With the financial support of the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme, the local government of Sredets will build a Centre for community development as part of the project implemented by ZOV Programme.

“The Centre will meet the needs of the community,” said Sredets Mayor, Eng. Ivan Zhabov. “The Centre will provide healthcare, educational and social services and will organize information and culture events. The Centre will render support for the children to facilitate their learning process”.

At the presentation of the project, Zyumbyula Marinova, Coordinator for Education and Integration Activities in Sredets municipality said: “Currently, the municipality does not have such Centre intended to provide services for comprehensive development of the community.”   The need for such Centre has been proven on the grounds of analysis conducted to identify the needs of the community.

“Roma is the largest ethnic minority in the municipality. 15.5% or 2063 individuals in Sredets identify themselves as Roma but their number is over 3500, according to expert estimations. The major issues defined by the preliminary analysis concern healthcare and education. The project will work with Roma women: they will be scheduled for gynaecological examinations and, through information campaigns, their health awareness will be improved and contraceptive aids will be dispensed. “Overall, we introduce measures intended to facilitate the access to education, healthcare and social activities,” said Zyumbyula Marinova.

The building in Pobeda neighbourhood of Sredets will be entirely refurbished and equipment will be provided for the team’s offices. The building has not been renovated on such large scale for nearly 25 years. Until now, the facility has been functioning as a Club for the neighbourhood residents where they could celebrate Roma holidays or attend culture events.

The contractor company POLISSTROY EOOD from Yambol has been selected in a public procurement procedure. The contract has already been signed and the works will start at any time now. The construction should be finished in three months. The building and installation works will cost 280 000 BGN, VAT included. The funds have been provided by the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme with 10% co-funding for the building works provided by the local government of Sredets.

A team consisting of a team leader, teacher and two educational mediators will work in the Centre for Community Development.

The Centre will become a venue for extracurricular activities and will host groups organized by interests; it will provide individual work for pupils from the first to fourth school grades. Textbooks and learning aids will be supplied for 30 Roma pupils (from the second and third school grades) for the duration of two years. The “Responsible Parent” club will develop parental skills and will provide consultancies for parents of pupils from the first to eighth school grades. Consultancies with a pedagogue will be organized for children having difficulties in learning the Bulgarian language. Clubs by interests will be organized: “Physical education and sport,” “Creativity,” “Information technologies,” as well as clubs for music, dances and culture.

The project foresees free medical prevention checks for the residents of Sredets without health insurances. A health mediator has already been trained. She will work for the local government in the community. Lectures on health topics will be organized and brochures intended to improve the residents’ health awareness will be spread. Contraceptives will be dispensed to individuals of low income. Obstetric monitoring for pregnant women, as well as free medical tests for 100 pregnant women without health insurances will be provided in the next two years.

 

Working in multiethnic environment was the topic of the training held in Montana on the 13th and 14th of October under the ZOV (Health and Education for All) Programme. Participants in the training were 49 teachers from First Primary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Montana, Primary School “Georgi Benkovski” in Kosharnik and Primary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Gabrovnitsa.

This is the first event from a series of trainings intended for the partner schools participating in the project for social inclusion of Roma and other vulnerable groups, funded by the Bulgarian-Swiss Programme.

The participating teachers were organized in two groups: they discussed case studies from their teaching practice and sought the optimal solutions. Trainer Marina Gachmova delivered a multimedia presentation on the topic of conflict resolving. Diana Ivanova, psychoanalyst with experience in social institutions, advised the teachers how they can manage the dissatisfaction caused by lack of significant results in spite of the efforts invested in their work with concrete children and how they can approach parents who do not show involvement.

Teachers Rositsa Aleksandrova, Daniela Marinova and Petrana Atanasova from village Gabrovnitsa participated in the training with presentations of goods practices gathered in their work with Roma children.

The majority of participants have rich experience in working with Roma children but the two-day seminar contributed to their teaching capacity in multicultural environment.

The joint work of ZOV Programme and the educational institutions in Montana will contribute for the improved qualification of teacher community and better understanding on the specific cultural and social characteristics of Roma children. The expectations are that this new level of competency will contribute to the quality of the educational process.

On the 19th of October, the health mediators of project “Comprehensive approach to the inclusion of Roma in Montana Municipality” implemented under ZOV (Health and Education for All) Programme participated in a training for prevention of early marriages and human trafficking.

The participants assessed as extremely helpful the lectures delivered by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aleksey Pamporov, project manager of the “Bulgarian-Swiss cooperation for identification and long-term support for child and adult victims of trafficking,” and of Teodora Krumova, program director of the Centre for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance “Amalipe.” Apart from her lecture, Ms. Krumova presented an analysis of case studies and good practices from the work of “Amalipe”.

The participants shared experience and discussed their progress, project ideas, good practices and programs.

The training “Early marriages as a mechanism for getting involved in human trafficking – issues and trends” was organized by Valya Gerasimova, secretary of the Local Commission for fighting human trafficking in Montana Municipality. She presented the national policy and legislation to counteract human trafficking in Bulgaria.

The presented information and shared experience helped the health mediators to better understand a very specific aspect of their work: their role for the prevention of early marriages as a mechanism for involvement in human trafficking.

The six health mediators have been working under the project since April. In the summer they conducted information campaigns in village Gabrovnitsa and in the neighbourhoods Ogosta and Kosharnik. Currently, the mapping of these places is in process.
 

The national programme for maternal and child health 2014 – 2020 and concrete case studies from the area of healthcare and social legislation were in the focus of discussions during the three-day meeting on the Healthcare component of ZOV (Health and Education for All Programme) organized in Sliven on 17th – 19th of October 2016. The forum discussed good practices of the local governments working for the Programme, their progress in the Healthcare area and their approaches to the handling of challenges.

Anna Temelkova, Chief expert from Medical Activities Directorate in the Ministry of Health, presented the National Programme for Improvement of Maternal and Child Health 2014-2020. Attorney-at-law Ivana Murdzheva discussed various aspects of the social-health legislation. Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova, Executive director of the Bulgarian Association for Family Planning and Sexual Health, delivered a presentation on the topic of family planning and contemporary contraceptives. The three lecturers took active participation in the plenary discussions of case studies that had been presented in advance by the local-government teams and their partners from ZOV.

The local teams working under the programme could present to each other and discuss among themselves the progress in the implementation of project activities under the Healthcare component.

The participants could also work in groups organized around the activities implemented under the project (Health Mediators, Medical Specialists, Project Coordinators and NGOs).