Sing a Little Song! Do a Little Dance!

Nearly a year ago, Tim and I were in a village called Asparuhavo for a week-long summer camp. (Click here to read about that wonderful experience.) Today's post, is an update on that story!

The letters that the children wrote to the Ministry of Culture and Education, which were written in an attempt to save the village's only school, were answered via a nationally televised press conference! I was sooo excited at news of this event! Go Democracy! Our Asparuhavo group got to meet with the minister and state their case as to why this 150 year old school should be saved. In fact, it's one of the oldest Bulgarian schools in existence due to the "destructive tendencies" of the Ottoman Empire. The minister listened to their plight and agreed that something should be done, but stated that unfortunately, the preservation of the school didn't lay within his jurisdiction. He instructed that they needed to convince the mayor of Asparuhovo to hear their cause. Their request to the mayor to save the school went unanswered for quite some time because of the normal speed of political happenings and an extra hurdle, local elections.

Almost our entire group traveled back to Asparuhavo, in part, to celebrate Lazarov Den but also to give a presentation to the community on the value of Asparuhavo's continued existence. This holiday consists of young women dressing up in traditional clothing and going from house to house to sing ancient songs. The owners of the houses would come out and give the girls money or sweets. It was fun to watch. But before those celebrations were to begin, presentations were to be made.
The whole thing started with a group of the young girls, all dressed up for success! They did a little song and dance and everyone entered the culture center for the presentation. A few key folks said some words of thanks and then a group of old grandmothers sang a few traditional songs. Finally, our group got the chance to present the significance of this particular village to the community.After the presentation, the girls asked the mayor if he had been able to come up with an idea for procuring funds for the school's continued existence. His response was translated to me by four or five kids at the same time. I think he said something to the affect of there not needing to be any more discussion on the matter and that he would not close the school. His response was met with laughter, and at the time I wasn't sure if the laughs were at his expense, or the student's question. It was later explained to me that through the actions of these children, the mayor had decided to not close the school! However, this turned out to be a typical, misleading politician's response, as he failed to mention that he would in fact discontinue public funding for the school. The trick being that he won't technically close the school, but after teachers' salaries are cut from the payroll it will be they who will close the school. He later took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this school's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let it's blood be on us and on our children!"

Is there any better way to secure a future for your community than by taking away the tool with which to educate your youth? I think it was the Romans who said, "Let us destroy our schools so that the next generation will be adequately prepared to take over the leadership of our magnificent society. Without knowledge, our youth will be able to care for our aging population. Without education, we will continue to be a prosperous people."Closing the day, we all went back to the place where we had classes a year prior to hang out and reminisce. They made final plans for the next summer camp, which is to happen this summer, and they did 'the horo' and sang! It was a great day! I was stoked to see the group again! And I was excited to receive their excitement at seeing me! I wish more could be done to preserve this historic and much needed school but at the end of the day, there just isn't enough money. Of course, I believe that if Bulgaria was more responsible with how money was dealt with, then issues like the death of villages in a this country wouldn't exist. Can anything be done? Well, some British investors are increasingly playing a role in stabilizing village populations. Why, there are already plans to turn this particular school into a hotel!

Corruption has the ability to rain down upon us all and inconvenience our comfortable lives. But just when you think you're gonna catch a cold, the dry towel of foreign investment comes along to save the day. The only thing left to wonder is, did all that dirty and foreign money wash away the culture and traditions or just buff out a few tarnished spots?