The project “A Model for Social Performance of Housewives of the Muslim Community in Ruse” was implemented by the Future for Bulgaria Foundation with the financial support of the PHARE program “Civil Society Development” 2001 of the European Union in the territory of the municipality of Ruse.
The project started at the beginning of December 2003 and had duration of 8 months. The associated partner of the FBF was the Chief Mufti’s Office, and the participants were 25 housewives from the Muslim community in the town of Ruse.

The activities under the project included the following two-month courses: Health Education, Civil, Cultural and Religious Education, Educational and Health Insurance System and Social Policy in the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as a six-month course called “The Housewife’s Hour”. In the framework of the course there were also individual meetings with prominent women from different professional fields – representatives of the local and central authorities, journalists, teachers and doctors. During all the activities under the project there was a nursery for the children of the 25 housewives who attended the courses.
The team of the project with the support of expert lecturers and the participants in the project created, issued and distributed three types of brochures – “Healthcare Education”, “Educational System in Bulgaria” and “The Housewife’s Hour”. The brochures “Healthcare Education” and “Educational System in Bulgaria“ present main information on the possibilities, the legal framework, the organization, the responsibilities and the rights of the citizens referring to the healthcare and educational systems in the region of Ruse and in the country in a way that is appropriate for this target group. These brochures were disseminated among the members of the 40 women’s Muslim associations in the country with the support of the Chief Mufti’s Office.

The brochure “The Housewife’s Hour” presenting the daily life and the skills of a housewife belonging to the Muslim community contains valuable advice and illustrations on raising children, cooking, gardening, sewing, arts and crafts, collected from the Housewife’s Hour course.