The Halfway Mark

Part 2 of Willem’s Blog (midway point of his internship)

“I’m on my 4th week here in Bulgaria, and almost a whole month away from America. Through out my time out here so far, I’ve had the chance to see and experience a lot during the camps around Bulgaria. The first three were similar where we did a vacation bible school (VBS) in the morning and then a sports olympic games event in the afternoon.

It was cool to see how the kids participated in the games. The response from the kids from different towns was different in each place, but I liked watching them compete and cheer one another on when they won. The first week was in Breznik, then Tran, and then finally in Peshtera. Out of the three, I would say my favorite camp was the one in Tran.

At the camp in Tran, we got to see God work in many of the kids lives. Kids that didn’t have the best lives or home environments still showed up to our VBS program, and even though they were young, they still showed a lot of interest and commitment into the program. It was a great experience and I really think we made a positive impact on the kids there. Of course sometimes the kids were at times difficult to handle, but that was to be expected when working with young kids.

Making friends in another country may be hard but so many people are friendly and supportive and I have really connected with a few of people here. In the past, making new friends has been somewhat difficult for me, but in a sense, coming here and being put into situations where I had to talk to new Bulgarian people (at least those that spoke English) made it easy to bond with them simply because of the downtime spent together. A few days went by, and all of a sudden I was able to truly talk to them for literally hours. I mainly connected with people that were closer to my age like my new friend Chris who Bulgarian and also my age. Because the location of the camps were out there, all we really had was each other and the friendships I made with them, that really brightened my summer. 

So far, my time in Bulgaria has been marked by different memorable experiences from the different camps. From helping lead a team for the olympic games, to trying to use google translate to talk with a kid, to exploring the town and meeting the town legend, and trying new foods, I’ve gained and deepened the relationships made here and really learned a lot. Despite the challenges of managing ultra energetic kids and going on 3 camps in a row, there have also been highlights such as forming new lasting friendships and witnessing positive changes in the kids’ lives. I’m excited to return to Tran to work on community projects and reconnect with volunteers and kids hopefully.