Shoebox Delivery Diary – Bulgaria 2025

This year the Shoebox Delivery Team consisted of Lisa, Becky, Angus, Shirley and Vadim (behind the camera) This year we visited our teams in Bulgaria.  Every year a small team from the UK go and visit one of our project managers in Eastern Europe and help them deliver shoeboxes.  Its very important for us as a charity to see how the shoeboxes are delivered and to whom. More importantly it is for Link to Hope to be accountable to its supporters about exactly where their shoeboxes have been delivered to.  It is also a great opportunity to capture the moments of joy through photographs and video and we hope this Shoebox Delivery Diary reflects the happiness that your shoeboxes bring to the people that receive them.

Day One

We – Lisa, Angus, Becky and Shirley –  landed by Ryan Air at Plovdiv Airport, Bulgaria to find the weather unseasonably warm and dry. Waiting for us was Vadim, a Moldovan who has worked on many Link to Hope projects previously. He had driven more than ten hours from Moldova and completed our team of five.

Vadim took us to a small “hotel” just minutes from the airport. It was a peculiar place—no receptionist, no food, not even a kettle for tea (having a cup of tea became a mission in itself for one of our team members). Vadim had collected the keys earlier from a nearby car wash! We were the only guests, apart from a stray dog that had made the lobby its home. The stairway lights didn’t work, so we carefully picked our way up the dark stairs. Exhausted and hungry, we went straight to bed, knowing we needed rest before our first delivery day.

Day Two

We rose early and drove an hour through rain to Chirpan, a small town east of Plovdiv. As we reached a settlement on the outskirts, the clouds parted and the sun appeared—amazingly, it stayed with us for the rest of the trip.

The first sight of the settlement was overwhelming. Makeshift houses were pieced together from whatever materials people could find, with muddy tracks instead of streets, washing hanging everywhere, the occasional horse and cart and children with bare feet playing among piles of rubbish. The poverty was stark and the sight was overwhelming for some of our team.

We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Mihail and his wife, Boyana, who showed us their tiny community centre. Despite its size, it serves as a hub for meetings, a Sunday school, and teaching. Off this room was an even smaller room used as a school. Though it could seat only 15 children, twice that number squeezed in daily. The children, aged five to eight, learnt here, whilst the older children used the main room in the community centre.  The kitchen had no running water or taps and very limited facilities. Link to Hope hopes to fund plumbing and eventually a shower block, in the future.

We loaded Pastor Mihail’s car with shoeboxes, but when it failed to start, we then transferred everything to Vadim’s vehicle. Together we drove into Chirpan town to deliver 25 shoeboxes to adults and elderly patients in the town’s hospital. The hospital, nearly a century old, was government-funded but very basic and desperately under-equipped. Food was stored on windowsills, which served as makeshift fridges. The wards were clean but simple, and the nurses were cheerful and attentive.

In one ward, women opened their shoeboxes with tears in their eyes. One lady, finding knitted hats, whispered, “It is too much.” Another echoed the same sentiment, overwhelmed by kindness.

In another ward, where patients were not usually allowed visitors, we met a woman whose husband was gravely ill. At first, she was suspicious of our intentions, reluctant to accept the gift. With Pastor Mihail translating, we explained that the shoebox was free, a gesture of care. Once the lady understood, she accepted the shoebox for her husband, then asked us to pray for him. Afterwards, she told us, “Your mission is great.”

Later, we met the hospital director. He expressed deep gratitude for the shoeboxes, pride in his hospital, and excitement about its upcoming centenary. He admitted they lacked essential medical equipment and expressed the need for external support.

From the hospital, we drove to Cherna Gora, a slum town on the outskirts of Chirpan. Families lived in crumbling houses, along rough, unmade tracks. We handed out shoeboxes to families, children and elderly people, whose poverty was starkly evident, as was their gratitude for the gifts inside their shoeboxes.

