Teach life skills to children without parents

Dear friends,

We would like to share with you a joyful occasion!

Recently, the process of teaching social skills to our youth was marked by a new and exciting activity in the form of a beloved childhood attraction - the circus! The focus once again was on underprivileged children and young people developping their communication and other social skills in a different from their everyday setting, in the presence and with the help of our volunteers.

It was one late afternoon in July when our joint experience took place. Our group of children, young people and volunteers gathered eagerly round the manege of circus “Ivanov” in Mladost residential quarter in Sofia. What unfolded before our eyes, in the unanimous opinion, was spectacular and surpassed most of our expectations. It is not every day that you see Batman, Superman, Spiderman and other “Marvel” characters dance ratchenitsa (a traditional Bulgarian dance) under the expert instructions of a native Balkan character such as the nutorious Bay Ganyo, put into life by the brilliant Bulgarian author Aleko Konstantinov in his writing.

Apart from classical circus acts with dogs, cats, ponies, ostriches and snakes, we also saw many animals you don’t expect to see in our latitudes and that do not fit into our notion of circus artist – an African porcupine, a kangaroo and a bison. Moreover, I think that not many people can talk big about having caressed a python or a skunk. Of course, we didn’t miss the opportunity to take some pictures of us in front of the party-coloured circus wagon. It was a truely memorable and vivid expereience, through which we created a new setting for the young people to discover!

Thank you for making this possible!