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The Slovenian Society for Dog Assisted Therapy Tacke pomagacke links together members who visit different institutions together with their dogs. The Society, which was founded in 2007, is a humanitarian, non-profit association of physical persons and works in the public interest. The financial means for its activities derive from membership fees and donations from firms and individuals. The members of the Society are volunteers, and also members of the Slovenian Network of Voluntary Organizations. We are proud of carrying out useful and worthwhile work. In 2008 the Slovenian Society for Dog Assisted Therapy Tacke pomagacke was chosen as Benefactor of the Year. Dogs are faithful, irreplaceable companions. They can have an encouraging influence on complete strangers, as is amply confirmed by scientific research. Increasingly, professional staff in hospitals, institutions, old people's homes, schools and nursery schools acknowledge that dogs can make a decisive contribution to the progress of individuals. As skilful motivators, dogs are welcome in work with children having special needs, with individuals who have suffered injuries, with the debilitated, with cancer patients, and with patients suffering from neurological and degenerative illnesses. Dogs bring happiness and courage, successfully overcome the difficulties due to human reserve and contribute positively to creating a relaxed working atmosphere. They stimulate individuals or a group to cooperate actively, and so are excellent companions for young people and children in nursery schools and schools with a normal programme. In Slovenia there is an increasing demand for visits from therapy dogs of the Tacke pomagacke Society. We visit widely differing institutions, including the Soca University Rehabilitation Institute, the Rakitna Youth Climatic Health Centre, many old people's homes, institutions (for those with psycho-physical difficulties), libraries, nursery schools, primary and secondary schools, etc. The work in these institutions takes place in cooperation with a wide range of professional personnel: occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, special needs teachers, speech therapists, schoolteachers, nursery staff, etc. All our dogs have a suitable character, regular veterinary check-ups, are obedience trained, and have also received specific training for their work. The Society has 71 active therapy pairs (the dog and the handler form a pair; both have participated in the Society's internal training), of these 39 have the R.E.A.D. licence. Members of the Tacke pomagacke Society (this is the short form of the official name) carry out the following programmes: Animal Assisted Therapy - AAT, Animal Assisted Activity - AAA, Animal Assisted Education - AAE, R.E.A.D. programme (Reading Education Assistance Dogs), social activities, presentations for children and young people in nursery schools, schools and at various public events.

Every day more than 600 people in Bulgaria have a life-saving need for blood and blood products, because of accidents, emergency life-saving procedures, surgical interventions, childbirths, different cancers and many other diseases that need blood for treatment. Their lives are directly dependent on securing the necessary quantities of safe human blood which can be obtained ONLY through DONATION OF BLOOD because BLOOD has NO substitute! Unfortunately, Bulgaria is currently in one of the last places in Europe when it comes to donating blood. Most people donate blood only for relatives or friends who are in need and the true number of genuine voluntary blood donors is less than 25% of all blood donors. Due to the very limited amount of blood donors, hospitals force patients to find donors before they can have a required treatment (the so-called "replacement donor system", which poses significant problems to the patients and their families. Also, this highly questionable practice has led to the growth of an ugly black market for blood donors.). We hope that with our joint efforts we will be able to change this situation. BULGARIAN ORGANIZATION OF VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONATION is a non-profit association operating in public interest done by volunteers. We are the first Bulgarian association working entirely to encourage and promote regular, anonymous, voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation. We believe that blood donation is one of the most humane acts. We also believe that our cause is extremely important for every human being because the shortage of blood could affect everyone. In our daily activities we provide information about blood donation, answer questions and give support; help in cases of an urgent need for blood; organize blood drives and campaigns to educate and inspire people to donate. In 2013 BOVBD launched the first-of-its-kind for Bulgaria long-term project called "Donate Blood", aimed at promoting and facilitating voluntary blood donation and helping those in need of blood for themselves or their relatives. The core of this project lies with the "Donate Blood" system, entirely managed and administrated by BOVBD. The system is a sort of dual registry and has two main functionalities that are interlinked - on one side for the people who are voluntary blood donors or wish to become such and help, and on the other - for everyone who needs blood. The system is extremely useful for finding blood donors on time. It is an innovative and very effective tool to at least partially fulfil the need for blood in Bulgaria and to help when the need is urgent. "Donate blood" can be used completely free through our mobile phone applications for iPhone and Android. Every user has constant access to important and useful information about blood donation, offered through the BOVBD website - www.bgblood.org, including the prerequisites and contradictions for donating blood, addresses and contact details for blood centres in the country, blood collection campaigns that are ongoing or upcoming, etc. Our ambition is to upgrade the applications with additional functionalities when we have enough funding. By focusing the public attention on the problems that arise from the lack of information on blood donation and its importance, from the insufficient number of voluntary blood donors and the risks of paid donors, we are working together to resolve them. The World Health Organization proclaims voluntary blood donation as the safest method for collecting the necessary quantities of blood and blood products needed in everyday healthcare. We hope and work for so that one day there will be enough voluntary blood donors and we, our kids, our parents and everyone who needs blood or could find himself in need of blood to be sure that there is enough safe blood that would help to save his life.

DEVELOP, PROMOTE AND SPONSOR VARIOUS TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN COOPERATION WITH SEVERAL HOSPITALS AND NURSING SCHOOLS TO HELP ATTRACT, INSPIRE, AND PROFESSIONALLY DEVELOP ONCOLOGY NURSES AND, IN DOING SO, TO SERVE THE PUBLIC GOOD BY HEPING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CARE FOR CANCER PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

Rachel House was registered in November 2006 as a charitable organization under the name of Yayasan Rumah Rachel in Indonesia with the purpose of providing palliative care to children from poor and needy families living with life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and HIV. It is the first pediatric palliative care service in Indonesia, providing pain and symptom management for children in the final stages of their illness at free of charge. Without the service, many of these children from poor families would spend their last days in horrific pain without medical assistance. Rachel House was founded in the hope that no child would ever have to die in pain, without love and care. It is built on the principle that "we are not here to add days to the children's lives, but to add life to their remaining days". Its mission is to provide palliative care for children with life-threatening conditions allowing them to live their remaining days with joy and dignity in a non-discriminatory, safe and loving environment. Rachel House's goals are: To advocate and raise awareness of the need for palliative care in Indonesia To assemble and train multi-disciplinary staff in pediatric palliative care To train and develop home care teams to provide support and education to families to allow children with life-threatening conditions to be cared for at home To reinforce local community's capacity to care for children in need through education To partner other organisations that add value to our mission To secure long-term financial sustainability Being the first pediatric palliative care service in Indonesia where palliative care is not taught in medical schools, Rachel House's pioneering team of nurses were trained by palliative care professionals from neighboring countries such as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. In every training opportunity, Rachel House has ensured the participation of medical professionals (doctors, nurses & pharmacists) from the large government-owned hospitals and public clinics, nursing schools and health volunteers and social workers in the hope of building the capacity in palliative care. A significant outcome of this targeted training has been the establishment of the first pediatric palliative care unit in Indonesia at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital in late 2010. In the 3 years since the first patient was admitted to Rachel House in December 2008, the service has reached more than 150 children in the final stages of cancer and HIV, providing them with pain and symptom management and empowered their caregivers with the essential education.