Ivan Kolev

The desire to meet and interview a woman, who had sold her child, was haunting me for a while but when I finally got the chance, I was caught unprepared. I found it interesting to understand what kind of force is stronger than the mother instinct. How is it possible for a child to be sold by its mother in such technologically advanced society? This problem does not concern only Bulgaria. We will be wrong if we judge women who sell their children. In order for this phenomenon to exist, that means that no one has done anything to stop it. Also, why does it happen only in Southern Europe – Italy, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia?

We met on a December morning. At that time, the train station coffee shop had four visitors – two, not yet sober homeless people and us. I was sitting across from her, observing her carefully and not letting even the smallest gesture get out of sight, as if this was going to reveal what kind of person was sitting in front of me. And she was not more than twenty years old, with highlights in her hair. She hadn’t slept for days but her eyes did not look tired. She was expecting me to understand her and justify her actions…to recreate justice…to punish the ones responsible.

-       You are asking me what happened, so I sold my child. I will tell you, so you can write it but I do not believe you will understand me. In order to understand, you need to be inside of me, to have experienced what has passed through me.

I came to Greece four years ago with my husband and both of my brothers and their wives. We were working in the farming sector. It was during fall, when in my home village there is no work anymore. When we first came here, we were picking kiwi in a village near to Arta. After that we were picking oranges, olives, pepper … whatver we could find. We worked for many people but mostly for a guy named Elefteri. We used to sleep in a hut of his on the floor, without water or electricity. In Krushare we have a three story house, with bedrooms on each floor and furnished but for money you are forced to live like an animal. My brothers are older than me and they had worked for some years like this. After that I gave birth and my husband left alone with my brothers and their wives.

Here they call me “kiria Ana” (Mrs. Ana), because in my passport says Anita, otherwise I am Anife. Messed up. When we are here we speak Bulgarian and call each other by our Bulgarian names, because otherwise they do not want to hire us. After that I gave birth twice and my husband was coming to Greece alone – first with my brother but after that he started drinking and they did not want him anymore. He left with some other people and then disappeared.

Don’t you know where you husband is right now?

-       Some people told me he is in Greece and that they have seen him in Athens, others told me he is in Holland, because there are some people from our village there and he had also went there before we got married. I haven’t seen him for two years and a half and he hasn’t called either. They said he had married another…Maybe! I don’t know. I haven’t seen him, what can I say? We were not officially married. Even the children are not carrying his name, because this way I am registered as alone parents and I get more money.