Month: June 2025

I met Angel Simeonov 5 years ago. At that time he was working as a psychologist in the local school of the Roma neighborhood “Asphalt Base” in Velingrad, where he has lived since birth. The neighborhood has existed since the 1950s and numbers about 280 houses, most of them illegal. There are no asphalted streets in many places in the neighborhood, and the water and sewage network does not reach all homes. Landscaping and social infrastructure are not even mentioned in the neighbourhood.
Read more “For an Angel who brings hope – Story by Anna Rizova, TCA”

When I graduated from high school, the mothers of my friends kept asking me if I would not marry anymore and gave me the example of girls who had been looking for a suitable husband since they were in high school. I told them that education was much more important to me than material things, and they exclaimed, “But you’re always talking about teaching, as if you were going to become a headmistress!” and advised their daughters not to communicate with me, lest they get “infected” with my love of books and miss their chance for a successful marriage. The Roma often use this expression ironically because they think it is impossible for a person of our ethnicity to occupy a director’s chair. But I was not of the same opinion and I was even more ambitious to learn and be a role model for other girls. I wanted to prove to my neighbours that I could make it in any profession as long as I set my mind to it. Read more “The example of Vili – The story of Velichka Marinova from the village of Govedare”