Finding a job is a veritable challenge for people with disabilities; it is all the more difficult for young people with intellectual disabilities. They live in isolation and their human rights are violated, among them the right to work. People still think of them as people incapable of leading a “normal” life or working and making their contribution to society. Many organizations are beginning to realize how important it is to provide them with jobs, but employers and the people with disabilities themselves face arduous obstacles.

The World of Maria foundation was set up in 2012 by the family of a young woman with an intellectual disability. Its mission is to improve quality of life for people like her and their families, to help them in their personal fulfillment by offering them access to quality services, development training and suitable jobs. The social services the foundation provides include daytime care and work at a daycare centre for persons with intellectual disabilities called Worlds. The centre caters for people aged 18 to 35. It is also a place where you will find the first “protected café” in Sofia and enjoy crunchy cookies and crackers, fragrant coffee and fresh lemonade made by people with intellectual disabilities. More about the work of the Worlds daycare centre from its director Sonya Spassova:

“We marked our second birthday with an open doors day and a great many people came. We gave a press conference at which we presented the achievements of Violeta and Nadezhda, two young women, who are gainfully employed. Their stories show that with supported employment everyone stands to gain. Now they are an example and a motivation to our other clients to develop their own abilities and skills in their endeavour to find employment. We opened an exhibition – Together in the park, painting a dream – by photographer Georgi Bozhkov who presented his encounters with the art of the daycare centre clients during their open art sessions in Sofia’s Southern Park. These art sessions are funded under Sofia municipality’s Europe programme.”

The Worlds daycare centre team consists of professionals, applying the social services experience they have gained in countries like the Netherlands, Great Britain, USA etc. Here, young people acquire various social and domestic skills, personal hygiene habits, learn how to communicate with people, how to acquire a sense of time. This is also the place to acquire work habits – cooking, laundering or making candles and soap in the workshop. The art studio is the place to let one’s imagination go. We asked Sonya whether society is ready to understand and communicate with people with intellectual disabilities.

“I would like to say that they are not sick, quite the contrary, they are equal and full members of society. It is up to us all to accept them and to give them a chance of showing what they are capable of. Very often people with intellectual disabilities are much more well-disposed, more positive and take notice of the things we don’t see. Just like us they have their dreams, their aspirations and they expect us to give them our support.”

Here is Iva Mladenova, 24, a regular visitor to the centre:

“I really like the World of Maria daycare centre, there are so many things to learn here. We get domestic as well as work habits so as to cope with life better. We are different but we don’t want to be seen as such”, says Iva.

The Worlds daycare centre staff members have shown that the life of young people with intellectual disabilities can be improved greatly with the help of suitable training aimed at exercising key skills that will make them “visible” to society in Bulgaria.

English version: Milena Daynova