We then returned to Pastor Mihail and Boyana’s community, to continue deliveries. The children were dressed very simply, often with flipflops or bare feet. They followed us around as we walked along mud tracks that were their roads. Some children held our hands, and we even had time for a few quick games of ‘Rock, Paper, scissors’ (where there was lots of good-natured cheating going on).

Despite their extreme hardship, families and children received the boxes with joy. Children showed such delight at the toys and sweets inside their boxes, while mums and dad were delighted to know that their children would receive a present this Christmas as well as useful gifts for the rest of the family

One family with six children stood out. Link to Hope had previously helped the family obtain birth certificates—without which the children would have been invisible to the state, denied schooling, and potentially vulnerable to trafficking.

As we gave shoeboxes to the children, a mother asked us to pray for her youngest, a one-year-old baby. We were stood in their ‘yard’ – no concrete or grass, just thick mud churned up by the mule and the dog, and we prayed for health and protection over the baby and the whole family.

Toilets are a shared wooden outhouse. They have no plumbing, electricity, or water, simply a toilet covering a hole in the ground.  It was explained that when the hole is full, they simply dig another hole and move the whole structure. Its a stark reminder of the absence of basic sanitation and privacy in the community.

After heartfelt farewells and hugs with Pastor Mihail and Boyana, we drove an hour to Stara Zagora. Pastor Stilian welcomed us to a rustic church house where we would stay for two nights.

Day Three

Refreshed from sleep, we met with Pastor Stilian, who outlined the day’s plan: a village visit followed by deliveries at four places in the Stara Zagora area. We all got in Vadim’s car and followed Pastor Stilian to the first village, on the outskirts of a forest.

At the village, we walked, carrying the shoeboxes to elderly resident’s homes. One woman, crippled by pain and weakened by a stroke, was deeply moved and asked for prayer. Another widow, clutching her box, said simply, “Thank you for giving to the poor.” Many others echoed similar sentiments and prayed for our health and wellbeing as they received their shoeboxes.

We then travelled around 45 minutes to the outlying villages. The halls were filled with families. The buildings overflowed — seats were scarce, and people stood shoulder to shoulder, keen to be part of the gathering. Shoeboxes were given to families and the elderly. Everyone received their boxes with joy, wonder, and gratitude.

By evening, hundreds of shoeboxes had been given out. We returned to the church house in Stara Zagora. We needed to get to sleep, as the next day would begin at 6:15am with a two-hour drive to Kardjali for the next stage of our mission.

Day Four

We rose early and set off for the two-hour drive to Kardjali. The road was dark at first, but gradually the sky began to glow. We watched the sun climb higher until it filled the horizon with a breathtaking sunrise, that stayed with us all day.

Pastor Hari welcomed us warmly on arrival. We helped load a battered old minibus with shoeboxes, then followed it, in Vadim’s car as we drove higher and higher into the mountains. The roads wound narrowly, sometimes little more than tracks, until we were above the clouds.

Eventually, we reached the tiny village of Tihomir. Its name means “Peace and Quiet,” and it could not have been more fitting. Just six miles from the Greek border, the village is remote and rarely sees outsiders. Originally 2,000 people lived here; now only 500 remain, mostly elderly and isolated, with a few families holding on.

The Mayor, Albena and her daughter Ria greeted us with warmth and openness. Albena had worked in social care for 18 years before becoming Mayor. She knew every villager by name and knew their stories too. Her compassion, warmth, kindness and hands-on leadership shone through in every interaction.

We gave out shoeboxes in the kindergarten, where only seven children were present (twelve were home ill with flu), and the school, which once had 200 pupils but now serves just 49 from five surrounding villages. The staff were delightful, and the children were sweet. One little girl had a skipping rope in her shoebox. We tried teaching her to skip—without much success, but with plenty of laughter.

