News

1 December 2023

“It is a great pleasure, joy and satisfaction for me, together with two smiling and nice people – Vanya and Svetlyo – to welcome you to the Ombudsman's institution. Dear friends, I have no hesitation in how we should celebrate 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, because this is the way to beautifully and lovingly address all those we have to support. This photo exhibition is very nice, very real – about love, about the mirrors we look at, where our true self is reflected. I think this is the way to beautifully and lovingly address all disabled people that we have to support because they support us with their smile and their love. I am happy when we manage to help people with disabilities, because the purpose of the Ombudsman's institution is to give support”, with these words Prof. Diana Kovacheva presented the photo exhibition “Mirrors of Love. About love in the first person”.

It is organized jointly with the Movement of Bulgarian Mothers Foundation and the Down Syndrome-Bulgaria Association.

 “The purpose of the exhibition is to show that people with Down syndrome can live with dignity when they are cared for by their family. We are expecting more people to be photographed within the one-year campaign – we will try to show all people with Down syndrome aged over 45 who are not institutionally dependent,” said Rositsa Bukova, author of the photo exhibition and an active defender of the rights of people from vulnerable groups in our society.

“Parents, don't worry – Down syndrome is not a sentence,” urged Rositsa, Vanya's sister, a character in the exhibition.

The Chair of the Down Syndrome-Bulgaria Association Toni Marinova said that our society had already achieved a lot, but there was still much to fight for when it came to adults with Down syndrome.

“People who are over 18 become invisible – they have no job, no environment and nothing to do with their lives. This project gives us hope that it will reverse the mindset of people and employers that these people are not scary and are like us, they just have their own specifics,” Marinova emphasized.

The exhibition is part of the Ombudsman's National Campaign “For the Rights of Children and People with Disabilities”, which brings together a number of initiatives, discussions, information days and meetings with organisations of and for people with disabilities to change legislation and establish good administrative practices.