Around 400,000 families in Bulgaria are living with a rare diagnosis. In 95% of the cases, the rare diseases are genetic, start in childhood, and progress over time, leading to more serious conditions. Unfortunately, the same is the percentage of diseases for which there is still no cure. This means that these people need support for life.
With a team of only 7 people, the Bulgarian Huntington Association is working hard to help these people lead a better life despite their diagnosis. Regina Gospodinova is part of this team. A psychologist from Plovdiv by profession, she constantly travels to Sofia to help her colleagues at the Association, where she first started as a volunteer in 2014. In almost 10 years they have hosted and helped more than 1200 people. This is no easy task, and there is no support from the state.
Highly motivated and looking for more knowledge, Regina joined the WCIF’s Initiative training. There she learned how to work better with her team, how to manage projects, and how to come up with new initiatives. Most valuable are the people - they are dedicated, motivated, and inspiring. Meet the lovely Regina in the video below.
The Project Initiative for building the next generation of civic leaders is implemented with the financial support of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway under the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria within the framework of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The main objective of the project is an accumulation of knowledge, and skills and creating the conditions for transfer of experience to young leaders of civic organizations. The project is implemented by the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation.
