The number of Bulgarian schools worldwide has increased significantly in the past 10 years. Such schools can be seen in places with large Bulgarian communities and the textbooks in those schools are donated from Bulgaria.

According to the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, there are nearly 380 Bulgarian schools outside the country. In other words, the Bulgarians living abroad care about their home country, the Bulgarian traditions and culture, no matter the state they live in.

Zdravka Momcheva has been living for 10 years in the UK. She has been doing her job with a lot of faith and love. She teaches at a Bulgarian high-school in London. The school was named after Bulgarian emigrant, politician, diplomat and public figure Ivan Stanchov. It is among the oldest Bulgarian schools in Europe. Zdravka teaches Bulgarian language and literature. The lessons are held from Monday until Sunday.

“It is real pleasure to work with children of Bulgarian emigrants in London”, Zdravka Momcheva says and adds that visits of her classes are optional, not obligatory. “All students join in with labor and various donations in different charity causes in support of their home country. For Christmas for instance they draw and sell cards and the money collected from this initiative goes to the Karin Dom Center for Children with Special Needs in Varna founded by Ivan Stanchov himself. The pupils also organize a culinary exhibition for Christmas. Thus, students present the culinary traditions of their homeland. When I arrived in London 17 years ago I wanted to show that Bulgarians have more positive features in emotional and intellectual aspect as compared to other nations. Today, I continue to believe that we are no worse than others. If we know how to do things the right way, we could attract the attention to our country with our originality. I have noticed that we like to castigate ourselves a lot. We always think negative and think we are bad people. This can be explained with the bad living standard in Bulgaria which lowered our self-esteem. If you keep on telling someone that he is incompetent, worthless and simple he would eventually start to accept it as truth. However, the truth is that the Bulgarians were the ones who started to write and read in the oldest written language in Europe. I am very disappointed when some Bulgarians show disparagement towards our glorious past. When we talk about our kings we say Boris, Simeon, Kaloyan and often forget to say king (Tsar) before pronouncing their names. The British people write in their textbooks that Bulgaria was once an empire during the rule of Tsar Simeon the Great. That is why we must change our attitude and stop showing disparagement towards ourselves”.

Zdravka Momcheva is an active member of the Bulgarian community in London and a columnist in the local Bulgarian newspaper BG BEN. She has been trying to accentuate on the colorful and beautiful face of Bulgaria through her column and her poetry:

“The Bulgarian community in Great Britain is wonderful. According to unofficial statistics, 85% of these people have their own house or rent their homes on long term-contracts. The Bulgarians who arrive in the UK have a clear idea of what to do here and how they would build their career. There are many students as well and I am fascinated by them.”

English version: Kostadin Atanasov