Optimism for Bulgaria

Sarah Harralson knows about being a good community member. Yet, she never expected to be at a community building festival in Bulgaria, much less so to be headlining at one.

Barney Esville is not your typical country musician. He comes from Bulgaria, and by day he takes care of the community affairs of the northern Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo.

In the small Greek village of Variko, Mihail Ivanov found long-lost family members and a connection to the community of humankind.

Three girls from three small Bulgarian towns: Velina Milanova reflects on finding friendship & community among fellow Bulgarians abroad.

Participants in ABF’s LEAP program come from different fields but found ample common ground and a shared vision — of a better Bulgaria for all.

A dirty river canal, a graffitied back alley, and a parking lot’s rooftop are no one’s idea of good places to hang out. No one except The Collective’s.

“Since I can remember, I have been digging into the past,” writes journalism fellow Katerina Vasileva in an essay that explores her interest in history and the relationship between democracy and memory.

Radoslav Aleksandrov, of the Media E:volution program’s first class, writes eloquently about finding community in a group of soccer fans. “True community brings connection, not division,” he says.

On Belene.Camp, anyone with an internet connection can go back in time and speak to a survivor of a communist-era labor camp in Bulgaria. In technology-mediated conversations that roughly resemble video calls, survivors answer questions about their time in the camps, share details about their lives before and after incarceration, and engage in debate about the merits of democracy versus other forms of government.