Can you help us provide a safe space to play for children in Fakulteta?
Fakulteta, the largest Roma community in Bulgaria.
Population: 60,000
Kindergartens: 2
Playgrounds: 0
60,000 people and No Safe Space to Play.
We’ve been here since 2015. Our kindergarten is a lifeline for Roma families living in poverty, offering them the chance to escape the poverty trap through holistic education, as well as a safe, happy place for their children to be during the day. The kindergarten is a small room, divided in two, providing a clean and cosy learning environment for 15 children aged 3-6 to learn, develop and play for four hours every day. There are tables at one end of the room, and a large floor mat for play at the other.
We have seen incredible success through our kindergarten, impacting hundreds of lives in the ten years we’ve been here. 100% of those who have graduated are still in education – many Roma (30%) do not make it further than primary school before dropping out, with only 22% graduating high school: 78% of Roma children do not achieve high school graduation. Our own experience and research studies tells us that attending kindergarten makes a huge difference to long-term life outcomes.
We know we are already making a difference in the lives of hundreds of vulnerable individuals, building resilience to the risks of exploitation and modern slavery. We want to do more.
In 2016, we were gifted a piece of land in Fakulteta, across the road from the kindergarten. Our dream is to turn this piece of land into a multi-purpose community centre and kindergarten, offering full-time, licensed kindergarten services to 30 children a day, with additional support for their families and the wider community. This dream is very expensive and as yet, we have not found the necessary funding to turn it into reality. In the meantime, the need for a safe space to play for these children grows ever more critical.
We need to raise just £8,000 to transform this yard from a blank space into a safe, happy play area for our kindergarten children and their families. Work has begun on cleaning and levelling the ground and we will soon be able to begin planting some vegetables with the children.
We need your help to purchase the playground equipment – will you help us bring fun, joy and freedom to this Roma community?
