On September 18, the Bulgarian Sunday School at the Hristo Botev library in the capital of Moldova - Chisinau – will open its doors for the new school year. According to tradition, among the guests for the first school day will be the ambassador of Bulgaria to Moldova, Evgeni Stoychev, and the first director of the Sunday school, the distinguished Bulgarian professor Nikolay Chervenkov.

Every year, about 70 people learn to communicate in Bulgarian and get to know Bulgarian culture here, the director of the library, Angela Olarescu, says in an interview for Radio Bulgaria:

"We always have four groups, we have students from 6 to 70 years old. There are two groups for children and two for adults. The children learn not only the Bulgarian language, but also literature”, explains Angela Olarescu. “For the Sunday school, we also have an ensemble "Vaglenche" led by Anna Pagur. She teaches the children to sing and dance and they participate in the Bulgarian-themed activities that the Sunday school organizes. For example, for May 24 - Cyril and Methodius Day, for Independence Day, Bulgaria's Liberation Day, Bessarabian Bulgarians' Day... We also organize various events which we hold in the library - contests for the best pie and for folk dances, for which children come from Tvarditsa, Taraklia. The children dance not only in the library, but also in front of the building, on Grigore Vieru Boulevard”.

What makes students dedicate their weekends to Bulgarian language classes instead of meeting friends or having a lazy vacation?

"For many of those who study Bulgarian with us, our school is a base, as they then apply for Bulgarian universities. And then they call us to thank us for the fact that the knowledge acquired in our Sunday school has helped them to continue their studies in Bulgaria," says the director.

Older people are also interested in learning about Bulgarian history, culture and literature, and the acquired knowledge of Bulgarian helps them communicate freely and find new friends when they travel to Bulgaria.

A great credit for the students' interest in the Bulgarian language goes to the teachers devoted to their profession - Elena Ratseeva, Nadezhda Kara, Nadezhda Ratseeva and the leader of the "Vaglenche" ensemble Anna Pagur... And, of course, the library, from which the students take books and textbooks even for the summer to maintain the acquired knowledge.

"Out of a total of 24,000 books available to the library, 5,000 are in Bulgarian - from various fields of science and fiction. 2 years ago, the embassy provided us with a project of 100 books. Sometimes we turn to the Bulgarian diplomatic mission with a request to buy some new books and donate them to the library. But most often books are given to us by the Bessarabian Bulgarians themselves - they buy them when they travel to Bulgaria, or donate them to us when they move to another place. And so, we live with these books!" Angela Olarescu, director of the Hristo Botev library in Chisinau, told Radio Bulgaria, a few days before the first bell rings at the Bulgarian Sunday school there.

English version Rositsa Petkova

Photos: personal library