Greetings Laura and Dani,
Hope you're doing well! I just wanted to run a project idea for a SPA grant by you both. Of course, we wouldn't be submitting it for a few months, but I wanted to get a sense if it would be feasible. Please let me know what you think when you get a chance.
Ani, the librarian at the Chetalishte, brought up the point that youth today are pretty far removed from the folk traditions and wisdom that's been passed down for many generations. She had the idea of getting a group of kids together from the schools and researching different cultural and historical aspects of life in Bulgaria, including doing comparisons between the different ethnicities that call this place home. One group would look into different traditional dances and learn them, another group could learn different songs and learn to sing them, one group could research the archeological sites, Perperikon and Tatul, and take pictures that could become an album, one group could explore the different foods that people have made for generations...Turkish, Bulgarian, Bulgarian/Muslim, (maybe Roma too, but there aren't many Roma in this region) and make a cookbook of recipes that could be sold.
Each group would have a few adult leaders to guide, motivate, and serve as a sounding board for ideas. All this would culminate in a festival around summertime where all the groups would share what they've learned. The purpose of all this would be to inspire interest in the traditions, histories, and cultures of the different ethnicities of this region, to share and refuel the wealth of knowledge that's steadily becoming obsolete. Would this be appropriate for a SPA project? I don't think we would need much more than $5,000 and the chetalishte is able to contribute 25% to the project.
Please let me know your thoughts and enjoy the colors of this beautiful fall/winter season!
Vassi
posted by vassi at 12:38 AM
5 Comments:
Vassi,
This is a wonderful idea.
There are also folk remedies,
which would valuable to research.
Love you
Do you mean me, Dani, your sista? What's a SPA grant? I think it's a great idea. One thing that would be useful is to figure out how you can make this activity be not just for 1 class of students, but can be done year after year after year. That way not just one set of kids learns that, but kids for years to come have a frameworks within which to explore these different cultures, and history, etc.
Love you,
Dani
The funny thing is...my youth development assistant manager is also called Dani :) Isn't that funny? So, this letter is actually something I posted because I wrote it and wasn't able to e-mail it for some reason to my Peace Corps directors, so I saved it on my blog. It also happens to be something neat to share and it's wonderful to get your ideas and encouragements, sister Dani and mom Mom. It's a great idea to make it sustainable and continuous, if possible, if it is indeed a feasible project idea, which I hope it is.
Love,
vas
That's funny. I figured there must be another Dani, 'cause I had no idea about the SPA grant. But a spa sounds good :)
Hey lady! I like the idea! AND it sounds really feasible- which means SPA will probably like it too! go for it!
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