On 09 April the fourth Webinar for the participants of the Initiative for Building a Future Generation of Civic Leaders of the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation (WCIF), funded by the EEA Active Citizens Fund, took place on the ZOOM platform. Participants talked about how they have acted since the restrictive measures were introduced and whether this has affected the cause they work for.
Boris Samarinov from the National Community Center "Vasil Levski 1928" sent us their story, which we share with you in the following lines. Boris is a musician, economist and secretary of the community center. Every day at 5 p.m. with Charles the dog in his arms he tells children's stories online.
As history remembers, Friday the 13th is no ordinary day. It awakens all the superstitions and prejudices that each one of us harbors. It's no coincidence that there are hotels that don't have a 13th floor, world stars have run away from their team if they had to play with the number 13 and what else not. However, Friday the 13th in March 2020 struck us like a bolt from the blue.
Everything was going great - we were excited about the new hall that was almost ready. We started to select children for the “Give me 5” project, which we had to implement with the 124th Primary School "Vasil Levski". We increased our team and expanded our activities. And then came March 13, 2020. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out like in the movie "Lubimetz 13". On that day it became clear that we could not accept people on the territory of the community center. There was nothing left for us to say but "Phy" - as Pippi says and go home.
Yes, but are we now living in the 19th century, when community centres started, or the 20th, when there was only the telephone and television. Now we are 21st century and we can't stay idle when there is the Internet. Back in the 80s when there was talk, but only on the phone and you had to turn the puck three times on a number that even we've all forgotten... we'd remember Gianni Rodari and ring along
But now we have the internet and the internet reaches everyone. It was time to roll up our sleeves, or rather our heads, and figure out what we could do. It was time for us to become SEEKERS OF SOMETHING. My team and I did an online brainstorming session, and wonderful things were born. Online classes, concerts, readings, educational videos that we upload to facebook, youtube. We even decided to make a website. We want you to know that this website is not an easy job - text, pictures, activities, lots of activities and some things that sound complicated (template, domain, hosting). However, when you have friends who know them, it's pretty cool and you don't have to shout the woes because they are there for you.
Otherwise, the Community Center / Chitalishte was born more than 160 years ago from reading and the aspiration for new knowledge and development of the Bulgarians, because books are the basis of everything. That is why it is very important to us and for years we have been involved with libraries in various initiatives related to reading. Every year, with hundreds of children in the Poduyane district, we participate in the "Beads of Magic" competition, in which this year we would vote with over 1,000 children and beat all records. Only this virus appeared, which the books say is not even a living organism and slightly messed up our plans!
A month after our team's devastating brainstorm, we now have the “Sing with Ronnie” video series, “Guitar with Zdravy”, “Tales at Five in the Afternoon”, “Stories About Music”, and the “Ronnie and Friends concert”. We have free lessons for students from the piano, guitar, bass guitar, singing and English schools. We also have a bunch of other ideas we have yet to implement. Fingers crossed for our friends Bogdan and Nora, who with their team, although from Germany, have an idea on how we can help artists. A friend in need is a friend indeed, that is well known - it's written in fairy tales, and from life I've found it to be true. Because there are friends who have magical abilities and when you need them, they just disappear, even some evaporate as if they never existed and no trace of them remains. But we are real and we stand by all our friends who are at home and can't go out. We want to do something for them and, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, keep doing it. Because when this is all over, we'll see each other in person and say, "Hey buddy, give me five."
Boris Samarinov and the entire Community Center team