Author: Petya Todorova
Currently, more than 7,000 people in Bulgaria are placed under guardianship. These are people with intellectual and mental health problems, whose fates are dictated by a 70-year old law that deprives them of the right to make independent decisions, to work, to vote, to have access to their own resources, to choose with whom and where to live.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires that all forms of interdiction be repealed. Bulgaria not only signed, but also ratified the Convention in 2012, which in practice accepts the obligation to change its legislation. However, eight years later, this has not yet been done. Prohibited people are not a priority of the state.
The Bulgarian Center for Non-Profit Law (BCNL) and the Bulgarian Association for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (BALIZ) are taking on the difficult task to change the laws. They are launching a campaign to lift the ban, which includes eight associations from across the country, including Parallel World, Plovdiv. The aim of their efforts is to replace the inhumane form of prohibition with the possibility of supported decision-making, which will allow a person with a disability to make their own choices with the support of people they trust. This way, these people will emerge from forced isolation and be part of the society. Because at the moment they are not.
For more than ten years, the Parallel World Association has been doing everything possible to integrate people with disabilities. Part of their efforts is the Bookstore with a mission named "Hope". There is also a workshop in which a dozen young people over the age of 18 make cards, souvenirs and gift boxes. In addition, the bookstore also offers fiction books, provided by Bulgarian publishing houses on consignment, school supplies and aids.
At the beginning, things were going well. The funds won under an European project in 2018 give a strong start to the project. It is used to buy machines, pay rent, electricity, water, insurance and salaries. As funding for the program ceases, the existence of the bookstore and its workshop becomes increasingly difficult. Stanislava says that the young people have not been paid for several months. Their working hours are reduced from four hours to one hour, but they still choose to work longer. They feel useful and accepted in this place. And for our guide it is a cause.
Two years ago, the bookstore owner lost her daughter. Thanks to the activities of "Parallel World" the girl found many friends and an environment that gives meaning to the last years of her life. That is why Stanislava continues to be dedicated to her work. Despite the financial difficulties and an uncertain future for the Bookstore, she is happy to be able to communicate daily with young people with intellectual disabilities because from them she receives what no one else can give her.
In the bookstore they welcome every day and every customer with gratitude. They have a lot of work to do around the start of the school year, so they have decided to buy a textbook binding machine and are currently looking for the best offer. However, their retail sales are extremely insufficient. That is why they hope to be noticed by large companies, which will assign them bigger orders. This will help them raise their profits and continue to do business with dignity.
A bookstore with the mission "Nadezhda" is in the residential area Thrace, bl.15
and on facebook.com/misia.nadejda/
More about the "Born Ready" campaign is available on bornready.me
Sign the petition to lift the ban on peticiq.com/rodenigotovi
Photos: Parallel World Association