P R O J E C T S

Actual projects:

Access to Art – Right, not Privilege

To create preconditions for improving access of the young people with visual disabilities to the works of art and monuments of culture;
To promote the complete integration of young persons and adults with disabilities into society and to develop actions encouraging lifelong access to formal, non-formal and informal education and training for them;
To improve the skills and competences of those people, specifically young people in initial special vocational training at all levels.
To develop an adequate idea in young visually impaired people about the works of art;
To organize training courses addressed to visually impaired people with the aim to give them possibility to improve their professional skills in order to become cultural guides;
To give visitors to modern and classic art museums and exhibitions - art lovers and citizens of the involved territories, new understanding of the modern and classic art through the visually impaired person point of view.

Target groups:
- visually impaired persons – young and adults
- museum workers
- teachers, working with visually impaired children
- Universities’ professors and students – specialty Culture Sciences and Special pedagogic

Products:
• verbal cards, tactile diagrams, mobile models and suggestive products/music, verse, sound, prepared by sound-engineer on the audio-cassette/
• publishing a brochure: “National monuments of culture” in Braille;
• creation and updating of the web-site, making all materials available for the wide public;
• designing and realization of a net marketing campaign at European level;
• evaluation of the actions and results of the project.

Partners:
Rehabilitation for the blind Foundation
Camera Work – Italy
CEVAP – Slovakia
FUNDECYT - Spain

Starting date:01/11/2005
Final date:30/10/2007

Projects supported and financed by the Rehabilitation for the Blind Foundation:

With reference to the years: 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003

 

The year of 1994:

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The year of 1995: 

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The year of 1996:

The year of 1997:

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The year of 1998:

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The year of 1999:

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The year of 2000:

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The year of 2001:

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The year of 2002:

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The year of 2003:

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Realized projects:

“Institutional consolidation.”

    Year: 1994
    Financing organization: Open Society Foundation – Sofia
    Amount of the financing: $3 000

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“Institutional consolidation.”

    Year: 1994
    Financing organization: Open Society Club – Plovdiv
    Amount of the financing: 1000 levs

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“Helping visually impaired people by the Regional Organization of the Blind Union of Bulgaria, Plovdiv.”
Packets containing food, shoes and white canes were bought and given free to blind and visually impaired people

    Year: 1995
    Financing organization: Open Society Club – Plovdiv
    Amount of the financing: $5000

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“Establishing a video- center for studying the international experience and documenting the Bulgarian achievements in the field of the blind rehabilitation.”
A bank of video materials in the field of rehabilitation of visually impaired was created. Assistance was given to the training of the rehabilitation teachers.

    Year: 1996
    Financing organization: Open Society Foundation – Sofia
    Amount of the financing: $3000

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“Making prerequisites for full social integration of the blind.”
Six regional clubs of the foundation were established with the aim of giving more effective assistance to the rehabilitation needs in the separate regions.

    Year: 1996 – 1997
    Financing organization: Development of Civil Society Foundation
    Amount of the financing: 5846 €

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“Providing conditions for self-dependent and safe access to three institutions for blind and visually impaired.”
Making the environment and the surroundings of the everyday life of three institutions for visually impaired people with many clients proper to the needs of these clients through eliminating the architectural barriers and ensuring comfortable unimpeded access to them.

    Year: 1998 – 1999
    Financing organization: Fund rehabilitation and social integration of the Council of Ministers
    Amount of the financing: 9353 levs

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“Establishing a model daily center for rehabilitation of newly blind people.”
A Daily center for the rehabilitation of newly blind was established in the city of Yambol and is now functioning to its best. The center is a model one for those existing up till now as well as for those that are to be established in the future in respect of educational and management documentary and material and specialist ensuring.

    Year: 1999
    Financing organization: FAR Program “LIEN”
    Amount of the financing: 10 000 €

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“Establishing a resource center for helping the rehabilitation of newly blind in the cities of Plovdiv, Sofia, Sliven, Varna, Stara Zagora and Gabrovo.”
A Resource center for helping the rehabilitation of newly blind was established and is now functioning to its best. Ten textbooks, reference books and brochures in the field of the rehabilitation of blind and visually impaired were worked up. The project helps to make prerequisites for overcoming the social distance to visually impaired people and helping their full integration in society.


    Year: 2000
    Financing organization: Open Society Foundation – Sofia
    Amount of the financing: $18 356

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“Providing the rehabilitation of newly blind in the country with resources.”
Four reference books for computer training of blind and visually impaired people and a textbook for Braille training of newly blind were worked up, imprinted and introduced.

