The Bulgarian school "Rodna Stryaha" in Cyprus, or how difficulties give rise to hope

Every Bulgarian school abroad has its own story, and that of the Rodna Stryaha Bulgarian school in Cyprus began in 2015. Its foundations are built on the dream of a Bulgarian teacher - when one day Bulgarian children decide to return to their homeland, it would not show that they grew up outside its borders, i.e. they should speak like Bulgarian children in Bulgaria, without an accent, and should know the culture, history and traditions of Bulgaria well enough. This teacher's name is Kalinka Pancheva.

Her paternal family is from the village of Tarnava, Vratsa region. During one of the major crises that accompanied Bulgaria's transition from the Socialist rule to democracy and a market economy, her parents lost their jobs and went abroad. Kalinka moved to live with her grandmother and aunt in the town of Byala Slatina.

"I am from the generation of Bulgarian children who grew up with her grandmother, grandfather and aunt, instead of mom and dad. That's why I am happy for all the kids who are with their parents today," says Kalinka Pancheva, director of the Bulgarian Sunday School "Rodna Stryaha" in Cyprus. ‎

‎"Hope and need give birth to our schools abroad – the need to be close to our homeland, the hope that our children will someday return. For me, the huge motivation came with the birth of my little daughter Panayota, 10 years ago, on April 8. And then I realized that I was at a very important moment in my life, in which I had to decide how to act and find an opportunity for her to grow up in an environment in which she could learn the Bulgarian language without an accent. So that when she returned to our homeland, she would not feel like a foreigner. Six months after her birth, we opened the school. On October 3, we rolled up our sleeves and, together with ten other parents in my situation, decided that we could do it."‎

Celebrating Bulgaria's National Day March 3

The support of the other parents, but also of Kalinka's family, played a huge role in the success of the venture. Her husband Yorgos financially took on all the necessary payments, and the other parents – the salary of the second teacher. "It was a difficult period in financial terms, but it did not make us give up, but even brought us together even more," Kalinka Pancheva recalls today.

Her parents, who have lived in Cyprus for 30 years, also provided great support. Together with their family friend Maria Deliivanova, they managed to bring from Bulgaria a rich folklore inventory that any ethnographic museum could be proud of, as Mrs. Pancheva jokingly puts it. The folk singer from Strandzha, Zhechka Slaninkova, donated her authentic folk costume. And so, with Renaissance enthusiasm and a lot of hard work, the group from Cyprus managed to build a place where every child can become immersed in the atmosphere of the Bulgarian traditional way of life.

Kalinka Pancheva in the school's ethnographic corner

"We started the school with a dozen children, today there are ten times more", Kalinka Pancheva continues to tell us. "This means that every year the number of children enrolled increased. And with this our desire to be closer to them. So we opened two more branches of the school.

Today the school already has three buildings - in the city of Aradippou and the villages of Athienou and Xylofagou, all in the Larnaca district, Southern Cyprus. Our schools are multifunctional, and here we are not only talking about education, but also about the formation of a Bulgarian community, which helps us to feel closer to our homeland. This is the main incentive to enroll our children in a Bulgarian school. And the other, as I told you, is the hope that one day they will return to Bulgaria and continue to develop there."

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary since the founding of the Rodna Stryaha Bulgarian school in Cyprus, a seminar for teachers from other Bulgarian Sunday schools abroad will be held in Larnaca from April 12 to 14 this year.

Among the topics that will be discussed at the forum are the preservation and development of the mother tongue in adolescents with Bulgarian roots, the problems and solutions in children's speech, the right choice of a children's book as a path to a more relaxed acquisition of the language, building a system of motivation for learning Bulgarian. Practical activities with children and parents on reading, drawing, writing texts, etc. will also be provided. The book with texts for dramatization developed by Kalinka Pancheva, which are of great help in teaching Bulgarian in preschool groups, will also be presented.

The seminar is also part of the training events aimed at Bulgarian teachers abroad, which the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad supports and for which people like Kalinka Pancheva are extremely grateful.

Radio Bulgaria of the Bulgarian National Radio has the honor of being a media partner of the initiative.

A class in religion held by priest Maxim from the famous Kykkos Monastery

Most of the parents of the students at the Rodna Stryaha Bulgarian School have been in Cyprus for over 20 years, we learn from Mrs. Pancheva. "They are engaged in various fields of activity related to the main source of income in Cyprus – tourism. A large part of the Bulgarians have already bought homes, which shows that our compatriots are willing to stay there for a longer period of time. And their only contact with Bulgaria is the Bulgarian schools", says the school principal Kalinka Pancheva, not without pain in her voice.

She herself left Bulgaria because of the humiliating salaries and difficult living conditions of teachers in Bulgaria years ago.

At the end of our conversation with her, we ask her what her dream is for herself personally and for Bulgaria:

"You know, I have often thought about what Bulgaria is like in my dreams, what I would like it to look like. Above all, I would like it to remain democratic and independent, to be led by people who are ambitious and who love this homeland of ours - the way every emigrant who has been separated from it for at least 15 years loves it. I believe that such a beloved country, governed by good, ambitious and young people, will certainly have a bright future."