Vladimir Bichev is 35 years old. He is one of the friends of the National Foster Care Association (NAFC). For a few years Vladi has been a part of all the events organised by  NAFC, he „captures” the emotions of foster families, youth and specialists. Vladimir Bichev is from Sofia, he does mainly fashion photography and has his own studio. Vladimir loves travelling. Take a look at what he says about his meetings with the young people of NAFC.

„My childhood  was not much like that of the other kids my age. Despite the fact that I was born before the fall of the communist regime I spent that part of my life away from Bulgaria. My father was working as a military attache and since we were toddlers, me and my brother (who is a year older than me) left for Ankara with the whole family and lived there for 3 years. There was no Bulgarian kindergarten so we were enrolled in the Russian one. After that my father went to work in Rabat, Morocco. I was there for  three more years, I went to a Russian school again and only attended a Bulgarian school at the weekends. Those three years of my life in Rabat were amazing. At the time when people in Bulgaria were lining up for oranges and there was nothing in the shops I was eating exotic fruit which I had picked from the yard of the Bulgarian embassy where we lived.

When I reached fourth grade I saw the other side of life. My grandfather who was an ex-military man threw my family out of the apartment with a court order. My father was pensioned off and we began a new life in a very small apartment – the whole family in one small room. We even had a puppy. Suddenly, the luxurious lifestyle we had known was replaced with life in a single room. New clothes and shoes were bought rarely or were the cheapest possible. No matter how we look at it I had a nice childhood. I was out all day long without any restrictions. My brother and I could do whatever we wished. What is worth a lot for me is that although I didn’t have much when I came back to Bulgaria I was free and always loved by my parents who did everything within their power to make me feel good.

As a matter of fact I have always felt very sad for children who have been abandoned by their parents and grow up deprived of love and care. In my view the first years of a child’s life are very important for his future development. When a baby has been kicked aside and hasn’t felt real love it would be very hard for them to become a part of society. No matter what has happened in a family, children mustn’t pay the price for it. From all the stories I’ve heard about social institutions, and I tend to believe that all of them are true, I definitely don’t think that these places are suitable for babies and children to grow up in. There is no love. All of them are the same. The children need to eat and sleep. That’s it. No one cares whether they are alright or need something, even a hug …. I think that the best way is for these children to be raised in foster families who, despite not being their real parents will provide them with more love and care than anyone else can. Even their blood parents.

My encounter with foster care was quite coincidential. I knew about the existence of the National Foster Care Association from my mother but I didn’t know the details. She had mentioned that she wanted to take care of a child with autism when my 15-year-old brother at the time grew older. Everything changed when I met the youngsters in foster care for the first time. The contact with the band was very emotional. They were at a camp in Sofia for one week. The young people were very embarassed and timid. They didn’t  know each other all that well, although they had met at the yearly conference of NAFC the previous days. In the hall along with the mentors Kiki and Mitko were the foster children as well as the foster brothers and sisters. That’s when I learned many sad, emotional stories about each of them and at that moment I became part of them and grew to love them. I am glad to see them and to talk with them every time. I think that they are pleased to see me as well. I don’t split them into foster children and foster siblings – they are all children to me. All of them deserve an equal start in life. And as for the mark these children will leave … the conversations, the sad stories – they leave their trace. But there are a lot of happy moments too – we visited Mtel, went to watch an X-Factor show together … Wonderful moments!

I wish the foster families that they will continue to preserve childhoods and not give up. I would like them to be very attentive to their kids, to smile and to believe in their own and foster children. I have faith that investing in a healthy childhood pays off. Mainly with love."