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Nadezhda's Bulgarian Schools in Saint-Nazaire and Rennes

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Photo: Krasimir Martinov

Five years ago, Nadezhda Yordanova Damyanova left her native Varna for the French town of Saint-Nazaire. She made the journey to join her husband, who has been working at the local shipbuilding yard since 2014. This is one of the most advanced shipyards in Europe, where the world's largest passenger ship to date - Symphony of the Seas - was built in 2018.
 
Saint-Nazaire is a city that attracts many Bulgarians because of the many job opportunities. The number of Bulgarian families has increased significantly in recent years, which made Nadezhda aware of the need for a Bulgarian language school. 

"In 2020 I founded the association "Bulgarian School "Nadezhda", according to the French legislation - with a cultural focus - tells us Nadezhda Damyanova. 

A true volunteer, I started working with the children the first year thanks to the fact that the town council gave us a hall free of charge. I made great contacts with the people there and for a year the hall became the place where we met with the children, just to celebrate Bulgarian traditions and customs. 



The hope of the Bulgarian school "Nadezhda" (meaning "hope" - ed.) was to meet the requirements of the Council of Ministers' Decree 90, which supports the activities of Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad. And so our school was officially established and is now in its third year. 

This school year I was also able to open a branch in the city of Rennes. It is a much bigger city than Saint-Nazaire, but the Bulgarians there are scattered in the small towns around Rennes. I managed to find a very nice hall and premises in Rennes where we meet with the children on Sundays. On Saturdays I'm in Saint-Nazaire."

The school in Rennes.
For now, Nadezhda is doing everything on her own, but she hopes to find other teachers to take on the children, whose numbers are growing all the time. 

"I can't complain. My husband helps me a lot. He is a shipbuilder, an engineer. The children already know him, and when he is not here, they ask me about him," says Nadezhda Damyanova.



Organising the teaching of Bulgarian to children of different ages and levels of proficiency in the Bulgarian language is not easy. How did Nadezhda manage?

"The first year was very difficult. There were children of all ages. Some of them only spoke French and we were learning Bulgarian as a second language. Gradually I started to form groups according to their level of language. And now they are in different classes. I have a kindergarten, I have two classes of first grade and one class of second grade."

As well as teaching Bulgarian Sunday school children, Nadezhda Damyanova is also an English teacher at the Catholic school in a small town near Saint-Nazaire.   

"Working with children is a must for me. I cannot imagine living without them, without cuddling and holding them. I adore children. I worked as a teacher in Bulgaria for about 14-15 years and I am very happy to have the opportunity to continue my profession abroad". 



Asked what other problems she faces and whether the Bulgarian state can help her solve them, Nadezhda Damyanova replies:

"At the moment I would be happy if I could find another teacher. I have put an advertisement and I expect to find a teacher soon. I also need help now because the number of children is growing. But in general I am managing. I don't need anything extra. Come to think of it, for a year I did absolutely everything on my own - with my own budget, resources, materials and so on... At the moment I am supported by the Bulgarian state. And I can only be grateful.



Photos: Krasimir Martinov, Nadezhda Damyanova-personal archive, facebook.com/saintnazaire.officiel/ 
Translated and posted by Elizabeth Radkova

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