Today we meet another participant of the Initiative, a project working for the next generation of civic leaders, funded by the EEA Active Citizens Fund. Lilia Dragoeva is the Executive Director of Bilitis Foundation - the oldest active LGBTI organization in Bulgaria. A political scientist and sociologist by training, Lily has over 15 years of experience in youth work and volunteering.
"Our work at Bilitis is very human - we work to protect human rights with people and for people. Interacting with the LGBTI community on a daily basis is our most basic activity, and I have to admit, it's really energizing! We currently have four active self-help groups that meet at least twice a month - the BraveLab youth group for people between 14 and 29, the LGBT women's group QueerFemme, the trans, intersex and their allies group T.I.A. and the bisexual people's group BInonymous, and before the state of emergency, we met with people from the community every day at the Rainbow Hub community centre, which also serves as our office.
Alas, after 13 March we had to introduce some changes in our activities. Of course, safeguarding the health of everyone we work with and their loved ones is an absolute priority for us, so we have cancelled all of our events, as well as all Rainbow Hub events, from the day itself.
However, cancelling live meetings doesn't mean we're not here for the community! We believe that it's even more important to support each other in difficult times, so we're reinventing new ways to meet. That's why we've created a dedicated page on our website where we upload updates on all the activities we're currently running. Most of our events take place online, including all of our mutual support groups. Of course, the difference between sharing a space and meeting through our phone and laptop screens is huge! But in the first few meetings, we also found something extremely positive - many people who couldn't join our meetings because they lived in other cities or abroad suddenly became regular attendees! We enjoyed finally getting out of the confines of Sofia so much that we decided to keep the virtual meetings and sometimes do them online even after the ban on groups of people has ended! It's paradoxical, but if we hadn't been caught in this emergency situation, we would hardly have been so accessible to quite a few people from the LGBTI community.
Inevitably, however, the emergency has a negative impact on our daily lives, which can cause additional stress, anxiety, depression or other difficulties. And because our mission is to work in support of LGBTI people, in order to address these challenges, we have launched a series of free online psychological support meetings for all people in the community, which we have called #CareForMe. The meetings are facilitated by an experienced psychologist and psychotherapist, and so far we have held seven meetings. The topics we cover are varied (from how to adapt to fast-moving changes, to how to manage our fears and anxieties, to how to care for our physical bodies during quarantine) and are chosen by the participants and people who follow Bilitis on social media. This ensures that we are as helpful as possible and are able to respond appropriately to the needs of the community.
In addition to psychological support groups, we also provide help to people who are in a critical condition. The number of reports of young people locked at home with unsupportive parents and relatives talking about self-harm and suicide due to isolation has increased enormously. I am going to tell you about Maya because Maya needs support and everyone could join our campaign. Maya is a trans girl who hasn't been able to find a job for months because the hatred of trans people in her hometown has proved to be an insurmountable obstacle. That's why the first thing we want to help her with is finding a safe job in the city. Ruse. At the same time, however, the lack of work logically leads to a lack of income for Maya, and in less than two weeks she will lose her accommodation. In order to support her and give her more time to find a job, we have launched a campaign to raise funds for rent and food for Maya. This is the link where you can find out the ways in which you can support her.
The last thing I want to share is a very exciting project that Bilitis is a part of, which started literally just a few days ago. It is the Bulgarian edition of U-Report, the global youth network coordinated by UNICEF, where anyone between the ages of 14 and 29 can give their opinion on various topics and receive valuable information. All young people can find out more about U-Report and how to join the special Facebook page.
So, this is part of our response at Bilitis to the complex situation we find ourselves in recently. We believe that everything will be okay and we will come out of this crisis more cohesive and better! And if you would like to receive monthly updates, interesting content, information about events and volunteering opportunities, you can subscribe to our bulletin."