Yuliyan’s experience of home has been transient at best, unwelcoming at worst. He needs some place he can start anew.
Little Yuliyan lives with his grandmother. His mother is working abroad after Yuli’s father left the family, and she only returns for a few brief visits a year.
At 10 years old Yuli’s mother takes him with her to Germany. Yuli’s mother begins a new relationship with a man she meets there. The family returns to Bulgaria in time for Yuli’s new half-sister to be born.
On the outside, things appear good for Yuli’s family. A new addition, a good income, stability. But Yuli is struggling to cope with all the changes and difficulties that he has been through. And his stepfather doesn’t want him around. Yuli has missed a lot of school, and has fallen far behind his peers. His stepfather considers Yuli to be a bad influence, and at 13 years of age, the boy is placed into social care.
Abandoned by his father. Kicked out of the family home by his stepfather, away from his mother, in favour of his half-sister. Yuliyan has been replaced.
Yuliyan goes to school in the village where the social centre that is now his home is located. He stays in care until he is 20 years old, achieving grade 10.
He goes to Germany for three months to work, but nothing good happens and he has to return to Bulgaria. An acquaintance gives Yuli a roof over his head, but the conditions are not suitable for the young man. For the moment there is no other option. He finds work in the village, or on construction sites in a nearby town, and in a small restaurant. He helps with whatever he can and earns enough money to survive. Life is hard, with no real hope in sight.
Yuli comfort eats as one way of coping, but he needs to find somewhere and some way to make changes to his life. Despite his looking high and low, there seems to be no place anywhere for Yuliyan.
The Yuli hears from a friend he made at a summer camp for children in care. Yanislav has a place in something called the “House of Opportunity”, and he loves it. Yuli is hopeful – he and Yanislav share some common experiences, so if Yani says this new place is good, maybe, just maybe, it might be worth a try.
Yuliyan joins the House of Opportunity in Sofia. Is this the place he has been looking for? The staff and volunteers are friendly, and Yani is there of course. He even finds work, at the same restaurant as his friend.
Yuliyan is excited. He is looking for a permanent long-term job, he is continuing his studies, he is looking forward to getting his driving licence! But he urgently needs to attend to something. Yuli is seriously overweight. The House of Opportunity team say they will help him; they urge him to act. He knows he needs to. These people act like they care. Perhaps they do. He now has an appointment with a nutritionist. It’s a start.
Yuli still longs for his family. He visits his father in Sofia. He keeps in touch with his mother and she helps him sometimes, but she keeps it a secret from his stepfather who maintains there is no place in the family for Yuli.
But at the House of Opportunity Yuli is welcome, supported, motivated, wanted. He has work, a good place to live and a future to look forward to. There was never any home like this place.