On 21 August, the first meeting with parents of young children was held in the village of Sandrovo as part of the “Social Contract for Early Childhood” project. The meeting was conceived as an informal starting point for the civic forum in the village – an opportunity to get to know one another, talk, and identify the topics that matter to families in the local community.
Over coffee and homemade banitsa, six parents and family members of children came together, including two fathers. Despite the holiday season and the fact that the meeting took place on a weekday, the conversation showed something important – there are people who want Sandrovo to become an even better place for children and families.
The participants shared that they value the village as a good place to raise children, while also seeing opportunities for more activities and gatherings for the local community. Among the ideas that emerged were sports activities, charity bazaars and other events that could bring children and parents together and gradually build a stronger sense of community.
For future discussions, the parents identified several topics, including raising children, relationships between children, leisure time, building a local community, as well as issues related to support for families and access to child benefits.
One particularly valuable idea was to start with small things that set a good example – initiatives that can take place here, in Sandrovo, and show children and adults that when people come together around a shared idea, they can make a difference in their own community.
This was only the beginning. The next meeting with the parents will be more focused on working together and will explore in greater depth the topics and ideas that they themselves identified as important.
For us, the most important outcome of this first meeting is not the number of participants, but the desire to meet again. Because a community is not created in a single meeting. It starts with a few people, a cup of coffee, a little trust, and the feeling that it is worth doing something together.
The meeting was held as part of the “Social Contract for Early Childhood” project, implemented in partnership by For Our Children Foundation – lead organisation, Equilibrium, and Free Youth Center – Vidin.
The project is implemented with the support of the Swiss-Bulgarian Cooperation Programme, Civic Engagement and Transparency Mechanism (CETM) 2024–2029. 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.