We hope to carry out our projects in Bulgaria by appropriately training social therapists of children and young adults with disabilities.
In 2014, Humanium decided to support one of the Cedar Foundation’s projects which aimed to ensure social therapists received the complex and modern training needed for working with children with disabilities.
Many institutions in Bulgaria for children with disabilities are located in remote Bulgarian villages. Due to the lack of socialization and interaction with people, children in these institutions have not developed communication skills, are socially introverted, and traumatized by their social exclusion. Since 2007 the Cedar Foundation has been implementing successful de-institutionalization practices through the development and realization of projects based around the “family” type home model. The objective is to offer an environment that is both warm and welcoming, while at the same time beneficial to the children’s personal and social development. The Cedar Foundation has established a “family” type model in the city of Kyustendil in 2010 with a second “family” type home to open in Kazanlak in the fall of 2014.
Humanium has supported the Cedar Foundation’s training program developed for the further education of social therapists working with children with disabilities. The project’s follow-up is underway and the results look very promising. Many of the social therapists are learning new methods of care, such as sensory therapy, preparing them to respond more adequately to the diverse needs of the children.
We hope that even more children with disabilities will be able to enjoy these warm and welcoming homes.
