Bulgarian children in Southampton study about the deed of the ‎Bulgarian Apostle of Freedom

The Bulgarian school in Southampton, Great Britain, bears the name of the ‎Bulgarian 19th century revolutionary Vasil Levski who dedicated himself ‎to the liberation of his Motherland from the Ottoman oppression.

On the ‎occasion of marking the 150th anniversary of the hanging of ‎Levski known as the Apostle of Freedom, students learned about little-‎known facts from his life, shared their emotions and attitude through ‎creativity and wrote in his handwriting words that are still alive today:

"If ‎I win, I win for all our people - if I lose, I only lose myself!"‎

As the patron of our school, the image of Vasil Levski is present all year ‎round in our events, says the school principal Teodora Ivanova. In order ‎to get a different - "foreign" look at the deed of this Bulgarian hero, the ‎students participated in a lesson dedicated to the book "The Apostle of ‎Freedom" by the British writer Mercia MacDermott.

"They understood that ‎not only we, the Bulgarians, see the Apostle as a hero, but also people ‎from other countries who visited Bulgaria and got to know his life, were ‎impressed and subsequently wrote great words about him", adds the ‎director.‎

And since the school turns every Bulgarian holiday or anniversary into an ‎occasion for the children to deepen their knowledge of the most revered ‎Bulgarian hero, they build their own idea of his personality:‎

‎"Young children study about Levski through fairy tales and legends, and then an ‎image of a very brave hero is formed in their minds," says Teodora ‎Ivanova. „Subsequently, when they get acquainted with his life through ‎the history of Bulgaria, it turns out that this initially constructed image is ‎absolutely realistic. But the most interesting thing is that over the years ‎they build on it. Thus, older children are impressed by the self-sacrifice he ‎made for his country, by his ideals and words.."‎

The Bulgarian children from Southampton responded with joy to ‎the initiative of Radio Bulgaria "Vasil Levski Revisited" on the occasion of the ‎‎150th anniversary of the death of the Apostle, and they sent us photos ‎and a video of their classes related to the Bulgarian hero - see:‎

The Bulgarian school in Southampton was founded in 2014 on the ‎initiative of parents who wanted their children to speak and write in their ‎mother tongue and know their roots. Every week, 140 students learn ‎Bulgarian, history, traditions in private classes with the help of 14 ‎teachers.‎

‎"By coming to us, the children don't just learn the language”, says the ‎school principal. “They create friendships, get to know the lifestyle and ‎culture of the Bulgarian people. We offer them both the curriculum of the ‎Ministry of Education and extracurricular activities. We have two folk ‎dance clubs, the "Rodinoznaiko" club where students learn about ‎Bulgarian traditions and customs, and another one for language tasks ‎related to Bulgarian literature."‎

Unfortunately, there are children in the school who have difficulty ‎speaking their mother tongue.‎

‎"Most of the children who come to us were already born in Great Britain”, ‎adds Teodora Ivanova. “They spend most of their time in an English ‎school where they make friends and communicate mainly in English. Of ‎course, the parents try to bring the Bulgarian language into the family - ‎they speak, they read books in Bulgaria. We ourselves have an initiative ‎for the children to exchange books bought by the school in order to ‎stimulate them in this direction. Over time, they improve the language ‎quite a bit, but, unfortunately, the environment prevails and the English ‎accent can be felt in their speech.”‎

A remarkable fact, according to Teodora Ivanova, is the empathy of the ‎parents. In addition to organizing bazaars and various activities, they are ‎always ready to help make the school an attractive place for children.

"We ‎are all part of one team, and this is very positive for the development of ‎the entire Bulgarian community in the city," says the school principal.

‎"At the beginning of the school year, one of the parents made and gave us ‎a sign with Levski's face. We placed it in the courtyard of ‎the English school, whose building we use every Saturday. We found out ‎from one of our students, who studies at this school, that his teacher told ‎the children who this Bulgarian hero was. So the name of Levski is starting ‎to be recognized not only by the Bulgarian children in the school", explains Teodora Ivanova in an interview for Radio Bulgaria.

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Photos: Bulgarian school in Southampton

The publication has been realized under a project implemented with the financial support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Program for Commemoration of 150 Years since the Death of Vasil Levski.

Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova

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Bulgarian children in Southampton study about the deed of the ‎Bulgarian Apostle of Freedom

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