ZOV UK Newsletter 4, February 2007
ZOV UK is a registered charity in England that works on small projects in Bulgaria, to improve the welfare and education of children in institutions. A key focus of our activities is to establish contact with local people who are already working in the field. By connecting our fundraising with their ideas, we hope to have a strong impact at a ground level. Welcome to our first newsletter of 2007 and thank you for registering your support. Enjoy!
About ZOV UK
ZOV UK is a registered charity working for the improvement of the living conditions of disadvantaged children in Bulgaria. These children are predominantly, although not exclusively, under state care. We are one of the few UK charities working directly in Bulgaria, rather than simply providing money in the form of grants. This means that we are well positioned through our local contacts to find the projects that will help the children the most, and to ensure that money goes where it is needed. We believe that it is important to invest in projects which help the children in the long term, through education and integration with society, enabling them to have a productive and happy life after leaving the orphanages. All our UK staff are volunteers, so we have no overhead costs; all of the money that we receive goes directly into the projects we run, and while we are based in the UK and raise funds here, we have strong Bulgarian participation in the running and direction of the charity.
Current Projects
Education Centre at Penyo and Maria
Last summer, members of ZOV UK and children at Penyo and Maria children's home spent two weeks decorating a room within the home. This is where the education centre that we have been supporting for the last two years is now based. University teacher Ventislava Dikova, ZOV UK administrator Katerina Zlatkova and a local psychologist named Vera have been running classes twice a week for groups of children between 7 and 18 years old. Their aim is to offer general home-work support and, for those children who have requested it, English tuition. The children's English has really improved in just a few months and they are really keen to continue their studies. There are also five computers in the room with internet access. The children use these under supervision to improve their computer skills and to explore the rapidly expanding – and increasingly important - online world.
As a focus for their work last year, the children prepared a Christmas show. They performed songs and poems in Bulgarian and English and it was a wonderful occasion that celebrated everyone’s hard work. They performed to an audience of other children and staff from the home, as well as students from Veliko Tǔrnovo University who were interested to come along and share in the fun. It was a fantastic testament to how much the children had achieved in a short space of time; testing their skills of concentration, memory and presentation. What’s more, there wasn’t a glimmer of stage fright in sight!
"We worked for nearly one month and a week for the concert and sometimes I went there not only for the two times that I usually go, but also some additional hours. I had a lot of faith in the children, but I didn’t know if the final step would be so successful. But today when I woke up in the morning and realised that it was perfect, really perfect; well, I was so glad!" Ventislava Dikova explains that although the work is sometimes hard, it is always rewarding.
And the education centre has helped to develop the children in other ways too. It was visibly evident at the Christmas show that their discipline had improved remarkably. Katerina Dikova believes that the computers have really helped with this.
"Instead of going to the internet clubs and spending all day and night there, now they try to be well behaved because they want to have access to the computers. The director said that the children have really been looking after the computers. This is very important because it is quite rare, and they can often break things there"
As the director of the home, Mrs Balkavo says, projects like this are vital for giving the children the time and care that every child needs to achieve:
"ZOV UK's ideas are being realised, it’s working. I’m especially pleased that we have been working with children with disabilities, because these children are isolated from everywhere. When you give your help and pay attention to them and make them feel that they are important, it’s very good. Very few orphanages in Bulgaria can say that they have such support and we have seen a big development from all that you do".
ZOV UK is continuing to support the education centre and hopes to be able to expand the work in the near future.
Christmas Party
ZOV UK held it’s first annual Christmas Party last year at a Café in East London, called the Fleapit. More than fifty people came along to watch a film presentation about our work so far, dance and generally have fun! As the film included the children’s summer concert, it was a wonderful and moving opportunity to show and celebrate how talented they all are. An auction of Bulgarian wine at the party raised £200 and we would like to extend our warmest thanks to everyone who came along to give their support.
Christmas Presents
Thanks to the generous fundraising of members of Oxford Aid to the Balkans and a supporter of ZOV UK Mrs Burningham, we were able to buy small Christmas presents for each child at Penyo and Maria’s home and Bogdanovo boarding school in Sliven. Small packs of sweeties and toys went a very long way to bring some Christmas cheer and show the children that there are a lot of people at home and abroad who care for them. Perhaps the response is best summed up by one of the children at Penyo and Maria:
"This with Santa Clause was very nice. I haven’t seen him for a very long time. It’s very sweet of you, thank you."
Radio Focus
During ZOV UK’s visit to Penyo and Maria’s home just before Christmas, project coordinator Katie Burningham was interviewed on Radio Focus, the local radio station in Veliko Tǔrnovo. They were extremely interested to hear about ZOV UK’s work and have pledged their support for the charity by offering to work on future projects such as radio skills training. We are extremely pleased to have established this link, because it is only by working with people on the ground that we can succeed.
Establishing new contacts and project partners
The number of groups working to improve the lives of children in institutional care in Bulgaria is always increasing. We believe that the best way of working is joined-up and therefore a key aspect of our work is to establish links with other organisations. On their last trip, president Charlotte Healey and project coordinator Katie Burningham met with representatives of Save the Children and Communitas Foundation, and discussed project ideas with members of the local community in Sliven. Nikolay Nikolov is a priest in Sliven who has been working with schools and institutions in the region. We look forward to developing our work to share in the ideas of others and improve our effectiveness.
Bogdanovo Boarding School
During our trip we organised the final shipment of wooden blankets and bed linen to Bogdanovo Boarding School in preparation for the winter. Both rooms that accommodate up to 100 children now have new colourful bed linen and woollen blankets. We are now looking at ways to continue supporting the boarding school in 2007.
Future Projects: 2007 and beyond
Music and Dance
Key to all of our work is running projects that reflect the desires and needs of those that they are for. Children at Penyo and Maria’s home have often mentioned how much they enjoy dancing and making music so we are currently looking for piano, singing and dance teachers to run clubs with the children. We have already met with a dance teacher, who grew up in the same institution and can therefore relate and understand the children. Dance lessons will start early this year, which will give the children an opportunity to work towards another charity concert.
Radio: Community Connections
Envisaged for Easter and September 2007, this project with Radio Focus will offer training and work experience opportunities in radio. Community Connections will train children between 16 and 18 in radio production and encourage them to explore their local community by interviewing those who live and work in Veliko Tǔrnovo. The aim is to give these children a practical and widely applicable skill and to help ease their transition from institutional care to the wider community. Children who have lived in care for much or all of their lives suffer from social exclusion and find it particularly difficult to leave when they reach 18. By meeting those people who will be their future employees, neighbours and friends this project will help the children to integrate and establish new and independent lives.
Thank You!
None of our work would be possible without the generosity of our supporters. We would like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to all who have helped so far. We believe the following list is complete; but if you spot any omissions, please be assured they are unintentional. You can draw them to our attention by emailing web@zovuk.org.uk. You can find links to some of our supporters' websites here.
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Ventislava Dikova |
Katerina Zlatkova |
Alex Robinson |
Contact Details
You can contact us at info@zovuk.org.uk; donations are welcome from members of the public. Alternatively you can use our postal address:
ZOV UK
c/o Charlotte Healey
18 St. Quintin Avenue
London, W10
6NU
UK
ZOV UK is a registered charity in England & Wales, No. 1104091.
Please note we are not in any way linked with any political organisation either in Bulgaria or the UK.