THE Transport Ministry is organising a day to remember the country's less fortunate children on December 27 with a visit to Saint Alexander Nevski memorial church, McDonalds, and The Bells memorial complex. It will finish with a ball in Krasno Selo Cultural Hall.
"Let's gather together all the children," is the motto of the Kinderdorf International organisation, to which all the national SOS-Children's Village associations are affiliated.
SOS Bulgaria have just ended their Month of Charity campaign. A song and a thank you sentence have been recorded and can be heard by dialling a special telephone number (048 17 33). Each time the number is called, 67 stotinki will be donated to the organisation's funds. "About
20 000 people have taken part in the initiative already," said Sonya Tocheva, public relations officer of the Bulgarian branch of the organisation, which currently cares for 175 children.
In Bulgaria, SOS families consist of seven children, boys and girls of different ages, but none older than 13. The families offer abandoned, orphaned and destitute children new and permanent homes - regardless of race, nationality or creed - and prepare them for an independent life. SOS-Children's Villages in Bulgaria have 12 houses and are an open community, representing an integral part of society. "They are the new permanent homes of the SOS-child and we attempt to make them feel as comfortable as they would feel in a biological family," Tocheva said.
Nine years ago, the first SOS Children's Village was founded in Tryavna (Northern Bulgaria). This made Bulgaria the 125th country in which an SOS-Children's Village had been constructed. The other SOS-village was established in the area of Dren (Radomir region) in 1995. Two hostels are operating as homes for the children leaving the SOS villages, one in Veliko Turnovo and the other in Sofia. Almost 30 youngsters live in the hostels.
According to Tocheva, the hostel is an important part of the child's integration into society, since it educates them to be independent and prepares them for real life. "The role of the SOS mother in hostels is not authoritarian," she said. After the age of 13, when children are about to apply for different educational programs, they can choose their future careers. For this reason the facilities are situated near large towns.
According to Tocheva, the family house plays an important role in compliance with the pedagogical concept of SOS-Children's Villages. The organisation tries to ensure that children feel at home and - according to their abilities and capabilities - develop into responsible adults who are capable of living in a community with other people.
"It is the SOS mother whose function is central in caring for the children that are entrusted to our care," Tocheva explained. "The role of the SOS mother has a great impact on the children's future. She should be a woman that endows her family with love, tenderness and security and who forms children as individuals.
The village director in Tryavna, Ivan Hristoforov, explained that each house in the village has a huge living room. "The living room is the centre of social life within the family," Tocheva said, adding that, "the individual child is the focal point of attention at the SOS-Children's Villages. Each child needs to grow up in a natural environment that is close to an actual family environment."
At Christmas, families will gather around a Christmas tree and sing songs; they will also perform plays and wear national costumes. Christmas celebrations are popular with the children in the SOS Villages due to the festivity and celebrations they all help to organise.
The SOS-Children's Villages organisation invites all those who want to know more about the global world of SOS families to visit their main office in Sofia, at 8A Paskal Todorov Street.
"Let's gather together all the children," is the motto of the Kinderdorf International organisation, to which all the national SOS-Children's Village associations are affiliated.
SOS Bulgaria have just ended their Month of Charity campaign. A song and a thank you sentence have been recorded and can be heard by dialling a special telephone number (048 17 33). Each time the number is called, 67 stotinki will be donated to the organisation's funds. "About
20 000 people have taken part in the initiative already," said Sonya Tocheva, public relations officer of the Bulgarian branch of the organisation, which currently cares for 175 children.
In Bulgaria, SOS families consist of seven children, boys and girls of different ages, but none older than 13. The families offer abandoned, orphaned and destitute children new and permanent homes - regardless of race, nationality or creed - and prepare them for an independent life. SOS-Children's Villages in Bulgaria have 12 houses and are an open community, representing an integral part of society. "They are the new permanent homes of the SOS-child and we attempt to make them feel as comfortable as they would feel in a biological family," Tocheva said.
Nine years ago, the first SOS Children's Village was founded in Tryavna (Northern Bulgaria). This made Bulgaria the 125th country in which an SOS-Children's Village had been constructed. The other SOS-village was established in the area of Dren (Radomir region) in 1995. Two hostels are operating as homes for the children leaving the SOS villages, one in Veliko Turnovo and the other in Sofia. Almost 30 youngsters live in the hostels.
According to Tocheva, the hostel is an important part of the child's integration into society, since it educates them to be independent and prepares them for real life. "The role of the SOS mother in hostels is not authoritarian," she said. After the age of 13, when children are about to apply for different educational programs, they can choose their future careers. For this reason the facilities are situated near large towns.
According to Tocheva, the family house plays an important role in compliance with the pedagogical concept of SOS-Children's Villages. The organisation tries to ensure that children feel at home and - according to their abilities and capabilities - develop into responsible adults who are capable of living in a community with other people.
"It is the SOS mother whose function is central in caring for the children that are entrusted to our care," Tocheva explained. "The role of the SOS mother has a great impact on the children's future. She should be a woman that endows her family with love, tenderness and security and who forms children as individuals.
The village director in Tryavna, Ivan Hristoforov, explained that each house in the village has a huge living room. "The living room is the centre of social life within the family," Tocheva said, adding that, "the individual child is the focal point of attention at the SOS-Children's Villages. Each child needs to grow up in a natural environment that is close to an actual family environment."
At Christmas, families will gather around a Christmas tree and sing songs; they will also perform plays and wear national costumes. Christmas celebrations are popular with the children in the SOS Villages due to the festivity and celebrations they all help to organise.
The SOS-Children's Villages organisation invites all those who want to know more about the global world of SOS families to visit their main office in Sofia, at 8A Paskal Todorov Street.
