VIE+W | In the world of Bulgarian passion

A human can hardly describe the Bulgarian folk dances with just a few words or labels. For Bulgarians this is an inexhaustible power and a magic influence, and it is not a secret that everyone (no matter at what age) shudders after hearing just one Bulgarian folk beat. These dances have become a national symbol because of their merits for saving the Bulgarian cultures.

I am a boy at the age of 16 and from ten years I am part of a folk ensemble called “Balkan Youth”. My town is small, and many kids here decide to dance in their free time. When I was younger, I used to hate doing that because it was very hard for me, but my mother forced me to go. Times are changing… and guess what? I fell in love with this and now I am sure dancing is the thing I want to do till the end of my life. But not a typical dancing like in the rest part of the world - I love to dance the way Bulgarians have done it before.

Our dancing usually shows a flirtation between a beautiful Bulgarian girl and a strong Bulgarian man. The most common scene is when all young friends from one village go to the field and start dancing together. They hold their hands and become closer. The steps are almost the same so couples can connect their bodies as well they will connect their hearts. Another action on the stage is representing things from the people’s lifestyle - for example reaping, rose and grape harvest, mowing, cooking, etc. And traditions like healing, wedding, persecuting evil forces, praying for fertility, blessing families and many others.

For dancers the most important feeling is when the public congratulate them. We have participated in many competitions behind the Bulgarian borders and every time it was with success and a leading place. But the best award for me is the public in our town. After our concert the public stand up and applaud us for a long time. Once after a big concert I asked my close friend who was in the audience “What do you think about our heritage?” Her answer was unforgettable:

“If someone ask me what the Bulgarian folklore is, without a thought I will answer – it’s magic! Magic connecting and intertwining dance, music, song, habits and traditions, which carry and enshrine Bulgaria for millennia, passing on the feeling for patriotism, pride and wisdom. It is not possible to say it with words. To feel the thrill and the real magic u should see it, experience it, be part of it. The magic will conquer you and after that it is possible for you to define it… It is something that cannot be forgotten, something that must be remembered and must live for long times!”

"You feel a new kind of energy, and when you start dancing with the people next to you, it feels as there is some electricity going through you,"

“In the grip of the same love for dances and passion, we get immersed into the rhythm of Bulgarian folk dances. Moreover, the contacts you create with other people are incredible. We have found great friendships."

Why passion?

Every Bulgarian should try the folk dances and must know his origins. Even if they have never thought about doing this and do not like it at all, after short time spent under the Bulgarian sounds, folk music starts to pour into their veins and their body become passionate about their golden homeland.

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by Vladislav Suykov

PEOPLE+ | The Question of Escape: fleeing Hope. Help them build a new life

I knew I was going to be kind of involved in the field of working with migrants and refugees since I started studying my bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philologies in Sofia University. Iranian Studies (or philology with Persian language and its dialects Farsi and Dari) is connected with the global problem of migration and refugee crisis due to the big amount of Iranian and Afghan people, fleeing their countries even though there is no war therein. Firstly, I didn’t have any experience in this sphere, except for attending a Mentor program for refugees, helping their social integration, organized by one of the biggest NGO-s working with migrants, i.e. Karitas and participating in Erasmus+ training course on this topic.

This year I’ll be graduating from the university and two facts lead me to start working in Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria – my previous interest and the desire to practice in my specialty, as a translator. We are a non-profit organization with mission to assist newly recognized refugees in the process of their initial adaptation and integrationin the Bulgarian society.We work on different projects, funded by Ministry of Interior or United Nations High Commissariat of Refugees for example. Our team is divided into social workerswho are psychologists and cultural mediators – translators of Arabic or Persian. We’re working either in our office in Sofia city center or at the territorial units of the State Agency for Refugees under the Council of Ministers, which is “Registration and Reception Center Sofia” - with International Protection Production Departments in the neighborhoods of “Ovcha Kupel”, “Vrazhdebna” and “Voenna rampa”. We work in collaboration with other NGO-s on projects like “Community support to asylum seekers and refugees in Bulgaria”, “Improving access to services for third-country nationals” and so on.

