Russian circus guests

During the summer of 2011 we organized Circus Art Practices.

Here are a few moments we would like to share with you.



Уроци по циркови умения from ttineff on Vimeo.

50 families benefit from POFA community volunteer projects

Our project was initiated by a group of families in the beginning of 2011. We rented a small place to test if the volunteer services we wanted to offer were meeting the demand of our local community.

The results were surprisingly positive. Within 3 months from our kick off families from our neighborhood were advertising us to their friends and neighbors.

All the equipment and accessories we use were donated to us by our supporters. Many donations were received by the families that sent their children to spend time with us.

We had 12 volunteers from Albania, Czhech Republic, Slovakia and the Russian Federation helping us out along our local volunteers.

More than 50 families found our Family Center a good place for their children to spend their free time during the summer holidays.

Visible from the photos fun was always available and enjoyed.

We look forward to summer 2012.

If you would like to offer financial contribution or support as volunteer feel free to contact us.

Here is a small picture report about our summer activities of 2011:

 Circus and clothes design show

Karaoke parties

Recycling art

Play dough aquarium

Sea shells = play dough fish

Origami

Pirate costume party

Volunteers

Science experiments

Circus Days

Our teenage volunteers perform puppet show for the youngsters

Hand craft creations

More mad science - mints in coke

Window colours

Arts and crafts

Family and Love

Family and Love

The word love is so commercialized to the extend that its is hard to remember what exactly is its meaning.

We say I love you to our mothers and fathers. Some times, when our brothers and sisters cross the boundary or ordinary relations and do something special for us they also deserve to be told "I love you". Rarely but there are cases when those we call friends deserve to be looked in the eyes overtaken by tears after our heart has been moved.

None of us has decided that those will be the moments in which we feel the deep feelings which move our entire being to shine and experience deep and inexplicable happiness.

When we meet the love of our lives we do not decide to activate the mechanics of love but in the right circumstances they seem to take control over us.

I write all this because my observations show that what we really can choose in life is a very small percentage from what is just there and happens to us without our having the right to choose.

Who of us has decided to breathe? Who of us decided to breathe exactly oxygen for our whole body to work? Who of us has added so much water so that it makes 2/3rds of our body mass? Who of us is keeping the hear beat?

No matter if we believe or not in some mysterious and convenient power or personality have predestined everything and we can only choose to accept it.

Among other things we did not create and can not control is love. Its easy to observe that newborn can not take care of themselves. They are born not ready for life and it seems that this is so on purpose so that the parents can care for them. The human being is so complex and our development takes so long that most countries have concluded that this care should last until the age of 18.

Interesting!... from everything we said so far there was no mentioning of sex....

Why are we then bombarded with sexual stimuli from the TV, radio, internet and other media?
The reason is simple and blunt as well as very sad.

Business one day found out that if a person is sexually stimulated  /visually or through sounds/ the body release endorphins /natural stimulants/

Being continuously stimulated we remember the brand of vodka or jeans that business is trying to sell us. There is a common saying that "sex sells" but knowing better we could and should say "endorphins sell".
Sex of course has its place in our life and it is not part of the advertizing strategy of an aggressive business or a new form of entertainment.

It is as if everyone today has long forgotten the true names of the so called today "sexual organs" namely the reproductive organs. Our erogenous zones are not the new game console but a Star-gate standing at the entrance of the new life in expectation that all symbols of life will be properly arranged for true happiness and joy to emerge with the new life we will conceive through our loves. 

Want it or not the new life has its origin from the sperm and the egg, but when two people love each other this fact stays in the shadow of the emotions and passion that binds them together.

What I believe is not right is to forget that new life that emerges from that passion will be just as helpless as ours was in the day of our birth. And just like us it will long for the embrace and warmth of mother's milk.

The family is the home of love, expressed this way can we chase away the grandmother and grandfather, mother and father, brothers and sisters and children. It is not always easy to live in understanding, but all of the above mentioned have their place in the family because life is just what it is.

Author: ttineff

Children's puppet show - Family Center POFA

Children's puppet show 

Children puppet shows are a wonderful tool to spark the interest of our younger children to read the stories contained in our favorite books.

 
The organization of such an event does not require much:
1. Choose a good story, which contains a message we would like to introduce to our audience.
2. Choose toys that are suitable to the characters in the story.
3. Prepare a short script /in your mind or write it down/ that will be your guideline during the play.
4. Choose and prepare a suitable decoration
5. Invite your young audience in the arranged date and hour.

Puppet show - 2 x 15 min. :)
 
Decoration preparation - 2h
 
In family center POFA you can share your ideas about family fun and games so that the good practices can become an inspiration for many adults and children.






 
Let creativity and beauty become the base for new friendships.

You can get in touch with us at::

center.rosa@gmail.com
skype: center.rosa

POFA

A dogs shelter and our families

The dog shelter

What interesting activity can we think of so that our children will not be glued to the TV or the computer all day long?

How can this activity be interesting enough to keep their attention on it and how can they gain something good out of it?

And how can we do all of the above without spending much money?

As an answer to the above questions we decided to visit a homeless dog shelter.

We called up a near by shelter for homeless dogs which we found through the internet and we asked them if they needed any help. Luckily for us there was something because they needed old blankets for the dogs. 

Together with our neighbor family friends we organized and blanket raising campaign from our neighborhood.

We designed and printed some posters. The children put them up in the entrances of all the buildings around us. On the posters there was a date and hour when we would come and collect the blankets from each building.

In the day of the campaign we collected 50 blankets from our generous neighbors.  

One Saturday all of us happy and proud with our achievement finally visited the dog shelter. 

Our kids were happy to feed them and walk the kind animals.

Everyone enjoyed it

During the blanket raising campaign one owner of a pet supplies shop told us that when its snows the birds can not feed themselves as they can not dig out the seeds from under the snow so they starve. We decided to buy some seeds and to see if the hungry birds will come to feed on out balcony. 

To our surprise and joy a great variety of birds welcomed the help of our family and with the children we counted how many kinds came, how long each of them stayed and what seeds they were choosing. 

In the beginning all birds were shy and would fly away when one of us appeared on the window but gradually they got used to us and we could freely observe them. 

What impressed all of us most was the fact that the birds did not make any mess on our balcony except the peels from the seed they ate. It seemed they wanted to show us their respect and gratitude for the goodness we showed them. 

In Bulgaria it is not easy to find something fun to do with the entire family which would not cost a lot of money. But now we to to the dog shelter regularly and when the snow falls we fee the birds. 

In conclusion we can say that we could do something good for the dog shelter, the birds and all young and old in our families.

Most of all we had some wonderful days together and had a lot of fun!