THE kindness of Okehampton College students and the people of the town has given a girl from Bulgaria a chance of which she could never have dared dream, writes Tom French.

In 2009, Andrew Morgan, founder of the House of Rachel charity, took a team of students from Launceston College to Provadia girls' orphanage for a residential trip. While there he met Zuska, a shy girl who had severe facial scars as a result of burns received as a child.

Andrew said: 'I remember the Launceston girls ran a "make-over" session, in which they spent an afternoon applying lipsticks, eye shadow, foundation and make up to the Provadia girls, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

'However, Zuska was conspicuous by her absence, and one of the team went to look for her. She was found in the dormitory, crying on her own. When quizzed she said, nothing could make me look beautiful.'

In 2010, the Provadia girls' orphanage closed and Zuska moved to a larger, mixed orphanage in Barzitsa. The move proved difficult for her, using aggressive outbursts and anger as a coping mechanism.

Last July, charity member Demelza Sampson told Andrew she knew of a world-class plastic surgeon who took on deserving cases free of charge. Within a few days, the surgeon had agreed to carry out Zuska's surgery, with the House of Rachel having to cover the cost of an anaesthetist and her travel to Britain. Moved by her story, every Okehampton College student on last summer's trip to Barzitsa gave all their spare currency towards the costs.

It was arranged that Zuska be released from state care into the care of the House of Rachel's Bulgarian partners The Hope and Future Foundation. This freed up the charity to take care of her and set up her initial consultation this March.

Andrew said: 'We launched an urgent appeal for funds to add to the money given by Okehampton College students, and once again the great people of Okehampton and beyond came up with the money for the operation to go ahead.

'The operation took place just two weeks after her initial consultation. Zuska is in good spirits. The healing process is beginning and the early signs are very positive.

'In amidst all the joy of this amazing story, it is easy to miss a vital point. In order for the operation to go ahead, Zuska needed to be released from state care, and thus she has also been released from the potential fate which awaits so many, to fall into a life of crime, usually prostitution.

'Now she is in the care of the Hope and Future Foundation, her future has a much brighter glow about it — now she knows that people care enough about her to provide this life-changing surgery. Her self-esteem and confidence have grown and will go a long way to providing her with the ability to make a life for herself, which she would otherwise have never known.

'Thanks to the good people of Okehampton in Devon, a girl in Provadia, Bulgaria, has been given a chance of which she could never have dared dream.'

To find out more about the work of the House of Rachel, visit http://www.houseofrachel.org">www.houseofrachel.org