Tedislava Yankova is 15 years old and a ninth-grade pupil at the Hristo Botev High School in the village of Galiche. Tedislava combines her school responsibilities with two especially important extra-curricular roles: She’s a vice-chairman of the school parliament and chairman of the municipal youth parliament in Byala Slatina. Like other youth parliaments in the town, Tedislava’s organization brings together young active people who share and carry out their volunteer ideas.
The youth parliament in Byala Slatina was created right at the beginning of this school year as a result of training for volunteering and leadership for students, organized by the local community organization, “Purvi Yuni”, which the America for Bulgaria Foundation has supported since 2010. With the support of the community and on the initiative of the children from the youth parliament, pupils from four schools in the Byala Slatina chose as their first large volunteering initiative the organization of a charity concert. According to Tedislava, the idea of the concert resulted from a spontaneous decision taken along with her schoolmates, and her working on the initiative in the youth parliament group brought them together even more.
The preparations for the April 10 concert also involved pupils from the Nikola Y. Vaptsarov high school and Elisaveta Bagryana high school in Byala Slatina as well as the Hristo Botev elementary school in the village of Tarnava and the Hristo Botev school in the village of Galiche. The event’s program included a bazaar where children sold their own handmade items as well as a program with dancing and performances, some of which were specially prepared for the concert.
It was important to the youngsters to see how their idea was supported by the mayor of Byala Slatina and all the directors of the schools taking part in the initiative, with all attending the concert. Tedislava says that she found out that she enjoys sharing her time and efforts on volunteer causes such as this, finding it to be an effective way to change her community for the better.
Beyond the excitement around the event’s preparation, the youth parliament and all participants in the charitable initiative aim to gather as much money as possible to be donated to the “Participate-Donate-Change” public fund in Byala Slatina. The fund was created in 2015 and in the first year after it was founded, it gathered 5,000 leva in donations. The local community decided that the funds would be used to carry out three projects aimed and education and children’s development. The “Participate-Donate-Change” fund was initiated by the “Purvi Yuni” association in Byala Slatina. The America for Bulgaria Foundation has been supporting the association since 2010.
Meet Tedislava, the fund and the results of their activities in the video HERE.
