Background

Educo International Bulgaria was registered as an independent, non-religious and non-governmental organization in 1995. Since its establishment, Educo directed its efforts towards the preparation and realization of national and international courses and programs intended for children and young people at the age of 8 to 18 years.

Practice

Owing to the joint work with different Bulgarian and international institutions, the total number of children and young people who have participated in Educo s specialized courses to present is 266. Partners are the Alexandrovska State University Hospital, the Psychiatric Clinic for Children and Young People, the Assen Zlatarov orphans home, SOS Kinderdorf Bulgaria, the Association Child s Heart , the Amstelstad Social Center, The Netherlands.

Educo programs are designed as courses of several days among wild nature and are built upon the principle of learning by experience Pedagogy of Adventure . The main methods and approaches are based on the joined use of sports elements and specialized games, legends, sketches, plays and discussions.

The subject matter of the courses takes into consideration children s peculiarities; every course is prepared separately and includes a combination of elements from the standard school programs. Depending on the problem unifying the group, specialists in the corresponding area take part in the preparation and performing of the course. According to their evaluation, later on children are given the possibility to take part in standard courses.

With the financial aid of the Dutch Foundation Queen Juliana , in 2000 the necessary equipment was bought and two specialized courses were conducted with 20 children having emotional and behavioral deviations. Children were selected by a specialist according to the emotional problem underlying their behavioral deviations. Participants in the courses were children in hospital and from an out-patients department at the Psychiatric Clinic for Children and Young People; from St. Nikola Psychiatric Clinic for Children; children without families and from families with low income; children from the Assen Zlatarov Orphans Home Sofia. During the Educo courses, children were given the possibility to break the hard monotony of their every day lives. Within the stimulating environment of wild nature their sense of beauty and harmony was awakened. Participating in provoking situations and activities, they managed to find unexpected qualities and abilities in themselves. The foundations were laid of their skills and habits for joint work and mutual assistance, for handling crucial situations and for positive communication. Under the conditions of safety, confidence and understanding they were given the possibility to share thoughts and feelings and to create a new, positive attitude towards themselves and towards the others.

Results

The results showed that attending Educo s specialized courses was very useful for children with such problems. The conclusion was drawn that it was necessary to prepare long-term programs comprising a system of courses and extracurricular work with children and their parents in order to achieve a long-lasting effect. Due to the positive results from the implementation of this project, programs were prepared for seminar education of students and specialists in the corresponding area.