At first glance, Bogdana Decheva and Mihail Dechev are typical teenagers: they have smartphones, love sports and music, and enjoy spending time with people their age. What sets them apart from their peers is their volunteer work for one of the largest restoration projects in Bulgaria in recent years—the recovery of the mosaics from the Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis.
Since the project was launched in 2015 with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation, hundreds of volunteers from all over Bulgaria have joined the restoration effort, helping with dirt removal and the cleaning and storage of the open mosaics and remains of the largest early Christian temple discovered in Bulgaria. Volunteers helped uncover a second layer of mosaics, a donor’s inscription dating from the 4–5th century, and the peacock image in front of the Basilica’s main entrance.
Over the past three years, people of different backgrounds and ages have taken part in the project, but even amid this diversity, 14-year-old Bogdana and 15-year-old Mihail stand out. Their ages are not the only reason. Unlike most volunteers, who spend a day or two on the site, Bogdana and Mihail have volunteered for months. Bogdana has been on-site every day during school breaks this year, while this is Mihail’s fourth year as a volunteer.
“I am interested in the cultural and historical heritage of Plovdiv because I was born there. This project gives me the opportunity to learn a lot of new things and to work with professionals in the field. I was impressed by the expertly crafted mosaics, which have preserved their beauty and colors for thousands of years. This is a new experience for me. The work is very interesting, and new things happen every day,” says Bogdana, who lives in Sofia. In the fall, she will be starting classes at the American College of Sofia. She dreams of becoming an architect.
Mihail, who studies at the Foreign Language School in Plovdiv, has similar ambitions. “I am very motivated to make this important project happen in Plovdiv,” he says. “I would recommend to people my age to give volunteering a try because it is interesting and challenging and because the things we do are important.” In the past, he also helped with the inscription of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church in Pamporovo and the Church of Saint George in Sofia.
Over the past few years, there has been increasing interest in the impact of volunteering on adolescents’ development. A Time Heroes experiment determined that young people have a better chance of finding a job if they have prior volunteering experience (see the video section). Research by the National Alliance for Volunteer Action has found a direct link between volunteering at an early age and career readiness. One study used Industry Watch methodology to measure the effect of volunteering on the personal development and entrepreneurial qualities and attitudes of students aged 15–19. The results showed that volunteering helps young people improve their soft skills and entrepreneurship abilities. They demonstrated better teamwork skills, greater empathy, flexibility, and consideration, better leadership skills, greater ability to cope with conflict, and faster responses to unplanned situations. People with volunteering experience are more focused, proactive, ambitious, and creative as well as more likely to find opportunities in difficult situations.
