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Art of Living courses are conducted in most Bulgarian major cities which
include Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Ruse, Karjali, Blagoevgrad,
Kazanlak, Shumen, Veliko Tarnovo and others.
Sept 25, 2005: In the last three months
torrential rains, overflowed rivers and broken dams have brought devastation and
chaos to many parts of Bulgaria. Government estimates show that more than 2
million people were affected by this natural disaster, relatively unknown and
unforeseen in that part of the world. Fourteen hundred Bulgarians were
evacuated, many of whom lost their homes.
The flooding destroyed properties - people have
been building all their lives, as well as furniture and personal belongings. The
rain and the floods turned main roads into rivers, ravaged bridges, destroyed
schools and basic infrastructure. The most affected are either the poorest and
welfare-dependant, or small farmers that lost all their harvest and most of
their life stock.
To help the victims of this terrible tragedy.
All money donations will go to the municipality of Smiadovo located in the
North-Eastern part of the country - one of the most seriously affected regions
from the first wave of flooding. The money will help rebuild 30 houses,
destroyed by the floods, as well as provide support in the reconstruction
process of some of Smiadovo municipality basic infrastructure.
Art of Living Foundation people have met with
some of the victims, heard their stories and realized that what people need most
is to restore their homes, a time-sensitive task, especially before the winter
start, as it could be quite harsh in that part of the country. The donations
will go to the people that are most in need and will bring to 30 Bulgarian
families new homes, hope and love.
In the cities where Art of Living Foundation is
active in Bulgaria there are regular cleaning drives in parks and natural areas.
The volunteers collect garbage left from visitors such as packing, bottles,
cans, etc. There is noticeable difference in the cleaned areas and a
positive feedback is given by the citizens visiting these areas.
In the city of Stara Zagora, Art of Living in
partnership with the City municipality planted 50 trees in a city park. The
event was attended by the vice mayor of the city and was largely covered by city
TV and newspapers.
In the city of Shumen Art of Living gave a
series of regular lectures on healthy living in the center of National Blind
People Federation.
In the city of Stara Zagora Art of Living
volunteers set up stalls for collection of old clothing. The colleted clothing
was distributed among the low standard living gipsy population in the city.
In the city of Shumen Art of Living volunteers
have taken responsibility for the Regional Center for children and youth with
physical and mental disabilities. On holidays such as the Kid’s day, Christmas,
Easter, etc. the volunteers prepare entertainment program with games and a clown
and distribute kids’ favorite foods. Volunteers also attend and
participate in the charitable programs organized by the center.
In the city of Plovdiv Art of Living has adopted
primary school 1st to 7th grade. Art of Living teacher performs free of charge
sessions with the children featuring games, stories, education on health,
hygiene and human values. Art of Living courses for children, 50 children
attended - parents and teachers are given in the school in cooperation with
school headmaster and board. There is a yoga club in the school.
In the city of Stara Zagora in an orphanage home
a Non-aggression Program was carried out for children 4-12 years old. 25
children attended the course. In the city of Varna in a Rehabilitation Center
for Drug Dependence Among Youths a Non-aggression Program was performed with a
positive feedback from the youth participants . 15 attended the course.
Courses are conducted also in all fourteen Bulgarian prisons both for the
inmates and for the staff. Art of Living foundation in Bulgaria has excellent
working relationship with the Ministry of Justice of Bulgaria and has their full
support. A special stress-management program was conducted for the Directory
“Penalty Execution” at the Ministry of Justice. Meetings have been held at
minister level and letters of support are presented to Art of Living by Ministry
of Justice and a number of prison directors.
Moreover, a research was performed with the participants in the prison courses
in Bulgaria by Slovenian University. The preliminary results are very
encouraging and show statistically significantly changes in participants as
follows:
decrease of psychical suffering factor
decrease of depression factor
decrease of agression factor
decrease of negative self-evaluation factor
decrease of apathy factor
Art of Living foundation in Bulgaria works closely with city municipality in
Bulgaria and Art of Living courses have been conducted for the staff of
municipalities of Sofia, Plovdiv and Shumen. Several mayors and vice-mayors have
undergone the program also and His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been
officially invited by the mayor of Sofia, Mr. Boiko Borisov, to visit Sofia and
Bulgaria.
Courses (ART Excel and YES) for youth and children are conducted in various
cities. In the capital Sofia the program for university students YES!+ is
regularly conducted. After a meeting among the vice-minister Balabanov of
Ministry of Youth and Sports and Art of Living members, currently the foundation
is working on a joint project with the ministry to offer the YES! and YES!+
programs at a larger scale in the whole nation. Support letter is also provided
by the Ministry of Education.
Currently, there are two experienced teachers, Pooja and Bhavesh Tolani,
teaching fulltime in Bulgaria in order to satisfy the large demand for Art of
Living courses for youth, children, prison inmates, government institution staff
and general population.
During the last ten months more than 1000 participants have undergone the Art of
Living program in Bulgaria.
Regular media coverage is done for Art of Living activities in Bulgaria which
includes top newspapers and top TV channels. What’s more during the visit of
Prasana Prabhu, a visiting Indian Art of Living teacher, he was on the Slavi
show, the most popular TV talk show watched by 2 million people. During his
visit Mr. Prabhu conducted specialized courses for media people.
The already started initiatives are intended to
be carried on into the future. These include further work with the flooded
areas, orphanage homes, youth disabilities centers, work with children,
non-aggression program, clothing collection drives, planting trees, cleaning
drives. New developed future projects include work with center for senior
people, center for disabled people, individual help for people in need such as
one-parent families. A major project is planned with the flooded areas along the
Danube river.
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