letter20

Dear Family and Friends,

Below is a copy of a small article from a Bulgarian newspaper that my Mom
found on the internet, dated September 7, 2001. I thought you all might
also find this interesting and I thought it might give you all some insight
into the conditions I am working in as well as some insight into the
Bulgarian school system and into the little importance that education has in
Bulgarian society. I could have ended up living in a tiny,
creature-infested mud hut in deepest, darkest Africa, but instead I came to
Bulgaria, a country which may appear similar on the surface, but in reality
has its own needs and hurts.

During the summer, I sat over many a soda and Bulgarian cookie with my host
mom as her dark eyes clouded with pain and she described the many ills of
Bulgaria that binds its people and threatens a suffering society. "There is
no money in Bulgaria," she would tell me dismally. "The people don't have
jobs here, we are poor. That is why you see people sitting at the cafes all
day instead of going to work." I would shift nervously in my seat with an
understanding nod, even though I could never understand the pain and
oppression of the Bulgarian people. And yet, I am baffled when I ponder the
possessions that I had obtained in America and the greed that had consumed
me as a citizen of such a society; I am baffled by the carefree manner that
envelopes Americans as they continue to take their stable jobs, their many
possessions, and their lives for granted. I know that I could never leave
this experience the same person in which I entered it as.

I rarely go to a Bulgarian Na Gosti in which I am not asked, "Why did you
come here? Why would you want to leave all that you had in America to come
to a poor country like Bulgaria?!" And my answer is always the same: "To
help the Bulgarian people make their lives a little bit better." Last
night, I feasted with my landlady and her nephew's family and he told me in
broken English, "We watch movies from America and we wonder what's going on
there when we see all of the drugs, all of the money, and the ways in which
the people live their lives." It's sad. Much of what Bulgarians have of
America comes from the movies they watch and I try to defend my country by
stating constantly that much of this isn't true, but I question how much of
what Bulgarians see in American movies IS reality.

I wish you all could experience the sites, sounds, smells, and moments that
I am embracing everyday. Last week, as the depths of culture shock and
lonliness embraced me, I questioned why I am here when all that I love seems
to be in America. But, then I am reminded in the words of a fellow
volunteer, "I can always go home, but I can never come back." I am here for
a specific purpose, which is to serve a country in need. I am here to strip
off the mask of greed and zeal that I sometimes wore while in America and
put on the mask of the servant, here to help Bulgaria, even just a little
bit, lift their own mask of oppression and the "can't do" attitude. Our
country director stated quite eloquently that, when you tell a Bulgarian
they can't do something, they believe you, when you tell an American they
can't do something, they say, "Watch me!" So, now, the words that I leave
you with are . . .

"WATCH ME!!!!!"

Love Always and God Bless,
Chantel

And now here is that article about schools in Bulgaria. My school is not
affected right now by teachers not getting paid and schools closing, but the
problems are pretty much nation-wide. The average salary for Bulgarian
teachers is a low 60 leva per month, which exchanges into about 120 dollars
for an entire month of work! And American teachers complain about THEIR
salaries!

Schools in Rousse and Pleven To Be Closed
School inspectors gathered in the 'Samokov' hotel in Borovets to share the
secret everyone is aware of: September 15 will be a sad day for pupils.
There will be no first school bell ringing in several municipalities, there
isn't any money, the schools haven't been repaired. Teachers are getting
ready to riot for their salaries in Rousse, Lyaskovets, Pleven, Dolna
Mitropolia, Levski and Nikopol. The school year is not expected to start on
time there. The teachers haven't received their salaries for 3 months. In
Lyaskovets alone 130,000 levs are needed for teachers' salaries. Teachers
and children in Plovdiv, Pleven and Yambol will welcome the school year with
cracks in the walls and leaking roofs. There isn't money there because the
municipal budgets were left in the red by Mouravei. A tender for the repair
of some ten or so schools failed. The heating installations in the area are
in dire straights. There is money to pay the heating for one month only.