We are thrilled to announce the winners of the second edition of two fantastic contests, organized by our team in Ruse.

The winners of the drawing contest „The colours of the ethno-friendship” are:
1^st group – children aged 7-12:

1. Nazan Abtulova  – Semerdzhievo village, Ruse Municipality
2. Arzu Nebieva – Ruse
3. Elitsa Dimitrova - Ruse

2^nd group – children aged 13-18:

1. Mihail Gavrilov - Ruse
2. Debora Petrova – Ruse
3. Stefan Dimitrov - Ruse

Damian Georgiev from Ruse received the Special award of the jury.

The Encouraging awards go to Polina Chakalova (Ruse), Barush Shakirov (Smirnenski village), Daniela Georgieva (Ruse), Kamelia Koleva (Ruse), Ana-Maria Simeonova (Ruse), Zhyuhre Ali (Ruse), Velislava Shtereva (Ruse), Iva Pencheva (Ruse), Kostantin Georgiev (Ruse) and Velina Koleva (Ruse).

The drawings are presented at an exhibition in Ruse Municipality, which was officially opened on 18 May. The winners of the drawing contest „The colours of the ethno-friendship”, as well as the winners of the essay contest “The harmony of the multi-ethnic tolerance“ received their diplomas.

1^st group – children aged 7-12:

1. Patricia Andreeva (Ruse)
2. Ivet Stoilova (Ruse)
3. Albena Zlateva (Borovo).

The Encouraging awards go to Stiliyan Todorov (Ruse), Petar Klimentov (Ruse) and Monika Agopyan (Ruse).

2^nd group – children aged 13-18:

1. Gabriela Ferdinandova (Ruse)
2. Julia Zdravkova (Ruse)
3. Shehrin Shukri (Ruse)

The contest are part of the Festival “Ethnic rhythms without borders”, which included a concert in the Plenary Hall of Ruse Municipality. Dance ensembles from Senovo, Semerdzhievo, Ruse, Ivanovo, Borovo, Shraklevo, Belovets and Gorno Ablanovo presented the musical richness of the various ethnic communities in Bulgaria.

The prospective first graders from LILIA kindergarten in Plovdiv’s neighborhood Stolipinovo celebrated their last day at the kindergarten with a beautiful fete. The children were bid farewell by their teachers – the director Sevdalina Gencheva and educators Malinka Tsareva, Genoveva Kandeva and Genka Petrova. In fact, Mrs Petrova has retired recently but nevertheless came to wish the pupils all the best for the future.

The children danced and sang dressed in Roma folklore inspired costumes, specially made for the occasion by the kindergarten staff. At the beginning of the celebration with the help of their teachers they prepared a collage wall panel representing a kite with the names of all prospective first graders from LILIA kindergarten. In the end of the celebration, there was, of course, a beautiful and tasty festive cake with fireworks.

The artistic program delivered by the pupils is, in fact, part of the methods through which the educators from LILIA kindergarten are trying to achieve a more active inclusion of both children and parents into the education process. The project implemented in Plovdiv under the ZOV Programme aims to support the work of teachers by offering them a number of innovative ideas in the area of multicultural education. In this connection, a special training for educators working with bilingual students is planned to be organized under the project.

LILIA kindergarten is situated in the hearth of ethnic ghetto Stolipinovo and consequently, 100% of its pupils are of Roma origin. The main challenge teachers face is related to the poor Bulgarian language skills of Stolipinovo’s Roma population. Therefore, as part of project activities we have scheduled extra classes in Bulgarian to be conducted with the objective to improve the language abilities of students whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian.

In relation to this, Mrs. Sevdalina Gencheva, director of LILIA kindergarten, said: “We are all very happy with the help provided under this project since it envisions conducting extra language classes and other language related activities for children whose mother tongue is different than Bulgarian. These activities will continue to take place even during the summer. Thus, the lessons learned in the course of the school year will not be forgotten. The main problem here in Stolipinovo is related to the fact that most Roma families use only Turkish or Roma language at home. If not attending kindergarten for a long period of time, the ethnic minority children usually tend to forget completely how to speak Bulgarian. The supplementary activities in Bulgarian language scheduled for the summer period will help the children to improve their social skills and facilitate their transition into the school system.”

See more about our project activities in Plovdiv

The kids from Kindergarten “Proletna Daga” in Shumen had unforgettable moments with the puppet performance "Pippi Longstocking" of the local Drama and Puppet Theater "Vasil Drumev".

„Puppetry is a magic  experience that inspires the imagination and brings positive emotions to everyone. It is amazing to see how children enjoy and interact with the characters of the fairy”, says Ivelina Pencheva, teacher at “Proletna Daga”. “The social inclusion of children begins at an early age, and it depends on adults, we are the one, who can teach them on aesthetic values”.

The children from Primary School “Hristo Botev” in the village of Ivanski will also have the opportunity to visit the puppet performance "Pippi Longstocking".

Culture events, performances and festivities provide the opportunity for the social inclusion of the children from and Kindergarten “Proletna Daga” in Shumen and Primary School “Hristo Botev” in the village of Ivanski. It is one of the important dimensions of the project “Interaction with the community – a factor for a better future and successful integration”, implemented by Municipality of Shumen under the ZOV Programme.

