Setting:

"Bulgaria Youth Prevention", decided to organize a pilot project testing euFAQT, in three different locations categorized by number of inhabitants, namely: City of Veliko Tarnovo (approximately 72,000 people); City of Elena (approx. 6,000 people); Shtarkovo village (approx. 400 people).

In Veliko Tarnovo we used our contacts built from previous projects with the Regional Directorate of the Interior, and in particular the management of Children's Pedagogical Room. Together with the municipalities of Veliko Tarnovo, the Children’s Pedagogical Room coordinates a network of youth clubs "Open Eyes". In these clubs children and parents, as the purpose of the coordinators is to perform all types of preventive actions. In these places also children from orphanages and children from crisis centers participated. When our initiative was announced, we were immediately invited to present the project euFAQT, we planned the groups and the days in which we will organize sessions.

In Elena we carried out the euFAQT pilot activities in the local school, which has also partnered with us for ten years in the children's drawing contest "No to Cigarettes" that Bulgaria Youth Prevention Foundation organized in the last 15 years and of course we have worked together on projects related to prevention of youth addictions.

In Lesichovo municipality, Pazardzhik Province, where the village Shtarkovo is located, for several years we are helping through an initiative called "Zhuliev Home". This is a house made available free of charge by its owner, in which with the help of local communities and NGOs parentless children between the ages of 5 live. Thanks to our work in this house and the established good relations with the mayor, we were given a room in the community center of Shtarkovo village where thanks to the local government we organized the required number of children and parents, and we conducted our activities.

Description:

Тhe session facilitators were members of the Youth Prevention Foundation Bulgaria, who are our collaborators since the founding of the organization. They were all part of the projects, which essentially had always youth addiction preventions and promotion of healthy lifestyles. They are touched to any issues, ranging from women and children victims of trafficking, domestic violence, juvenile offenders, drug addicts to prevention of smoking.

Three groups of ten children were organized, aged between 13 and 16 years of age in each of the above mentioned places. The ratio of boys - girls were balanced. Meetings were held every 5-8 days after school classes for Veliko Tarnovo and Elena. In Shtarkovo village activities were carried out five consecutive weekends.

Three groups of ten parents or relatives (aunt or grandmother) were organised. The average age of the parents was between 33 and 45 years of age with the exception of several grandmothers who were over 60 years old. Of all thirty adults there was only one dad in Elena. Meetings were held every 5-8 days after work for Veliko Tarnovo and Elena. In Shtarkovo village activities were carried out five consecutive weekends.

Main obstacles:

Of course, the hardest part was to organize the groups and especially those consisting of parents instead of those for children. But that was clear from the beginning for us and therefore we looked for alternative approaches getting help from our previous attempts and partnerships. In general, we define this as a difficulty encountered during the project, even though we adequately overcame it. With the implementation of all other tasks we did not encounter any obstacles and satisfied the requirements of the project.

As how the tasks were organized, we believe that they were prepared professionally with careful attention to every detail. Team work of all partners ensured that common goals and the way to achieve them were adequate to reality in each country participating in the project euFAQT including Bulgaria. To this brilliant management of the project by the coordinating organization Prolepsis, Bulgaria Youth Prevention Foundation the only suggestion will be to motivate the upgrading of the euFAQT project.

Lessons Learned:

What we learned is not something new to us, it is another confirmation of conclusions reached. The young generation in Bulgaria and Europe is subject to daily temptations and influences that leave lasting damage. euFAQT activities are one of the few alternatives that gratuitous reach the end user. These facts give us strength and keep us on the front because - "Prevenire e meglio che curare" or "Prevention is better than cure".