Project Development and Bankiya

In the past several weeks I have been trying to get a clear idea of the types of projects that the Children's Parliament is hoping for and/or willing to execute. The Association for Health and Morality in Stara Zagora, another NGO I'm working with, is slowly developing programming that might become sustainable without foreign assistence. The Children's Parliament is on course to do so as well, especially with the active and enthusiastic core of individuals (both youth and adult) that the group maintains. One important part of their developing programming is international outreach. We are learning together how to access the European Union / European Comission funding that supports such efforts throughout Europe, with the intention of hosting and attending exchanges. They are also interested in similar exchange programs with American institutions, though American programs are commonly more expensive and require greater efforts in planning and language-learning.

I attended a training conference in Bankiya last week that focused on NGO/NPO development in Bulgaria. Some of the interesting lectures involved grant writing for the European Union/European Commision funding programs, youth education in leadership and teambuilding, teaching English as a foreign language and encouraging networking and cooperation in the NGO and private sector. All of the lectures were informative and helped me understand how I can direct my service here to become more efficient and helpful. I still don't really know how best to include friends and family back home besides writing and maintaining contact.

The trip to Bankiya was also social, and reunited many friends. I went to dinner nightly with Peace Corps Volunteers and talked about service. Knowing that the difficulties and frustrations I have faced daily happen to others makes service in foreign lands less frustrating and stressful, especially when I can laugh at those problems with my friends, uninhibited by language or social barriers. We decided as a group to run the Marathon/Athens marathon in November, and use it as a fundraiser for the Scouts of Bulgaria. We hope to raise enough money to send a group of Bulgarian Scouts to the World Jamboree and 100th anneversary of Scouting next year in England. (Scouting Bulgaria includes both boys and girls) My training program for the Marathon begins at the beginning of March, though I am exercising now in anticipation of the 8-month training.

I traveled alone on Saturday to Sofia, where I wandered the streets ducking in and out of bookshops, fruit and nut bazaars, Kafes and churches before heading to Chirpan. I stayed in Chirpan with my friend Trevor on Saturday. We ate dinner and went to the discoteka with Mitch (from Gurkovo) and Melody (also Chirpan), and danced until 4 in the morning. Once in a while, it's good and fun. I arrived home yesterday and slept until work today.

That's life here in Bulgaria right now. Tune in next time to hear about the weather, comatose flies, laundry freezing on the line and mountain climbing. Ciao, do postle!