The history of the broadcasts for foreign countries of the Bulgarian National Radio, which started short-wave broadcasting in 1936 just a year after the founding of the Bulgarian Radio, abounds with curious and unknown facts for our audience, which we strive to present to you through meetings with people who contributed to the linguistic and thematic diversity of the programs of today's Radio Bulgaria.

Diana Chakarova is one of these people who dedicated about 20 years of her life to the "Africa" section, which existed until 1990. In English and French, she presented information to the audience in Africa about the economic and social processes, culture and traditions of Bulgaria. However, the work of the editorial office was not limited to this, Diana Chakarova, who joined it in 1970, recalls:

"The editorial office maintained contacts with many Africans who were residing in our country at that time. Among them were representatives of the then illegal party African National Congress in South Africa. There were about a hundred of them, they had their own choir and we were often present at their holidays. In addition, all the so-called progressive leaders from African countries or their relatives came to the congresses of the Bulgarian Communist Party in Bulgaria and we did interviews with them as well. We followed all the news - what was happening in Africa, what the relations with the socialist countries were, what successes they had, etc."

The program broadcast by the African editorial office included two news bulletins and programs dedicated to the various aspects of life in then socialist Bulgaria. The materials were compiled by editors and the task of the team was to translate them and read them in the studio. An important part of the program was also devoted to the clubs of friends of Bulgaria, established in Africa. Their members were extremely active and organized various events, including literary readings, evenings dedicated to Bulgarian traditions, lifestyle, culture and cuisine.

• Radio Bulgaria used to have avid listeners in Africa

"I devoted quite a few evenings in my youth to the radio," Diana tells us, describing the working hours in the editorial office: people would come at 5 p.m., translate the materials and news and enter the studio to record the program. Then, at 10 p.m., a second recording of a news bulletin followed.

Her responsibilities also included correspondence with the audience, which was quite active: "There were radio amateurs who would tune in and send us letters and we would answer them. They wanted soccer balls, we sent them books by Todor Zhivkov - that was what was available," our former colleague recalls with a smile and sums up: "Those were nice years. There were celebrations, sports activities, organized hikes for the teams, and there were also many opportunities for our children - summer and winter camps and all sorts of benefits at that time".

• The fascinating story of the first overseas broadcasts of the BNR - part 1

• The fascinating story of the first overseas broadcasts of the BNR - part 2

In the mid-1970s, Diana Chakarova had the opportunity to go to Nigeria, where her husband was appointed as a cultural attaché to the Bulgarian embassy. They lived for a while in the capital city of Lagos and she became the secretary of the then Bulgarian ambassador to the African country:

"I had the pleasure to be there when something grandiose took place - the Festival of Arts and Culture in the then newly built National Theatre in Lagos, which is a near replica of the Festival and Congress Center in Varna, but is three times larger, built by Bulgarians with American investments. The authorities there were expected to continue organizing the festival every year, but they failed to do this and this remained its only edition. I tried to do interviews with whoever I could and sent them to our editorial office in Sofia, where they were very grateful. It wasn't bad to have some active ties with African countries, but unfortunately nothing is left of that now," Diana Chakarova says in conclusion.

Photos: Diana Chakarova’s personal archive, news.un.org, archive