A French Christmas time in Varna with Manon!
Manon is our new intern from Bayonne, France. She joined the team of the workshop PLACE FOR YOU and Hale 3 for 3 months. During her time here, she is going to spend her first Christmas abroad. What an experience full of new challenges for Manon! Discover more about her experience in Varna and at the workshop!
But before beginning, let’s first get to know Manon.
Manon is 26 years old, she is an Animator by profession and has a degree in social issues and animation. She already has a lot of experiences with different publics such as people with disabilities, elderly people, children in disadvantaged situations,…
Manon is a really passionate girl:
“I love my job! I am passionate about the various existing pedagogy methods, particularly the one of Freinet and Cousinet. I am interested in the new education, and I hope that in time it will become specific and real.”
Through her work, she is putting stress on the new education methods to find something more suitable for every student.
But for 3 months, she will be living in Varna! She is doing an internship in order to discover Bulgarian culture and heritage and to work with association FOR YOU to learn about their working methods. Her internship here will be a useful experience for her to get to know a new way of working, to get inspiration but also to bring her knowledge/skills to the association.
During those 3 months, Manon will be working for A Place for you and at Hale 3.
In Hale 3, Manon will be supporting the team in the space and equipment design process, promoting the project and communicating online, organizing artistic activities, seminars, events, exhibitions, concerts,…
In addition, at FOR YOU’s social workshop, A Place For You, she will participate in the daily artistic, educational, and social workshop events for children and young people in disadvantaged situations. She will then help to prepare the program, activities, manage daily tasks – buy materials, get invoices, send documents,…
But everyone knows that it’s almost Christmas! Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, Manon will be helping with the Christmas activities- to find ideas, and to participate in the workshops!
Christmas at A Place For You, sharing and loving moments
At Place For You, youngsters and volunteers celebrate Christmas together every week by sharing activities. Since Manon arrived, together with Antonina and the children they created Christmas cards and keychains. All are made by hand by the children and themselves. It’s a fun way to help the children work on their creativity, express themselves, and work also on their maneuverability. Manon loves the Christmas card activity:
”I loved this activity because it was a very creative one, and the kids love it! They made beautiful creations!”
Before every workshop, Manon and Antonina have to prepare everything to be well organized. From now on, one week before the workshop they use a newly created system: Find the idea, check if they have all the necessary materials, make the shopping list if needed, and go buy the stuff. When they manage to have everything they regroup it in the storage before the day of the activities.
When the day of the workshop arrives, they prepare all the stuff before welcoming the children and spend a great time together. Manon told us that she enjoys those moments a lot:
”I would say that my favorite thing at the workshop will be the sharing of experience. It is simple but beautiful at the same time to simply share and exchange by looks, smiles,…”
But this Christmas is also very special for Manon. It’s the first time that she will spend the winter holidays away from her family. Nevertheless, her brother will come to visit her at the end of December. So she is very relieved and can’t wait to show him the city!
Moreover, it is a new experience and Manon is very happy to be able to spend her first Christmas abroad and specifically in Varna. She can’t wait to learn about the Christmas traditions in Bulgaria and share this moment with her friends here!
To finish, we asked her to describe in three words Christmas in Bulgaria, and here is her answer “Belief, celebration, and badnik*”
*Badnik refers to a log brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Slavic Christmas celebrations, that can compare to a yule log in other European traditions.
We hope that you enjoyed Manon’s Christmas experience here! Stay tuned, in some months you will be able to read about her whole experience in Varna!
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