Solidarity and Inclusion for All
4 youngsters will participate in the volunteering project Solidarity and Inclusion for All. They will work at the Sunny House Day centre of Association Family Center Maria. The mission of the organisation is the creation and development of a supportive environment in order to improve the potential of children and their families. The current project includes 2 partner organizations – Association Family Center Maria as a host organization and coordinator and Association FOR YOU as a supporting organization. This project is a part of the European Solidarity Corps programme.
Project’s Objectives
This project will include 2 volunteers who will join the activities of the daycare centre for 6 months. After the end of their service, another 2 volunteers will come in their place for 6 more months.
The primary mission of the project is to encourage young people to be more tolerant, solidary, and to increase society’s sensibility towards youngsters with disabilities. Through this project, we want to motivate and expand the social commitment of young people by stimulating them to help others. By including the volunteers in the work on the integration of people in difficult situations, we aim to make them compassionate towards people from different social groups and introduce them to the functions of the social worker.
The main objective of the project is to educate young people in virtues such as solidarity and tolerance towards the different, by stimulating the integration of people in disadvantaged situations. Pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality are the fundaments of a healthy and flourishing community. We believe that sharing values such as solidarity, the respect of one’s dignity and human rights, lies at the core of fair and equal rights in society.
Volunteer’s Profile
- Youngsters between 18 and 30 years old from Bulgaria
- Motivated
- Tolerant towards the differences and the uniqueness to every person
- Communicative
- Responsible
- Open to working with people from different backgrounds, origins and/or multiple diseases
- With aspirations to personal development, improving skills and competences
- With an interest in social assistance as well as non-formal education and youth work
Main Activities and Methods in the Project
The young volunteers will participate in different activities, including different social initiatives. As the project aims towards increasing society’s sensibility regarding people with disabilities, we think that through the methods of non-formal education and social work we can successfully influence and change society’s attitude towards people in disadvantaged situations. Thus we will stimulate the actively participating youngsters to apply their skills and not to close in the “shell”.
The planned activities include joint work with “Place FOR YOU” with the realisation of art and creative workshops for youngsters with disabilities. The activities include manufacturing jewellery, drawing on textile, decoupage and other applied arts. Also, the volunteers will exchange experience with the art-workshop “Place FOR YOU” and learn more about working with people with disabilities.
Expected results
We expect that the volunteers will develop:
- Skills for working with people with disabilities
- Skills for alternative ways of communication
- Knowledge of physiotherapy and sport
- Social assistance skills
- Improving linguistic skills and clear expression
- Knowledge about the different types of disabilities
- Knowledge about social work
- Knowledge of how to deal with bureaucracy
- Knowledge of the different types of legislation linked to people with disabilities
- Skills of applied art
- Organizational skills
- Presentational skills and public speech
- Budget and time management
- Teamwork
- Tolerance
- Independence, flexibility, and adaptability
- Overcoming the prejudices
- Increased desire for participation in public initiatives
- Enterprise and creativity
- Logical and critical thinking
- Skills for dealing with critical situations
- Skills for emergency aid
- Improving digital skills
- The ability for learning by doing
- Increasing of legal culture
- Knowledge about the European virtues
- Skills for implementation for one’s own projects and ideas
- Management of one’s own initiatives
We think that with this project we will contribute to:
- Increase of the society’s awareness and sensibility, especially for the young people about the possibilities that
- European Solidarity Corps proposes
- Acceptance of tolerance as a base of a healthy relationship with the others
- Change of the perspectives towards the disabilities from “I see the limitation” to “I see the potential”
- Realising the emotional need to “make good and pass it on”
- The realisation of personal responsibility when it comes to the implementation of personal and significant community activities
- Personal exаmple among other young people
- Development of soft skills
To the beneficiaries of the social service:
- Social inclusion of the youngsters in disadvantaged situations in the social and public life
- Widening of the social contacts of the youngsters with multiple disabilities
- Development of soft skills
- Development of fine motor skills and creativity among the participants who are taking part in the art workshops
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.