Mariana Hristova and her partner Dimitar Ognianov live in the village of Krainitsi, Dupnitsa region of Bulgaria. Both rely on seasonal and freelance jobs for the family income. They live together with Mariana’s daughter Iva who had a baby four months ago.
Their home did not have running hot water. Women used to bring water from the outside well and heat it on the stove. With the arrival of the baby, life without running water became unbearable. Marianna and Iva could not quickly bathe little Nicoleta, nor wash her clothes or cook food. Their whole life was evolving around bringing and boiling
water.
With the help of Habitat, Mariana decided to convert an old storage room into an indoor bathroom. She applied for a loan to install a boiler and a sink. All the rough work has been done. Now, Iva can give baths to little Nikoleta without problems at any time. She does not need to go outside, bring buckets of water and wait until this water is boiled. It is much easier to wash baby things in a small sink. She can also easily fill up pots and use this water in the kitchen to cook food or heat up Nicoleta’s milk.
The new bathroom does not have tiles yet but this is something that the family is working on. Step by step, their house will become decent and convenient for the whole family.
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Continue to read about another Roma family from Bulgaria, the Borisov family.
