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Elena Ganeva-Robles from London:

Bulgarians abroad contribute to a different outlook in their homeland

Elena Ganeva-Robles
Photo: Krasimir Martinov, BNR

Elena Ganeva-Robles has been living in London for more than 30 years. She was led there by the love of a Peruvian man she met at university in Bulgaria's coastal city Varna. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the two set their sights on Great Britain, where they started a family. They have two girls. After the death of her husband, Elena Ganeva-Robles continued to live and work in London. She is a teacher of children with special educational needs in an English school, as well as a teacher of Bulgarian children in the Ivan Stancioff Bulgarian Sunday school at the Bulgarian Embassy in London. 

She joined the Bulgarian school in London first as a folk dance teacher. 


"I taught a lot of children how to dance Bulgarian folk dances. We perform at all the celebrations at the Bulgarian school in the Bulgarian embassy. Quite a few children have learned and many of them are now parents and they in turn take their children to the Bulgarian school. I mostly work with students for whom Bulgarian is not their mother tongue. And following the example of my own children I try to help them to speak Bulgarian. And I am proud of the fact that they manage to do it very quickly. And to help them understand the meaning of Bulgarian words, English comes to the rescue. We have one child whose mother is Bulgarian and the father is Chinese.  Another has a Bulgarian mother and a Cypriot father. Yet another one - the mother is from India, the father from Bulgaria. But all these children are beginning to speak wonderful Bulgarian with us. English is like their mother tongue. So they learn Bulgarian with the help of English, in which we explain to them the meaning of Bulgarian words." 
The Bulgarian school at the Bulgarian embassy in London
Elena Ganeva-Robles also emphasized the possibility for children who have graduated from Bulgarian schools abroad to return to Bulgaria to continue their education. 

"We have a lot of these kids who have studied English but want to go back and study to be dentists, to be doctors. Because here in Bulgaria the education is much more intense. And if we don't integrate these children into the Bulgarian environment and help them here, they will never go. They will prefer to study in other countries. The children themselves are now much more flexible. And that is why Bulgaria must be more flexible towards them - not only to return them to our country, but also to help them to develop as individuals, as part of Bulgarian society. I personally know several boys and girls who have returned to Bulgaria after growing up and studying abroad. I am also in contact with many foreigners in Bulgaria. When I come back to Bulgaria, my environment there is foreigners. For example, in Chepelare, where I live, I am connected with Australians. And when their grandchildren come to Bulgaria, I speak to them in both Bulgarian and English so that they can integrate into Bulgarian society. We have a woman from Denmark who has lived in Chepelare for many years. I speak to her in Bulgarian now, not in English. This helps both her and me - it gives me the opportunity to know what is going on in the town and she learns Bulgarian better. And that's wonderful." 


In London, Elena Ganeva-Robles also teaches children with special needs, especially autistic children and those with varying degrees of visual impairment. 

"I now work with autistic children in different age groups. Every year in September I am assigned to different schools in London, depending on the need. I am working with an agency so I can be more flexible and help more schools. I have the necessary experience to recognise the children and assess how to work with each of them. In my experience with water ski schools where I have worked, I have been an assistant teacher in a variety of different classes ranging from preschool age 3-year-olds to 11-year-olds. I am familiar with the technology of the English system because I have attended many workshops on working with specialized technology for children with disabilities. I've worked with autistic children who don't speak at all but only respond through their eyes."


About her work as a teacher in a school that is a member of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad, Elena Ganeva-Robles says that this is a great advantage because the meetings organised by the association give her the opportunity to meet colleagues and exchange valuable experience in working with Bulgarian children growing up in a foreign-language environment. 

And at the end of our meeting, she sends a message to the Bulgarians in Bulgaria:

"Do not accept us Bulgarians from abroad as completely different citizens. Because when we are in Bulgaria, both my children and I feel somehow that we are not Bulgarians. Care about us, too. Because after all, we also contribute to building a very different worldview in Bulgaria. It's true, sometimes we make mistakes, we all have mistakes, but be a little bit more open to these kids who come to Bulgaria and bring some new thought, new attitudes towards building many things. Even in their games the children are different and we have to accept them. So, let's help each other, let's hold hands. Because this is what the world is all about - supporting and helping each other.


Photos: Krasimir Martinov, Bulgarian School at the Bulgarian Embassy in London, Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad, Radio Vidin

English publication: Rositsa Petkova


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