1. VOLUNTEERING IN
BLAGOEVGRAD
My ESC experience in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Project implemented with funds from the European Commission
under the European Solidarity Corps Programme

2. 6TH AUGUST 2021
• On the 6th of August, after a
couple of weeks of waiting
and getting ready to leave, I
finally landed in Sofia,
Bulgaria. My bulgarian
experience had officially
started

3. 9TH AUGUST 2021
• I was finally ready for the first
day of work: after a weekend
spent in Blagoevgrad getting
to know my fellow volunteers
and enjoying the city, we
headed to the office to start
the project

4. FIRST WEEK
• With the help of our
coordinators Kiril and Ivan, we
discuss what we want to
achieve during our month in
Bulgaria: we planned to not only
get in contact with the local
community, but to learn more
about volunteering itself and the
ways in which we can contribute
to our communities even after
returing home.

5. EVENTS
The time had come to
actually meet some locals and
put into practice our ideas.
After a brainstorming sessions,
we prepared a calendar with
the many events we would
implement: sport and cooking
classes, movie nights, cultural
dinners and language lessons
and much more

6. ONLINE WORKING
Sometimes unexpected events
may force us to change plans last
minute, which is indeed what
happended when covid-19 forced
the whole team to work online for
ten days. Despite this, thanks to
technology and many zoom
meetings, we manage to carry on
with our projects and reflect on
how to best employ our time in
isolation.

7. EXPLORING BULGARIA
On to the cherry on the top of
cake: the opportunity to spend my
free time exploring Bulgaria and
the bordering countries! From
strolling to the streets of Sofia to
eating banitsa in Plovdiv, there
wasno time to get bored. Not only
that: the richness of Bulgaria
stands also in it being influenced
by the many neighbouring
countries

8. LEARNING AND SHARING
Our activities in Blagoevgrad
didn't only concern the
organization of event: we spent
our time in language lessons,
interesting workshops and
discussion about the European
solidarity corps and creative
writing lessons