Nearly 20 children form Kosharnik and Ogosta, the two Roma neighbourhoods of Montana have regular workshops in the Photographer’s Club under the ZOV Programme (Health and Education for All).

“We attend after school classes on  how to work with the digital camera, how to select the best viewpoint and design the composition to get the ultimate shot. So far, we have made portraits and landscape photos of the nature and urban environment ", says Vesselin Lakov, project coordinator from the partnering People’s Community Center “Zvezda  2007”.

The photo sessions are complemented with discussions, which helps children  develop precise criteria and improve their knowledge of photography.

Although the reportage photos are more challenging, as skills and fast reactions are required, Anataoli Petrov from V A class and Daniela Jorova from VIII B class of First Primary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” made several very good photo shootings. Both covered the events and festivities, organized on occasion of the 8 April – the International Roma Day.

The best photos of the young students  from the Photographer’s Club were presented at an exhibition in the lobby of the Montana Theater before the concert on April 8.  

In the ZOV Programme we are considering special outdoor photo missions and photo stories to be presented in the ZOV Facebook page to present the best works  of the young photographers from Montana.

Health specialists from Burgas, Sredets and Malko Tarnovo passed an introductory training last week.  The two-day training was organized by the National Network of Health Mediators and is part of the integrated project of the Municipality of Burgas implemented under the ZOV Programme. The participants in the training included doctors and nurses from Burgas, Sredets and Malko Tarnovo.

Tsveta Petkova and Ognyan Kamenov focused on the need for an individual approach not only to the vulnerable groups of people but also to the separate groups of Roma people. The lecturers presented the Roma culture and history, the specifics of the separate groups, the work in multiethnic environment.

„We have worked with medical specialists for many years now, and we share both good and bad practices“, says Tsveta Petkova. „With the right approach we manage to change the attitudes and raise awareness about the need for health care among even the most marginalized groups“.
 „We have been working for about 20 years with various Roma communities. A lot of Bulgarians think that the Roma people are one whole community but this is a wrong perception. Not only are they very different, but each group, each neighbourhood has its specific peculiarities – the language they speak, their way of life“, added Kamenov.

During the training Kamenov gave an example with the Roma people from Garmen. The true representatives of this community still lead their nomadic way of life. According to the trainers, the specialists should work with those people individually in order to have an effect.

The participants in the training also agreed with this statement. Diana Ivanova and Ruska Berbenlieva are nurses in the town of Sredets. They both like working with children and consider it as a vocation. Diana, who is of Roma origin, shares that there is a need for similar trainings: „There is such a need, because the work is very difficult. We work basically with Roma people, the most difficult part is communication“. Ruska added that the main difference comes from the way of life. „They cannot recognize what the priorities are in raising their children. They do not put it in the first place “, says she.

The next training under the „Integrated project for social inclusion of Roma and other vulnerable groups in the municipalities of Burgas, Sredets and Malko Tarnovo“ will be led by medical specialists. It is planned to take place in July.

Children from Stolipinovo, Bulgaria’s largest Romani neighborhood, together with their parents visited a puppet show, staged in the hall of the local Lilia Kindergarten on the eve of 1^st of July, the International Children Day. The young spectators were happy to welcome the puppeteers from the Hand Puppet Theatre who, with the invaluable help of their puppets, played the story of the Bulgarian folklore character Hitar Petar. The children had fun with the fairy tale characters who had come to visit them in the kindergarten for the children's holiday. The puppetry, which was based on the Bulgarian folklore motifs, was stage as part of the activities of the project implemented by the Municipality of Plovdiv under the ZOV Programme.

The theatrical performance was met with great interest by both children and parents. For the adults the visit of the puppet show, staged in their own neighborhood, has become an important event since most of them had never seen a theatrical performance before. In general, people from the Romani community in Plovdiv are culturally segregated and rarely leave the area of their immediate ethnic neighborhood.

The activities planned as part of the project aim at breaking up the vicious circle of segregation by engaging the locals in cultural activities such as visiting theatre, puppet shows, opera and concerts. These artistic events, organized either in the Stolipinovo neighborhood or in the cultural facilities situated in the central parts of the city, will help both children and parents start overcoming the limitations related to the life in the encapsulated ethnic area of Stolipinovo.

On 31 May, the local team of the ZOV Programme in Sliven organized a lecture "Early пarriages" in Nadezhda, the Roma neighbourhood. The early marriages are one of the serious problems of the community of Roma and other vulnerable people causing high school dropouts rates and hurdles for their social inclusion in the future and therefore, the ZOV Programme is actively working on its prevention with all possible means

The meeting aimed at raising awareness of the problem and prevention, as well as a discussion about the solutions with the active input of the participants. The lecturers put a special highlight on education as the tool to the improvement of the socioeconomic status of the Roma and other vulnerable groups. Graduating school and acquiring a professional qualification is the ultimate solution for the social inclusion of the people from this community.

The participants discussed also issues of the reproductive health with a highlight on the early sexual intercourse in the Roma community.

The meeting was organized by RACO, Roma Academy for Culture and Education – Sliven, one of the ZOV local partners in the Sliven region.

See more about the ZOV activities in Sliven