By Yordan Penev | Director of Operations
Greetings from the Step for Bulgaria Foundation!
The last couple of months in our office have been quite busy and we are excited to share the news with you. As a matter of fact, we are happy to report that we prepared this message from our brand new office, but more on that - and how it helps our efforts to teach life skills to children without parents - below :)
Since you last heard from us, our team was excitedly joined by a new Director of Operations, Yordan (Dancho) Penev, who added momentum to our our mission.
Without further ado, here is what went on after:
Just in time to greet the winter holiday season, we organized an educational event to introduce the children that we work with to the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award program. Throughout the year, we developed a partnership with the Award in Bulgaria where we became an independent operator and were able to train a dozen award leaders to guide children without parents through a journey of longitudinal learning of skills, physical recreation, and service. We in Step for Bulgaria regard that the simultaneous pursuit of skills in these 3 categories is an important tool to 1) motivate children without parents to succeed, through resilience and determination in the face of whatever diffuclt circumstances that may arise, in achieving the skills they need to pursue their life goals, and 2) demonstrate the spectrum of possibilities to the children for personal development. The structured learning program of the Award was presented to over 25 of the children we work with. Almost all children expressed interest in the program, and already, a few of them have demonstrated the initiative to begin the registration process. As of a magnificent ceremony featuring the president of Bulgaria and the British ambassador to our country in the beginning of January, our organization boasts 3 successful awardees of the program! Watch out for our next report for more :)
In additiono, since the beginning of the new year, we have been giving quite some thought to the process through which we teach life skills to children. In addition to developing microprojects for Sexual and Financial Education and Social Integration, we began talks about offering the lead to the children themselves so as to explore their own interests in learning life skills important to their own lives (and develop important leadership and organizational skills as they go about learning them). For the past several weeks now our network has been buzzing with ideas from both children and teachers to the tune of the discussion! Starting with a series of life skills workshops and other events about soft skills, financial and sexual literacy, and global and environmental awareness building up to Earth Day on April 22nd, we plan to continue our teachings throghout 2017's calendar.
In anticipation of these events, we wish to thank you so very much for your support throughout the process. Every bit of your aid helps us take another step towards our goal and teach another lesson to a child with no family.
Please join us as we continue to pace determinedly forward!
With best wishes,
Step for Bulgaria Foundation
By Desislava Ivanova | Projects and internal communications specialist
By Desislava Ivanova | Projects and communications specialist
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