At another school, the children sang, “We wish you a Merry Christmas” for us, before they received their shoeboxes. The children then waited for us to come to their classrooms, before they opened their shoeboxes. There were many smiles, laughter and exclamations as the children discovered what was in their boxes. Hand puppets were a source of amusement and joy, as two children’s hand puppets ‘spoke’ to each other across the classroom. Other toys such as bouncy balls went bouncing across the rooms, whilst jumping frog toys were pinging about. It was fun and lovely to see such joy in these children as they enjoyed these small, simple gifts.

Later, the villagers insisted we join them for lunch. It felt as though the whole community had contributed a dish for us. Their eagerness to show hospitality, despite their hardships, was humbling (and the food was delicious and very much enjoyed).

In the afternoon, we visited elderly residents who mostly lived alone and saw very few people. We walked up and down steep hills under the warmth of the sun, wondering how these frail villagers manage in icy, rainy or muddy conditions.

We went to one very remote, very old house. We thought it was deserted when we first went in. The couple lived in a single upstairs room to keep warm. To get upstairs, we had to climb up a wooden ladder. Again, we are not sure how elderly people manage these ladders! Married since they were young, they were described as a “love match.”  When we came to leave, his wife could barely move, but the elderly man came out, up the rocky steep path to say an emotional goodbye us. We walked past their ‘bathroom’ which was outside, thinking how on earth did two elderly people manage in these circumstances.

We kept being offered food at every house to say thank you and we tried to look very full but they weren’t taking no for an answer. So we just accepted with gratitude, aware we didn’t want to reject their kind and giving spirits. We hoped the next house wouldn’t offer us anything, but of course they did! In another elderly couple’s house, the lady cried when she was given her shoebox and said, “Thank you for remembering us. We are not a forgotten people”. They seemed so surprised that English people (and a Moldovan) had travelled all the way out to this remote village in the back of beyond of Bulgaria, to give them a shoebox.

As the day in the mountains ended, the sky lit up with a magnificent sunset, that covered the whole sky. Our days’ work was still not complete though. We then travelled on to another village, home to some special families. They are special as they are known for their hospitality and giving to their neighbours. They had little, yet they gave everything they had.  We arrived and walked into a small room, with large families sat all-round the edges of the room, waiting for us.  They insisted on giving us a meal. In their custom, before they could receive, they needed to give something. So, we ate the delicious meal whilst they watched us eat (which was slightly excruciating). Once the people were happy we were eating, they then were served and ate too.

Shoeboxes were given to families and opened by the children, who received them with joy and Christmas like excitement.  There was a beautiful butterfly scarf in one of the boxes and the child ran to give it to his mother who was delighted with it.  One moment stood out when we gave a shoebox to an elderly lady. The lady lived alone and had been invited by the families to join them.

She had never had a Christmas present in her life.  She beamed when she received her shoebox – her very first Christmas present! She was totally overwhelmed by the contents of her box. This lady’s one joy in life was to work in her garden, and the shoebox was full of gardening gifts such as work gloves and gardening tools – she was thrilled.  The other highlight was the wooden spoons that she and her friend pulled out of their shoeboxes at exactly the same time – so useful, and much laughter and smiles as they admired their spoons.

We said many goodbyes , then returned to Pastor Hari’s church house. That evening, we reflected on the people we had met, their stories, their strength and generosity. Then, exhausted from hours of travel and hundreds of shoebox deliveries, we all went to bed.

Day 5

Morning came, and it was time to pack up. Pastor Hari arrived with a friend who would drive us to the airport, while Vadim headed home to Moldova in the opposite direction. We said emotional farewells to Vadim and Pastor Hari. The remaining members of the team climbed into the rickety old minibus, its broken handbrake adding a touch of drama to the ride as we journeyed up through the mountains again. With beautiful sweeping views and winding roads, we descended down to Plovdiv airport and our flight home.

And so ended an emotional, unforgettable shoebox delivery trip to Bulgaria—days filled with such hospitality and generosity; deep gratitude and joy in the midst of great need and such hardship.

Written by Becky and Shirley Ellis.  Edited by Lisa Hector.  Photos by Vadim Talica. Reels by Angus Villiers Stuart