Karin Dom Foundation - Centre for Rehabilitation and Social Integration of Children with Special Needs and their Families

News Archive

October 2009: Karin Dom Successfully Finished Project Funded by Open Society Institute

On September 30^th 2009 Karin Dom finished working on the project Best Practices for Early Intervention for Children with Intellectual Disabilities – Phase 2. As part of the project the staff was trained in different techniques for working with children with intellectual disabilities from foreign and local consultants.

In a 6-week period team of lecturers from Karin Dom shared their hands-on experience and knowledge with parents and professionals working with children with special needs from 10 Bulgarian towns. The 208 people trained came from day-care centres, special kindergartens, resource centres and special schools.

Trainer’s manuals were printed and are now in distribution. They contain topics and lectures prepared by team of professionals from Karin Dom

August 2009: A Jubilee: Two Beautiful Evenings

On 1st of April 2009 His Excellency Mr. Ivan Stancioff turned 80. Now, in the summer 30 family members gathered for his anniversary and all together dedicated the celebration to the mission for which the jubilee has been continuously working - Karin Dom centre for children with special needs.

Mr. Stancioff and the team of Karin Dom organized two cultural events in support to Karin Dom.

On 2nd of August 2009 in the amphitheater in Karin Dom's garden all guests enjoyed Eastern Orthodox chant, authentic Bulgarian folklore songs and Bulgarian Renaissance music performed by ensemble Yulangelo. An exhibition of photographs was also presented named “From Chichen Itsa to Ushuaia, A Traveler in South America of Miro Nankov from Adventure+ travel agency.

On 4th of August in Boris Georgiev Art Gallery in Varna Ivan Stancioff welcomed his friends and the media to an exhibition presenting the works of Marion Mitchel Stancioff "Graphics and Symbolism" and Ivo Hadzhimishev "At Henry Moore 1980". The exhibition was opened by Hristo Dipchikov: Director of National Art School in Varna.

All proceeds from the events were granted to Karin Dom Centre.

July 2009: A Pony for the Children of Karin Dom

For one week now a pony has been living in Karin Dom’s yard. The pony named Roshko is a gift to the children from Zonta Club Association in Varna. Apart from the care, food and shelter which we provide the pony needs to be tamed so that the children could ride it after a while. We are looking for a volunteer to work with the pony for a few hours a day so as to train it.

For inquiries: +359 52 302 519 Mariana Nikolova

May 2009: Work Visit to London of Karin Dom Staff

In May 2009 a team of trainers from Karin Dom Centre paid a planned visit to London, UK as a part of the project Best Practices for Early Intervention for Children with Intellectual Disabilities – Phase 2, sponsored by Open Society Institute. The aim of our trip was to exchange an experience and to see examples of good practices in working with children with intellectual impairments in the UK, and with this in mind, we focused on the London Borough of Harrow where we visited several special schools including: Shaftesbury High School, Kingsley High School, Alexandra School, Educational Psychologists’ base and Hillview Children’s Centre.
We were made to feel welcome wherever we went and enjoyed a fascinating week developing our understanding of the philosophies, practices and benefits of early intervention work in the UK. In fact, we found that while we did not share a common language, we did share a common approach to our work and this meant that the Karin Dom trainers and those from Harrow were able to have a meaningful exchange of ideas and methodology that we hope will mark the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.
The visit has had some very tangible outcomes. Apart from exchanging ideas around best practice to ensure that such children remain living within the family and are able to achieve their full potential through a comprehensive program of early intervention, we also saw at first hand, how Harrow has established a network of social services, that are community based, to serve the needs of both parents and children. This approach, much like our own, puts children and families at the centre, with services designed to meet their needs. While, much of what we saw, we recognized, we have returned with lots of new ideas on ways to develop our service.
Oh, and it wasn’t all work and no play while we were in London. We managed to take part in a charitable disco organized at Priory Church of England Primary School, Wimbledon by Karin Dom’s friend Hanna Goodson. The event was fun for both children and adults and the funds raised were put into an endowment fund at Karin Dom.
Finally, a word of thanks to those who supported our trip to London. In particular we should like to thank Gatwick Express, who provided train travel for us form the airport to central London and Cubic Transportation, who provided us with Oyster cards so that we could use the buses and underground while we were in London. In fact, a big thank you to everyone who made this informative and enjoyable trip possible.

We work with our hands and our hearts.