Sofia, March 7, 2019
February 1 and 2, Plovdiv, regional meeting of the health mediators. There were the usual topics with a new addition – Evelina Dimitrova is a part of the meeting. She is a young Roma girl from the village of Galiche, a student in the 11th grade and one of the 12 finalists in the essay competition of the “Ambassador for a day” campaign, initiated for a second year by the British Embassy in Sofia. Participating in the campaign are 12 women ambassadors of their respective countries, accredited to Bulgaria, 12 women - NGO leaders and the 12 finalists who in February play the role of an Ambassador and a leader of an NGO. Even just for a few days Evelina viewed the world from the perspective of the Swiss Ambassador H.E. Muriel Berset Kohen and the Executive Director of BFPA Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova. Evelina’s dream is to study International relations at Sofia University. Her meeting with the health mediators and the field activities in Stolipinovo gave her extra motivation. The next step followed ten days later – a visit to the Kosharnik Roma neighbourhood of Montana under the ZOV programme of the Swiss government and afterwards at the Swiss embassy and BFPA’s office in Sofia.
The closing event of the campaign gathered all participants, partners and a lot of media representatives and guests on March 7th, a day before International Women’s Day, under the patronnage of Bulgaria’s Vice-President Iliyana Yotova who also had a young deputy – a Vice-President for a day.
At the event Evelina’s speech was of the most exciting and memorable ones. Here is an excerpt: “I wanted to come out of my comfort zone and here I am, a 17-year old Roma girl from the village of Galiche, from the poorest part of Bulgaria – the Northwest, standing before you because I think I have no reason to complain and to say that here in this country nothing happens. I consider myself rich because I feel happy and bring happiness.“
The aim of the campaign in which we will gladly participate again next year, is to give a chance and an opportunity to young girls to work and participate in activities for solving all kinds of social problems. As the Ambassador of Great Britain in Bulgaria H.E. Emma Hopkins said – “At 17 one has a lot of energy and ideas for solving problems. When I was 17, I wrote letters to world dictators to tell them to immediately stop oppressing the people in their own countries. “
159 essays from all over the country were received from young girls who wanted to work in different fields – education, environment, marginalized groups, media, culture, etc. For next year we will insist for “healthcare” to be added to the competition. We eagerly await the 2020 campaign and we hope that more young girls will be inspired to participate, to voice their opinion and to have an impact on social matters that are important for them!
