Hello friends and family!
Our apologies for not having an update at the end of January...or February for that matter! We have had a very busy schedule, but here is what has been happening.
January was sort of a slow month for both me and Stacie. We got most of our Christmas boxes in early January and enjoyed our goodies very much! Our cat also enjoyed all of her gifts! We also had some snow flurries here in Sliven a few times which was pretty fun. There were even a few days we spent home from work because of the weather, but nothing too bad. During the bulk of the winter we have had plenty of heat and have been very comfortable. However, the winter here really takes a toll on the food. There is a very big difference in the amount of veggies and fruits available in the store. But it has not been too much for us to handle :) Things at my job were slow as I was trying to get stuff started with Junior Achievement. But at the end of the month I was able to meet with them at the Sofia office and make plans to start a program soon. Stacie continued to be busy at her office coordinating youth exchanges and hosting English clubs. One great thing that we discovered in January was that there is a basketball team here in Sliven and the team has two Americans on it! We have met both of them and they are very nice! They are often busy, but we try to meet up with them once every few weeks.
February was much more crazy than January was this year. We had a trip to Thailand so that we could see Stacie's family that was at a conference there. On the 6th we had a flight from Istanbul to Dubai, so we got to Istanbul a little bit early and were able to see some of the famous landmarks there. On the way to Dubai however, our flight was delayed and we ended up getting to Thailand a full day later (without baggage!). And to compound the problems, both of our trips (the bus from Sliven to Istanbul, and the plane from Istanbul to Dubai) were overnight trips and we only slept for an hour in a 60 hour period!!! But everything worked itself out and it ended up being a wonderful time. We rode on elephants, went snorkeling, ate tons of food, and got a tan in the sunny weather! Amazing. Then on the way back we had a layover in Dubai for about 6 hours so we were able to get out into the city and take cabs around to see the different sights. It was pretty amazing seeing all of the construction that is going on there. In 2009 Dubai will be home to the biggest building in the world and we have pictures! We also saw the famous hotel that is built on an island, quite an amazing sight! There were no problems with our flights on the way back thank goodness! We arrived back into Istanbul on the 12th and then took an overnight sleeper train from Istanbul to Plovdiv for a Peace Corps conference. It was great to sleep on the train because otherwise we probably would not have slept at all again! The conference was pretty typical for a Peace Corps conference and we were very glad to finally make it home on the 14th.
More recently, we both have had quite a bit happening. We have been able to go to 2 orphanages here in Sliven and have started teaching English at one of them. We go as often as we can, but because of the director's schedules we have only been going on the weekends. One of the orphanage is for kids that are disabled and the other is for kids who have trouble with the law (this also includes kids that ran away from home or were left by their parents). These places certainly have been on the forefront of our minds and we hope to devote even more of our time to improving these organizations. We have some ideas for projects there but also pray for direction and for favor with the powers that be. Email us if you want more info about these projects specifically. We have started two other projects that are in full swing. I am working on something called "Мениджър за един ден". Which in English is "Manager for a day". It is a project through Junior Achievement that involves young people job shadowing business leaders in the Sliven community to find out what it is like being a manager. The day is on March 18th so it is very soon! Last night was the first sign up for students and we had 33 high schoolers sign up, a tremendous success!
Stacie has been working on a project called "Щастлива Река" which means "Happy River". This project involves cleaning up on of the rivers in Sliven that currently has a bunch of trash and overgrowth around it. We have several partners including businesses, the municipality, Stacie's organization, and a few schools! For the next several weeks up until Earth day we will be cleaning the river on the weekends and planting flowers and trees. Many people are excited about this project and we even have the media covering the rivers transformation! We will forward the press so that you can track it too! We think the best part about this project is that it does not cost anything!
Another project that is coming up with Stacie's organization is an international youth exchange in two weeks. About 30 youth from Italy, Spain, and the Czech Republic will be coming to Sliven to focus on social and ecological problems. Stacie has also been working with a school for disabled children to develop a sensory room for autistic children. There is only one other sensory room in Bulgaria but it is in Sofia which is 5 hours away. So we have found one organization that is willing to donate some equipment for the room and we have also applied for training for the teachers through another organization. We are still looking for a few other partners to give donations so we can begin officially creating the new room.
Also in the near future we hope to be starting another project on increasing the awareness here in Sliven to the issue of human trafficking. It is quite shocking the impact that it has on this part of the world. The Bulgarian government estimates that each year there are 10,000 girls/women that leave Bulgaria for the purpose of being a prostitute (whether willing or unwilling). Additionally, 45% of the girls that trafficked from Bulgaria cities and towns actually end up in a Bulgarian brothel (likely in touristy areas of the country). According to one organization, just one prostitute can guarantee a 'business owner' up to 50,000 leva a month. The average salary in Sofia is 840 leva a month. So you can imagine the creative ideas that these criminals come up with to lure victims into this trap. Our plan is to create a curriculum for high school students and give presentations in every classroom in Sliven with the help of community volunteers (all 20+ schools!). We hope to increase awareness of the problem and decrease its impact on this part of the country.
So lots has been happening! We are currently making plans to go back to the States for our good friend's wedding in Fallon. We won't be home long unfortunately, but long enough to spend some quality time with family. We also plan to make our way up to Seattle to see my family there. We hope all of you are doing well and look forward to your responses!
Love,
Jason and Stacie Smith
2 weeks ago