    Year: 2001
    Financing organization: Canadian fund for local initiatives
    Amount of the financing: $5925

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“Social re-integration of newly blind people with additional injuries.”
The process of adaptation to the visual defect was speeded up and facilitated through education, psychotherapy and consultation the way it was managed with 75 visually disabled and their relatives. The visually impaired people acquired specific practical abilities to cope with the activities of the everyday life; their relatives acquired particular abilities and received consultations about the direct communication with visually impaired people.

    Year: 2001 – 2002
    Financing organization: FAR ACCESS
    Amount of the financing: 44 445 €

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"Helping visually impaired youths and adults to choose a career - Training for parents and relatives."
The project addresses the needs for personal and professional fulfillment of young people who have become visually impaired during the last 2 years. The visual impairment of the young person is a problem of the whole family and leads to a psychosocial crisis. In order to achieve personal and professional realization the visually impaired person should pass through rehabilitation, adaptation, integration and acquisition of certain social skills. The family of the visually impaired person is one of the most important factors for successful rehabilitation. Development of self-confidence will for elaboration, the motivation for acquiring profession depends on family understanding. This is the reason why this project provides for training of parents and relatives who are expected to actively support their visually impaired relatives in their personal and professional fulfillment. Overcoming the young person’s visual problem and motivating him to acquire certain profession requires: new approaches in the systems and methods, career information about new and emerging occupations, possibilities for adaptation on the work place, creating opportunities for starting own family business. In this respect the project is directed to consulting and special training of the parents and relatives of visually impaired young people. The project intends to develop a new effective model for professional fulfillment of visually impaired people. The project steps are as follows:
    - Development of a program for training of counselors (parents and relatives), which includes trainings in communication without inconvenience, support and mentoring without usurpation, solving problems, psychological support;
    - Development of networks of supporting groups consisting of visually impaired people families;
    - Publication of the handbook Traditional and emerging professions for blind and visually impaired people;
    - Training and consulting for a group of counselors and consulted people (8 pairs), including distance learning;
    - Filming of short video materials “One day of…” for professionally well fulfilled blind and visually impaired people;
    - Building contacts with potential employers and labor agencies to present the abilities of the visually impaired young people;
    - Publication of a catalogue of firms and employers who have hired or are willing to hire visually impaired people;
    - Creation of a Web page including ODL-system;
    - Dissemination of results
The project as presented is to be implemented in 4 countries by the partner organizations.


Target groups:
    Parents or relatives of the blind and visually impaired young people

Products:
    A handbook Traditional and emerging professions for blind and visually impaired people, which will list the institutions for acquiring those professions; an employers’ catalogue for hiring visually impaired people; a video film for professional realization, specialized topics like overcoming psychological barriers, communication methods, making PR campaigns, etc. and the methodology of training the target group of counselors

Partners:

    Year: 2003 – 2005
    Amount of the financing: 326 508 €

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 Upholstery – suitable profession for visually impaired
One of the most important problems for the visually impaired is getting a suitable job.
From 2001 on Sonneheerdt International supports projects in the countries from Eastern Europe connected with the vocational training of visually impaired people. In Estonia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania and Finland centers for training visually impaired in upholstery have been established. Upholstery teachers from each single country have been trained. Interviews have been made and also selection of visually impaired to be trained in the newly founded centers. Duration of the training courses was no less then one year. At present there are about 30 persons fully completed the upholstery training courses. There is a new challenge arising before them – realization.
The main task of the project is that the training programs in upholstery of each of the countries be considered and made identical.
The other important tasks the project plans to solve are:
    - training of the trainers – identical requirements in each country;
    - making conditions for working practice after the training;
    - developing a strategy for successful communication with potential employers.

Target groups
    - Potential sending organisations
    - Potential receiving organisations
    - Final beneficiaries
    - Social partners

Products:
    - questionnaires, interviews
    - advertising materials;
    - organization of links between the partners
    - creation of Web-site and dissemination of the good practices on each stage of the project via Internet;
    - scientific publications in specialized media for disabled people;
    - scientific announcements at seminars and conferences on the problems of the disabled people;
    - work meetings with interested and authorized institutions;
    - dissemination of the products among the social partners – labor agencies, social service agencies, associations of employers; professional unions; organizations of and for disabled people;
    - press conferences, information and advertising materials for the media;
    - summary of the results and dissemination among national institutions of and for blind and visually impaired people in EU and CEE

Partners:
    - Sonneheerdt – the Netherlands
    - Tartu Emajoe School – Estonia
    - Lithuanian Association of the Blind – Lithuania
    - The Arla Institute – Finland
    - School for the Blind – Romania
  
    Year: 2004 – 2005
    Amount of the financing: 49980 €

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