On 12 September 2026, the second meeting with parents of young children from Sandrovo was held as part of the “Social Contract for Early Childhood” project.
The conversation began with the question of what is good about raising a child in a small community. Parents highlighted the peace and tranquility, the closeness between people, the ease of getting around with young children, nature – including the proximity to the Danube River – and the feeling of knowing the people around you. Sandrovo has many of the things that make a place good for childhood.
But there are also things that are missing.
Parents talked about the lack of sufficient activities for children, the need for more opportunities for sport, play and social interaction, and access to specialists and social support. It also became clear that the village has spaces and resources that could be used much more – the children’s sports center, the community center, playgrounds, open spaces, the natural environment along the Danube and the horse-riding center.
Gradually, the conversation moved from “What are we missing?” to “What can we do?”
And that is when the first concrete idea emerged – to create a closed Facebook group for parents of young children in Sandrovo. A place where parents can communicate, share information, to get organized meetings and initiatives, and simply have a way to get to know one another and stay connected.
Importantly, the group will be administered by the parents themselves, rather than by the project team.
This may seem like a small step. For us, however, it is an important one – because a community is not created by a single forum, nor is it sustained by a project team. It begins when people start reaching out to one another and doing things together.
We will see where this small group of parents will go. And perhaps that is precisely the best part – we do not know yet.
What we do know is that something has already begun in Sandrovo.
The meeting is part of the “Social Contract for Early Childhood” project, implemented with the support of the Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation Programme, Civic Engagement and Transparency Mechanism (CETM) 2024–2029, in partnership with Equilibrium Association, For Our Children Foundation and Free Youth Centre – Vidin.
The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and participants and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Governments of Switzerland and Bulgaria.