Teach life skills to children without parents

Dear Friends,

Your support during the last year gave the opportunity for 50 children and youngsters from Sofia, Gabrovo, Plovdiv and Berkovitsa to participate in year-long educational programme. The programme consists of 4 modules “Psychological module”, “My Rights”, “My Health” and “Professional orientation”. The content of the modules was developed based on the necessities of the children and youngsters and in its essence it is training for acquiring abilities for independent living.

The Psychological module covered topics related to communication – challenges and difficulties, conflict management, aggression, assertive behaviour and non-verbal communication. Through “My Health” module the children and youngsters were introduced to their rights as patients. There were discussions on healthy nutrition as well as topics on sexual health and culture. During “My Rights” module the participants gained knowledge on basic legislative documents that guarantee the rights of the citizens in the country. During the discussions and the role-games, the children and the youngsters leaned which institutions they should refer in case their rights are violated. Special attention was paid to the topic of discrimination – problem that concerns directly most of the children. Sessions within module “Professional orientation” were organized in the form of discussions. Topics of these discussions were directed to how to write a CV, what is the significance of getting proper education and how it influences future career development, which are the steps that each person should take in order to achieve professional realization.

The children and youngsters were very active during the discussions and role-plays. The discussions were open and the children and youngsters shared not only thoughts but also their own experience on some of the topics.

Thank you once again for making this possible! With your continuous support we believe we can help more children and young disadvantaged people to be better prepared for life outside the institutions.

Sincerely yours,

The Step for Bulgaria team