Some of our activities include social mediation program and provision of humanitarian assistance. People can receive support in the process of social adjustment and integration through social consultations and provision of information, translation, accompanying to medical/state/municipal facility, provision of humanitarian aid, administrative assistance, etc. The advocacy and networking activities include cooperation with state agencies and NGO-s, participation in networks, workgroups, studies and partnerships with all stakeholders on national and international levels. The experts in the organization design and conduct trainings on multicultural approach in social counseling, violence survivors, crisis intervention and traumatic experiences, child protection, case management, burn-out prevention and prevention of social exclusion for vulnerable groups. The fundraising and publicity activities are focused towards development and implementation of comprehensive strategy to work on awareness rising and sensitivity building among the society on the topics related to refugees, social adaptation and integration. The publicity and fundraising activities include also attracting volunteers, organization of social events, donation campaigns and communication with individual and corporate donators.

The third-country nationals can also receive a wide range of services such as consultations with a lawyer or psychotherapist, Bulgarian and English language courses, training sessions on getting acquainted with Bulgarian law, employment and legal relations in the country, assistance in drafting a CV and cover letter, organizing job fairs, socialization through cooking in a bread house, craft art activities, etc.

In the process of gaining more experience from my work, we go to different trainings - internal intervision; together with other organizations; trainings of UNHCR and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings; monthly supervisions with the psychologists of the organizations and others. Photos below present me and our beneficiaries in cooking activity, me and my colleagues having supervision and some children attending activities.

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by Silvia Plamenova

Participant in

Seminar “Let them be heard” in Braga, Portugal

USE+FUL | My experiences and skills acquired through the Erasmus+ programme

Erasmus+ is a great programme, which allows young people from all around Europe to travel, create multicultural friendships, learn new skills and even get to know themselves a little better. Personally, I have participated in three really unique projects. Each one has taught me different skills and shown me something new about Europe and all the different cultures, which make up the old continent.

I went on my first project when I was 18 years old. It took place in Turkey’s fifth largest city- Adana. The topic was popularizing something that is unique for your country and educating the other participants about the significance of that thing for the people of your country. The Bulgarian team chose the Belogradchik rocks as the centerpiece of our presentation, because of its uniqueness and historical value. This project provided me with my first contacts with people from different nations and taught me that even though we may look and sound different, we are more similar than I previously taught. Every country had its own special traditions and monuments, but the proudness and admiration with which we all spoke was the same.

The second project, that I went to, was my first as a group leader. It was right before and during the day of Europe and therefore we honored the celebration with singing the European anthem in four different languages along with a chorus of singers in front of a live crowd in a concert hall. The project was in Slovenia, a country I knew close to nothing about before going there, but quickly grew to like and develop and interest in. Being a leader of the Bulgarian group, I learned to be reliable, patient, but also strict sometimes. Singing was never my best quality, but that was beside the point. Singing in a different language along with hundred other people was really eye opening and removing all the boundaries, that our geographical and historical differences might have set.

My last project, at least for now, took place in a small town called Bardejov in Slovakia. Its theme was “Spread the word”. The participants were divided into multicultural groups and given the task to come up and create something like a marketing strategy for other Erasmus+ projects. The process of working with people from all around Europe was an amazing experience. Our task involved a lot of creativity and my team took it as a challenge to both develop skills as a marketing expert and also get to know the way in which people from other countries think. The contributions and ideas of every member of the team were appreciated and the final product came out great. The skills, which I acquired at this project have helped me with thinking outside of the box. Some marketing concepts, which I knew from university, were developed into a real strategy and I saw them come to life. This made the Project in Slovakia a precious one for me.

Each project has taught me different skills and provided unique experiences, but all of them were absolutely worth it and thanks to the Erasmus+ programme I had the opportunity to travel and participate in all of them.

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by Ventseslav Todorov

Participant in

YE “Design your future” in Galapagar, Spain