house, they adapted very quickly. They clearly had a very difficult life, the foster aunt told us (the kids do not call her “mommy”), because they really wanted to help with cooking or with the chores.         

When we entered the house, the new grandmother of the kids and their uncle, Remsy greeted us. Everyone knew, that there would be guests and they were well prepared. Remsy had shaved while Nedjmia and the grandmother had made Tikvenik (pumpkin pastry). For each of the guests the kids had made a painting.

The couple decided to take in children after her daughters moved away and his got married. They lost their self-confidence. They were left alone. The house, which was once full of children was now empty and all they had left were conversations about the past and their ailments. Their love remained the same, but they had no one to take care of and no one to drive them forward in the hard times. Then Nedjmia had the idea to take in a child whom they could care for. Every day she thought of this. Initially, she was worried about how her neighbours would react if they learned about it, but finally she got up the courage and told Remsy. He is a very soft-hearted person. When he heard her suggestion, he was ready to help with whatever he could. They started learning how to take care of other people’s children in their golden years. During the trainings they heard that there were two girls – twins, who were looking for a foster home. Then Remsy joked that since they had always taken care of children, two by two, so why not take these two as well. G-d heard him and he decided to make this joke a reality. This is how Ivayla and Ivelina came to Remsy and Nedjmia’s home.

The love between the biological mother and father of the girls had been very strong. Even if it was forbidden, they created the two girls, after which the father initially disappeared. The mother gave birth to them and, after a while, the father recognised them as his. The twins’ first years started in a home for babies, where they did not do well. The life of the girls' parents was not easy either. They had to fight for their sustenance and survival every day. Following the democratic changes in the early 1990s values changed everywhere, first and foremost in the province. Everyone started to search for his or her freedom and the understanding of these values changed. Slowly the village started to depopulate. When they saw that they had been granted this unexpected freedom people began travelling the world. Many stopped studying and educating themselves, because they saw the values of the regime overtaken by consumerist attitudes. With each passing day the twins’ father became sadder and sadder. He could not see the light. He began to regret ever being born. One day he went to his barn, far from the eyes of his relatives. He tied a rope and hanged himself. When she, the mother of the two girls and his life-partner, learned about this, she suddenly felt like the saddest person in the world. Her brain could not handle this suffering and it triggered an inherited mental illness.   

One day the social workers came and took the girls. They placed them in the orphanage for a short period of time, but promptly convinced Remsy and Nedjmia to take them home. This led to the first meeting between the children and their new aunt and uncle. In the beginning the adults felt very stressed and scared about how they would be greeted and accepted. But it was unnecessary, because the little girls awaited each new meeting with joy.

Their first day in the house of the family was like a holiday.  Nedjmia even called her daughters in the Netherlands to show them the children and the girls went around the whole house, getting acquainted with everything. They wanted to touch the oven, to see the chicken, to pick a cucumber from the garden. After a couple of months the twins celebrated their birthday. Nobody looked for them or called to check on them, Remsy complained. His heart was breaking, because there was nobody to look for the two wonderful kids. The girls still remember their mother. Nedjimia told us that she gave them an old broken phone to play with. Often the big one would call her mother and have a fictional conversation. She would tell her how much her aunt Nedjmia and her uncle Remsy love them and how they take care of her and her sister. She would also invite her mother to come and see them and to take them for a walk in the village. Those fictional conversations made Remsy very sad. He wished that the mother would heal as fast as possible, so she could take her kids with her, as there is nothing better than growing up in one’s own home. 

Before saying goodbye the two girls showed me the chickens in the garden. Chattering, they showed me how one chicken is hatching her eggs and waiting for little chickens to hatch. They also showed me the little kittens, which joyfully rolled in the dust under the watchful eyes of their mother.

This is how the childhood of Ivayla and Ivelina in Kaspichan, a village near the town of Kaspichan is passing. In the morning they wake up, have breakfast, draw and run around. They wait with impatiently for the evenings, when their uncle comes home, so that they can play with him. And during the day they help their aunt to cook, clean and wash. They are very responsible. The hard life in the orphanage and their few memories of their mother have made them strong and diligent.

I leave them to drinking cherry juice and eating the delicious pumkin pastry. Because I am calm and convinced that they would no longer have to suffer the hardships of life while under the care of their aunt and uncle, whose eyes always tear up while they talk about the girls.